India warns Sikh pilgrims against accepting Pakistani hospitality

Ever since its inception, the Kartarpur Corridor has been at the source of Indian hostility towards the visa-free passage of Sikhs to Pakistan; most notably, the extended closure of the corridor from the Indian side under the guise of coronavirus-related safety protocols, which effectively deprived many Sikhs of the freedom to carry out their religious rites.

Now in true Bharatiya Janata Party style hostility, the Narendra Modi-led government has issued an advisory for Sikhs and Hindu pilgrims coming to Pakistan directing them to desist staying as a guest of any Pakistani citizen. The advisory further warns that the Indian pilgrims who accept the hospitality of Pakistani citizens will be blacklisted for the future. The advisory comes at a time when 495 Sikh pilgrims from India are presently visiting Pakistan to celebrate the anniversary of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Even apart from the current pilgrimage, typically, Sikhs and Hindus who come to Pakistan prefer visiting their ancestral hometowns with the permission of Pakistani authorities and to meet long-lost friends and family.

Pakistan's Sikh Prabandhak Gurdwara Committee, taking offence to the advisory, has maintained that the Pakistanis are hospitable people and it is a matter of honour and respect for their guests to treat them as family members. The committee further said that the Indian government wants to sow the seeds of hatred through such tactics.

Sardar Amir Singh, the head of Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee, while talking to the Express Tribune, said, "This is a sad step taken by the Indian government."

Sardar Amir was of the view that the fascist Indian government was trying to deprive Sikhs of a chance to see the lands of their ancestors. The advisory has been on the cards for a while now as earlier, the Indian government had raised objections that some pilgrims visiting Gurudwara Darbar Sahib via Kartarpur Corridor meet their friends and conduct business.

Such pilgrims, the Indian government contended, were misusing the Kartarpur corridor. In response, Pakistan's Foreign Office had strongly rejected Indian propaganda about using the Kartarpur Corridor for business meetings. Furthermore, the Foreign Office said that the fabricated propaganda was a part of India's deliberate campaign aimed at undermining Pakistan's historic move to open the Kartarpur Corridor for Sikh pilgrims from India and around the world and that in reality the Indian government was trying to divert attention from the atrocities it was inflicting on its minorities. Member of the Punjab Assembly, Sardar Ramesh Singh Arora, referring to the Indian government’s advisory, said that Indian agencies have been trying to prevent Sikh pilgrims from coming to Pakistan with various tricks and excuses for a while now.

“Previously, they told pilgrims that their lives are in danger in Pakistan. They also said that a visit to Pakistan might hurt pilgrims’ chances of getting visas for other countries. Thankfully, Sikhs have rejected such baseless propaganda,” the lawmaker said. On the other hand, Paramjit Singh Sarvaya, the secretary of the Indian Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, the largest representative body of Sikhs in India, when asked about the advisory, told the Express Tribune that such instructions are normal practice for whenever a group of Sikh pilgrims goes to Pakistan from India.

“The purpose of these instructions from the Indian government is to ask pilgrims to be cautious while going to Pakistan and to limit themselves to religious rituals only.” However, Sardar Amir, the Pakistani representative of the Sikh community, does not see Parmajit’s logic. “Sikhs who come here for religious pilgrimage often want to visit the bazaars and reunite with family members and friends they might not have seen for decades. The Indian government cannot just root out the love we have for each other by such absurd measures,” Sardar Amir told the Express Tribune.