Pakistan bars 14 Indians from Nankana Sahib visit, says ‘only Sikhs allowed’
Pakistan turned back 14 Indian Hindu pilgrims, saying only Sikh devotees could attend Guru Nanak Jayanti celebrations in Nankana Sahib.
Fourteen Indian pilgrims, initially allowed entry by Pakistan, were sent back after officials reportedly snubbed them as “Hindus, not Sikhs.” They were part of a group of 2,100 travelling to Nankana Sahib to mark the 556th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism.
The group had received clearance from the Union Home Ministry to visit Pakistan. Islamabad, too, had issued travel documents to approximately the same number.
Pakistan had cleared about the same number of visitors, but these 14 were turned away at the last step, their pilgrimage ending just a few feet from the crossing.
As per NDTV, 14, all Pakistani-born Sindhi Hindus who later became Indian citizens, were asked to return by officials.
They were told, “You are Hindu… you can't go with Sikh devotees,” the source added. The report also mentioned that they belonged to Delhi and Lucknow.
1,900 Indian devotees allowed through
An estimated 1,900 pilgrims crossed into Pakistan on Tuesday to mark the 556th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak, making it the first such civilian exchange since Operation Sindoor in May.
The military operation followed the Pahalgam terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir, which killed 26 people, mostly civilians.
Among those allowed entry were leaders from Sikh bodies, including Akal Takht chief Giani Kuldeep Singh Gargaj, SGPC representative Bibi Gurinder Kaur and Delhi Gurdwara Management Committee member Ravinder Singh Sweeta. The visiting group is scheduled to attend ceremonies at Gurdwara Janamasthan in Nankana Sahib, about 80 km from Lahore.
Visa confusion adds to tensions
Apart from the 14 turned back by Pakistani officials, another 300 individuals who applied for visas independently were stopped on the Indian side because they lacked Home Ministry clearance, sources said.
The main celebrations will take place at Gurdwara Janamasthan, followed by visits to other major Sikh shrines - Gurdwara Panja Sahib in Hasan Abdal, Gurdwara Sacha Sauda in Farooqabad and the Kartarpur Sahib corridor.
Diplomatic tensions between India and Pakistan remain strained since April’s Pahalgam attack, traced to The Resistance Front, an offshoot of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba. The denial of entry to the Hindu pilgrims has added another layer of bitterness to an already fragile people-to-people relationship between the two neighbours.