More than 2,800 Indian Sikh worshippers have been issued visas by Pakistan to attend the yearly Baisakhi celebration at Gurdwara Panja Sahib in Pakistan’s Hasan Abdal City. Every year on April 14, the event celebrates the founding of the Khalsa Panth by Guru Gobind Singh in 1699 and marks the start of the Sikh New Year.
The visas were given under the Pakistan-India Protocol on Visits to Religious Shrines, signed in 1974 between the two countries. The agreement permits citizens of the two nations to go to specific religious sites on the other’s soil.
The Sikh community on both sides of the border applauded the move to issue visas to Indian Sikh believers. The celebration gives Sikhs from both nations a chance to gather and celebrate their shared heritage and culture.
The Pakistani government has also worked to upgrade the Gurdwara Panja Sahib’s facilities so that visiting devotees can practise their religion in a cosy and secure setting.
