Besakhi festival concludes at Panja Sahib

Religious affairs minister assures visiting Sikh pilgrims of liberal visa policy, upkeep of temples

ATTOCK: The three-day Besakhi festival concluded on Friday at Gurdwara Panja Sahib in Hassanabdal, the third most sacred city for the followers of the Sikh religion.

According to reports, around 4,000 Sikhs attended the celebrations. Of these, 1,500 Sikhs came specially from India while over 500 came from various European countries. As many as 2,000 Pakistani Hindus and Sikhs also attended the festival, adding colour to the annual Beskahi event which began in Hassanabdal on Thursday.

This year’s festival marks the 319th anniversary of Khalsa - the Pure Ones - a name for the Sikh brotherhood. In 1699, Guru Gobind Singh, the last Sikh Guru in human form, asked his followers to sacrifice their lives for him.



Gurdwara Panja Sahib is considered to be particularly important since devotees believe that a handprint of Sikhism founder, Guru Nanak, is imprinted on a boulder at the gurdwara.

Shri Guru Nanak Dev Ji along with Bhai Mardana Ji had arrived in Hasanbdal in the Samwat month of Baisakh, in the summer of 1521.

Speaking at the concluding ceremony, Federal Minister for Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony Sardar Yousaf said the government was committed to providing complete religious freedom to people of all faiths living in the country.



The government was also making efforts to keep their worship places in good condition.

“Pakistan is committed to providing security to the minorities and you have witnessed this,” he said.

Referring to the devotees who came from neighbouring India, Yousaf said that Pakistan continues to issue the most visas to Sikhs coming from across the border. In this regard, he pointed out that Pakistan had this year issued 3,000 visas to Indian Sikhs.

However, the minister lamented that India did not reciprocate and granted only 1,583 visas to its pilgrims.



Auqaf Chairman Siddiqul Farooq said that they were building a new 100-room hostel at Nankana Sahib to address the long-standing issue of boarding at the famous gurdwara near Lahore.

Sikh Group leaders Sardar Manmohan Singh, Ravindarjeet Singh and others expressed satisfaction over the arrangements made for them.

MPA Ramesh Lal in his address said that they were making sure visiting Sikh yatrees had the required facilities and added that the government had allocated Rs100 million for developing a water stream passing near the gurdwara.



Sardar Manmohan Singh, Sardar Ramesh Singh, Balvindar Singh, Ravindarjeet Singh, Sardar Balwant Singh, Nazar Lothian from the UK also spoke on the occasion and expressed their satisfaction over the arrangements made for them.

On the occasion, MPA Sardar Bishan Singh, Auqaf Secretary Abdul Qadeer, Attock DC Rana Akbar Hayat, Additional Secretary Tariq Khan, Deputy Secretary General Faraz Abbas, Deputy Secretary Imran Gondal, Assistant Administrator Abdullah Owais, Caretaker Azmatullah Khan and others were also present on the occasion.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 15^th, 2017.