New Delhi: Just 10 days after India registered a strong protest with Pakistan against Islamabad’s refusal to grant visas for an “official jatha (contingent)” of 87 Indian Sikh pilgrims for the martyrdom anniversary of Guru Arjan Dev, the fifth Guru of the Sikhs, Pakistan on Monday announced it had issued visas to a whopping 463 Indian Sikh pilgrims to visit Pakistan to observe the death anniversary of the great Sikh emperor Maharaja Ranjit Singh.
The Pakistan high commission said, “Today, Pakistan issued visas to 463 Indian Sikh pilgrims, who are going to Pakistan to observe ‘barsi (death anniversary)’ of Maharaja Ranjit Singhji from June 27 to July 6.
This time, the high commission also accommodated those Sikh yatrees who were granted visas for observing Martyrdom Day of Guru Arjan Devji from June 14-23, but could not go to Pakistan.”
