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Over one thousand Sikhs from India arrived at Gurdwara Punja Sahib in Pakistan's Hassan Abdal city on Sunday, 3 November, as part of the 'Nagar Kirtan', a religious procession, held to mark the 550th birth anniversary of Sikhism founder Guru Nanak Dev.
Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) Deputy Secretary Shrines Imran Gondal said that more than 1,100 Sikhs crossed the border through Wagah on 31 October via Ludhiana and Amritsar, the Dawn reported.
The Sikh pilgrims visited Gurdwara Janamasthan, Nankana Sahib, Gurdwara Sacha Sauda Farooqabad and other shrines. The pilgrimage will conclude at Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur, where a gold palanquin 'Palki Sahib' will be installed.
Gondal said the board, in collaboration with the Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parbhand Committee and the district administration, has made security and accommodation arrangements for Indian and local Sikh pilgrims.
Speaking to media, a number of pilgrims hailed the initiative to open the Kartarpur Corridor to facilitate the Sikh community, and lauded Prime Minister Imran Khan for laying the foundation stone for the Baba Guru Nanak University in Nankana Sahib and issuing a commemorative coin on the occasion of the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev.
Former president of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee, Sardar Paramjit Singh Sarna, praised the opening of the Kartarpur corridor, saying it was a longstanding desire of the Sikh community to be able to visit one of their holiest sites in Pakistan visa-free.
Notwithstanding a chill in bilateral ties over Kashmir, Pakistan and India after tough negotiations signed a landmark agreement last month to operationalise the historic Kartarpur Corridor to allow Indian Sikh pilgrims to visit the holy Darbar Sahib in Pakistan.
Pakistan has announced that Sikh pilgrims from India would only need a valid ID and not a passport to travel to Kartarpur and are not required to register 10 days in advance to visit the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib.
The prime minister also announced that the pilgrims who arrive on the day of the Kartarpur corridor's opening on 9 November and on the 550th birth anniversary of the Sikh Guru on 12 November will not be charged a fee of USD 20 to visit the holy shrine.
He also thanked the government for constructing a new building at Gurdwara Dera Sahib in Lahore.
He said Indian Sikhs were grateful to the government for issuing them the maximum number of visas, adding: Pakistan is sacred to us and we love it, and we come here with a message of peace and brotherhood.
He said the opening of the Kartarpur Corridor was a great gift to the Sikh community, and that "Pakistan is a pure land for Sikhs and a second home for the Sikh community around the world."
Attock District Police Officer Shahzad Nadeem Bukhari reviewed security arrangements for the protection of the Sikh pilgrims. He told the media that multilayered security plans have been made to ensure that visiting pilgrims are safe.
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