Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday wished a “happy Baisakhi festival” to members of the Sikh community. “We have granted Sikh Diaspora & Indian Yatrees special permission to visit their holy Gurdwaras in Pak & attend the Baisakhi rituals,” the prime minister said in a tweet. “They will be facilitated with Langar, transport & accommodation under strict Covid protocols.”
Baisakhi marks the onset of the harvesting season for the farmers in Punjab and is observed as a thanksgiving day. After the celebrations, the farmers start cutting the Rabi (winter) crop and hope for a better yield with each passing year.
It also commemorates the day when the tenth Sikh guru, Gobind Singh, founded the ‘Khalsa Panth’, an army of warrior Sikhs, in 1699 to fight the Mughal Empire. The celebrations are planned to last from April 12 to April 22.
Last week, Pakistan issued more than 1,100 visas to Sikh pilgrims from India to participate in annual Baisakhi celebrations, according to a statement from the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi. “These visas have been issued as a ‘special gesture’ by the Government of Pakistan in view of the importance of Baisakhi for Punjabis and Sikhs marking the start of their new year,” the statement said.
The high commission extended special felicitations to all those celebrating the occasion and wished visiting pilgrims a fulfilling pilgrimage. Under the framework of the Pakistan-India Protocol on Visits to Religious Shrines of 1974, a large number of pilgrims from India visit Pakistan to observe various religious festivals and occasions each year.
The managing body of the Sikh place of worship in India, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), welcomed the decision by Pakistan. “We believe that those who want to visit religious shrines in Pakistan should be given visas,” said SGPC President Gobind Singh Longowal.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Imran Khan performed on Wednesday the groundbreaking of a low-cost housing project under the government’s ambitious Naya Pakistan Housing Programme in Sargodha. Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar was also present on the occasion. The prime minister was given a briefing on the project.
Addressing the foundation laying ceremony, Prime Minister Khan said the common man cannot even think of owning a house due to lack of resources. “We have launched this scheme for the poor and labourers,” he pointed out.
