A group of about 1,900 Sikh pilgrims crossed into Pakistan via the Attari-Wagah border on Tuesday to celebrate the ‘Parkash Purb’ of Guru Nanak.
“Pakistani authorities informed us, ‘as a Hindu, you cannot join a Sikh group,” stated Amar Chand, who was turned away with six family members after they entered the adjacent country to take part in the Guru Nanak birth anniversary festivities.
A group of about 1,900 Sikh pilgrims crossed into Pakistan via the Attari-Wagah border on Tuesday to celebrate the ‘Parkash Purb’ of Guru Nanak.
Chand was included in that ‘jatha’ as well. He stated that they intended to pray at gurdwaras in Pakistan for the occasion.
Chand mentioned that he and his six family members were returned because they are Hindus.
He stated that they entered Pakistan via the Attari-Wagah land route and completed all necessary procedures there.Chand said they were guided to load onto a special bus for pilgrims.
“He informed PTI that they used Rs 95,000 (in Pakistani currency) for bus tickets for all seven people.”
Then, he said, five Pakistani officials arrived and requested us to disembark the bus. “The officials in Pakistan informed us, ‘You are Hindu, you cannot accompany a Sikh group,” Chand stated.
“Then they sent us back,” he recounted, and said the Indian officers implored the Pakistani officers as to why he had been returned.
Chand, who was earlier a Pakistani citizen but moved to India in 1999 and received Indian citizenship in 2010, said that they did not get back the money that they spent on bus tickets.
Chand, hailing from Delhi, said that even seven more Indians, who were from Lucknow, were returned.
Meanwhile, the jatha that is traveling to Pakistan between November 4 and November 13, will visit the Gurdwara Nankana Sahib, Gurdwara Panja Sahib, Gurdwara Sacha Sauda and Gurdwara Darbar Sahib, Kartarpur.
