Amritsar: Pakistani authorities Friday prevented a jatha from travelling to India to undertake the pilgrimage to Sri Hemkund Sahib, leaving them stranded at Faisalabad International Airport for a while. Jatha leader Papinder Singh said the group was scheduled to fly from Faisalabad to Sharjah at 2.10am and then travel onwards to Delhi. However, immigration officials at Faisalabad stopped them and demanded an NOC before allowing them to board. The pilgrims said an NOC was not required.Papinder said that before the pilgrims reached the airport, Pakistan Punjab’s Sikh minority minister and president of Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (PSGPC), Ramesh Arora, along with Evacuee Trust Property Board deputy secretary Nasir Mushtaq, met them at Nankana Sahib and allegedly pressured them not to travel to India by air and instead assured them to send them via road through the Attari-Wagah land border.“The issue of NOC was never raised with us. When immigration asked for NOC, we asked Arora to provide it, but he expressed his helplessness,” said Papinder.The pilgrims, who were issued Indian visas covering Delhi, Amritsar, Sri Anandpur Sahib and Sri Hemkund Sahib in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli, waited at Faisalabad airport for permission from Pakistan govt to travel to India.This comes amid continuing difficulties faced by Pakistani Sikh pilgrims following closure of the Attari-Wagah land border. Papinder said India issued 92 visas to Sikh devotees seeking to visit Sri Hemkund Sahib.They had spent nearly Rs 2 crore (in Pakistani money) in making all arrangements and were now highly disappointed.Later in the evening, pilgrims had a meeting with officials of the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB), with the board seeking four days to decide on the group’s request for special permission to travel to India via the Wagah-Attari land route, said Papinder. He said the ETPB would also explore the possibility of arranging air travel so that the pilgrims could complete their pilgrimage to Hemkund Sahib. Following the discussions, the pilgrims dispersed and returned home. “We will now wait for the ETPB’s response and decide our future course of action accordingly,” Papinder said.
