Faraz Saeed

WAGAH, Lahore: Under the clear spring sky at the Wagah border, where flags and fences mark one of South Asia&rsquo;s most sensitive frontiers, Sikh pilgrims crossed into Pakistan on Friday, greeted with flower garlands, official receptions and visible warmth as Baisakhi celebrations began. The first batch of pilgrims from India entered through Wagah, a key crossing between Pakistan and India, to take part in one of Punjab&rsquo;s most significant seasonal gatherings. Pakistan issued around 2,800 visas for the festival, with officials confirming that 2,238 pilgrims arrived, while more than 600 did not travel. They were received by senior officials including Minister for Minority Affairs Sardar Ramesh Singh Arora, Additional Secretary for Shrines Nasir Mushtaq and Lahore Commissioner Maryam Khan, alongside representatives of the Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee. For many arriving pilgrims, the reception set the tone for their journey.&nbsp;&lsquo;Happy with your welcome&rsquo;&nbsp;&ldquo;Our revered late Guru Ji has blessed us with such grace that we received such a warm welcome here. We are very happy with your welcome,&rdquo; one pilgrim told Pakistan TV Digital. The journey from Wagah leads into the fertile plains of Punjab, where wheat fields are nearing harvest and towns carry the rhythm of an agrarian season turning. Baisakhi, rooted in this landscape, marks the harvest cycle and the beginning of a new year in Punjab&rsquo;s traditional calendar. &ldquo;We have come with devotion, and we are satisfied with the arrangements here,&rdquo; another pilgrim said. The main ceremony will take place on April 14 at Gurdwara Panja Sahib, a revered site nestled at the foothills near Hasan Abdal.&nbsp;Birthplace of Guru NanakDuring their 10-day stay, pilgrims will also travel to Nankana Sahib, the birthplace of Guru Nanak, moving across a geography that holds deep historical and cultural resonance. &ldquo;The facilities provided to us, including accommodation and food, are good,&rdquo; a third pilgrim noted. Officials say extensive arrangements have been made, including accommodation, langar, transport, and medical services to support the visitors throughout their stay. &ldquo;Everything is well managed, and we feel comfortable here,&rdquo; another pilgrim said. Additional Secretary Shrines Mushtaq confirmed that all preparations were in place and reiterated that the main ceremony would be held at Panja Sahib.&nbsp;The minority affairs minister framed the visit in broader terms, particularly in the context of strained relations following the May 2025 conflict between Pakistan and India.&nbsp;&lsquo;First home for Sikhs&rsquo;&nbsp;&ldquo;Pakistan is not a second but the first home for Sikhs,&rdquo; Arora said. &ldquo;Pakistan is the first home for Sikhs, and we will continue to welcome them.&rdquo; He added that issuing thousands of visas despite tensions reflects Pakistan&rsquo;s commitment to peace and people-to-people engagement. &ldquo;Our doors will remain open,&rdquo; he said. The minister also announced that 17 gurdwaras would become functional this year, with restoration work on 34 more sites expected to be completed within two years.&nbsp;Kartarpur Corridor&nbsp;He urged India to fully open the Kartarpur Corridor to facilitate easier access for pilgrims. Beyond India, pilgrims from Europe, Canada, Australia, and Malaysia are also expected, with special facilitation counters set up at airports across Pakistan. Leaders of Sikh groups welcomed the arrangements. Representatives from Indian gurdwara committees expressed appreciation for the hospitality and visa facilitation, describing the visit as both spiritual and cultural. &ldquo;We are thankful for the opportunity to visit and for the arrangements made,&rdquo; another pilgrim said. As the celebrations continue until April 19, the movement of pilgrims across borders and into Punjab&rsquo;s heartland reflects a seasonal rhythm that predates modern boundaries, one tied to harvests, journeys and shared spaces shaped by history and land.

Foreign Affairs

Culture

The first batch of pilgrims from India entered through Wagah, a key crossing between Pakistan and India, to take part in one of Punjab’s most significant seasonal gatherings.

Indian Sikh pilgrims arrive for Baisakhi, laud Pakistan’s warm hospitality

PAKISTAN: Pakistan on Tuesday welcomed jubilant Sikh pilgrims from India, in the first major crossing since deadly clashes in May closed the land border between the nuclear-armed neighbors.&nbsp;More than 2,100 pilgrims were granted visas to attend a 10-day festival marking 556 years since the birth of Guru Nanak, founder of the Sikh faith, Pakistan&#39;s High Commission in New Delhi said last week.&nbsp;Islamabad and New Delhi engaged in the worst fighting since 1999 in May, with more than 70 people killed.&nbsp;The Wagah-Attari border -- the only active land crossing between the two countries -- was closed to general traffic following the violence.&nbsp;AFP journalists saw hundreds of pilgrims streaming their way through the border with their luggage in tow.&nbsp;They were received by Pakistani officials, who presented them with flowers and showered them with rose petals. Many wore garlands and chanted joyfully after crossing.&nbsp;&quot;We have nothing to do with the war,&quot; pilgrim Parvinder Kaur told AFP.&nbsp;&quot;We often watched videos of the shrines and dreamed of coming here, and now, we are finally here for the first time.&quot;&nbsp;Another said the welcome was overwhelming. &quot;It doesn&#39;t feel like we are in another country. It feels like we are among our own people,&quot; said Valeti Singh.&nbsp;&quot;We pray to God that when Pakistanis visit our side, we can reciprocate the same warmth and respect.&quot;&nbsp;&#39;Pleasant memories&#39; &nbsp;Nasir Mushtaq, a senior official at Pakistan&#39;s religious affairs ministry, told AFP around 2,000 pilgrims crossed into Pakistan on Tuesday, the eve of Guru Nanak&#39;s birthday.&nbsp;&quot;We are welcoming all the Sikh pilgrims arriving from India with greater respect, honor and hospitality than ever before,&quot; Mushtaq said.&nbsp;&quot;We want to leave a lasting impression of love, peace and respect with our Sikh guests so they return to India and elsewhere with pleasant memories of Pakistan.&quot;&nbsp;The pilgrims will gather on Wednesday at Nankana Sahib, Guru Nanak&#39;s birthplace west of Lahore, and later visit other sacred sites in Pakistan, including Kartarpur, where the guru is buried.&nbsp;Pakistan&#39;s High Commission had said last week its decision was consistent with efforts to promote &quot;inter-religious and inter-cultural harmony and understanding&quot;.&nbsp;The Kartarpur Corridor, a visa-free route that opened in 2019 allowing Indian Sikhs to visit the temple without crossing the main border, remains closed since the conflict.&nbsp;Sikhism is a monotheistic religion born in the 15th century in Punjab, a region spanning parts of what is now India and Pakistan.&nbsp;While most Sikhs migrated to India during partition, some of their most revered places of worship ended up in Pakistan, including the shrines in Nankana Sahib and Kartarpur.

Over 2,000 Indian Sikh pilgrims crossed into Pakistan via Wagah for Guru Nanak’s 556th birth anniversary, marking the first major border reopening since May’s deadly clashes. More than 2,100 pilgrims were granted visas to attend a 10-day festival  


Indian Sikh pilgrims enter Pakistan, first major crossing since May conflict

Web Desk

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has issued more than 2,100 visas to Sikh pilgrims from India to attend celebrations marking the 556th birth anniversary of Baba Guru Nanak, the High Commission for Pakistan in New Delhi said on Wednesday.&nbsp;Pakistan&rsquo;s Charge d&rsquo;Affaires Saad Ahmad Warraich welcomed the pilgrims and wished them a spiritually rewarding visit. He noted that the government remains committed to facilitating access to religious sites as part of its efforts to promote interfaith harmony.&nbsp;Guru Nanak, born on April 15, 1469, in present-day Nankana Sahib, Pakistan, was the founder of Sikhism and is revered for his message of equality and peace.&nbsp;The commemorative events will take place across Pakistan from November 4 to 13, 2025. Pilgrims will visit major religious landmarks, including Gurdwara Nankana Sahib, Gurdwara Panja Sahib, and Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib.&nbsp;The visas were issued under the Bilateral Protocol on Visits to Religious Shrines of 1974, an agreement that enables citizens of both Pakistan and India to visit designated sacred sites across the border.&nbsp;The Kartarpur Corridor, which once allowed visa-free travel for Sikh pilgrims visiting Gurdwara Darbar Sahib, where Guru Nanak spent his final years, remains closed on the Indian side. It has been suspended since May 2025 following a brief military clash, with India citing security concerns. Pakistan, however, has kept its side open, calling the move a gesture of goodwill.&nbsp;Indian Sikh leaders and Punjab lawmakers have repeatedly urged the reopening of the corridor, calling the closure a restriction on religious access. While Pakistan says it is prepared to host pilgrims, reduced permits and travel permissions from India have tempered expectations for attendance this year.

Islamabad issued over 2,100 visas for Indian Sikh pilgrims to attend Baba Guru Nanak’s birth anniversary celebrations in Pakistan, with visits to major gurdwaras planned. The Kartarpur Corridor remains closed on India’s side, affecting wider participation.

Pakistan issues visas for Indian Sikh pilgrims amid corridor closure

ISLAMABAD: Sikh community leaders urged New Delhi to lift a ban recently imposed on pilgrims traveling to Pakistan to visit the shrine of Guru Nanak, the founder of their faith. They said the move violates international norms and moral values.The appeal came from Mahesh Singh, vice president of the Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, the official body that manages Sikh shrines in Pakistan, where many holy places of Sikhs are located.His remarks followed the Indian government&rsquo;s Sept. 12 decision to deny permission for Sikhs to cross into Pakistan for Guru Nanak&rsquo;s birth anniversary, citing security concerns. There was no immediate comment from New Delhi.The decision by India&#39;s federal government to bar pilgrims from traveling to Pakistan for the event has sparked condemnation from Sikh organizations and opposition leaders.The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, a group that manages Sikh places of worship in India, said the decision hurt the religious sentiments of the Sikh community.Bhagwant Mann, Punjab state&rsquo;s chief minister, accused the Indian central government of double standards. Speaking at a press conference on Monday, he said New Delhi had allowed a recent cricket match between the two countries while simultaneously prohibiting a Sikh religious pilgrimageThe dispute highlights broader tensions between the nuclear-armed rivals, who downgraded diplomatic ties and suspended visas after tit-for-tat missile strikes in May. Though a U.S.- brokered cease-fire has held, travel between the countries remains heavily restricted.Despite the strained ties, Pakistani officials say Sikh and other religious pilgrims from India are still welcome to visit shrines in Pakistan under existing arrangements. Many of Sikhism&rsquo;s holiest sites ended up in Pakistan after the partition of British India in 1947.But Pakistani officials said they were still making arrangements to facilitate Indian pilgrims at the Kartarpur shrine, which is located in eastern Punjab&rsquo;s recently flood-hit Narowal district, about 4.5 kilometers (2.8 miles) from the border.The shrine is considered the second-holiest site in Sikhism.The Kartarpur Corridor, inaugurated in 2019, created a visa-free border crossing for Sikh pilgrims from India, allowing thousands to visit the shrine daily. The shrine and surrounding villages were inundated last month when heavy rains and water released from overflowing Indian dams caused flooding across Narowal, affecting more than 100,000 people.At one point, water stood 20 feet (6 meters) deep inside the shrine.Punjab&rsquo;s Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif ordered the water to be drained and the site restored, and the shrine reopened for worship and visits within a week.Pakistani official Ghulam Mohiuddin said arrangements for lodging and food were being finalized for Sikh pilgrims traveling from India and abroad. He said if New Delhi lifts its ban, a record number of Indian Sikhs could visit Kartarpur this year.Singh said thousands of Sikhs from India had hoped to take part in November&rsquo;s weeklong celebration marking 556 years since Guru Nanak&rsquo;s birth. He said Pakistan&rsquo;s government has assured the committee that &ldquo;the doors of Pakistan are open for Indian Sikh pilgrims,&rdquo; and that visas would be granted through Pakistan&rsquo;s high commission in New Delhi.Another Sikh leader, Gyani Harpreet Singh, questioned the Indian government&rsquo;s decision on X, noting that if India and Pakistan can play cricket matches, Sikhs should also be allowed to visit Pakistan for religious observances.He appealed to New Delhi &ldquo;not to play with the emotions of Sikhs.&rdquo;

Indian Sikh pilgrims visit Gurdwara Darbar Sahib

Sikh leaders urged India to lift its ban on pilgrims traveling to Pakistan for Guru Nanak’s birth anniversary, calling the move a violation of religious rights and international norms.

Articles tagged with "Guru Nanak"

Indian Sikh pilgrims arrive for Baisakhi, laud Pakistan’s warm hospitality

Indian Sikh pilgrims enter Pakistan, first major crossing since May conflict

Pakistan issues visas for Indian Sikh pilgrims amid corridor closure

Sikh leaders urge India to lift ban on pilgrims traveling to Pakistan shrine