AMRITSAR: Sikh devotees from India will not be able to visit Pakistan this year to observe the martyrdom day of Guru Arjan Dev ji since Pakistan government has not given permission due to Covid-19 restrictions.
Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) president Bibi Jagir Kaur said that giving the reason of COVID-19 pandemic, Pakistan government has not given permission. “SGPC was fully prepared to send the jatha (batch of devotees) to Pakistan, she said.
SGPC’s assistant secretary media Kulwinder Singh Ramdas said, “The Yatra Department of SGPC talked telephonically to Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee's (PSGPC's) president Satwant Singh, who informed that due to the COVID-19 situation the jatha coming to Pakistan on the occasion of Shaheedi Diwas (martyrdom day) of the fifth Guru has not been given permission by the government.”
The pilgrims who had deposited their passports for going to Pakistan on the occasion of martyrdom day of Gutu Arjan Dev can collect them back from the SGPC’s Yatra Department”, said Kulwinder Singh.
The jatha of Sikh pilgrims which goes to Pakistan every year to mark the martyrdom day of Sri Guru Arjan Dev Ji, the fifth Sikh master at Gurdwara Dehra Sahib in Lahore.
The jatha was scheduled to depart for Pakistan on June 6 to mark the martyrdom day on June 14.