Pakistan is hosting around 3,000 Sikh pilgrims, arrived from India through Wagah Border to celebrate the 553rd birth anniversary of Baba Guru Nanak in Kartarpur on Tuesday.
The Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) has made all the arrangements, including security, accommodation, medical and transportation to facilitate the pilgrims.
On the directions of ETPB Chairman Abdul Rehman Ghilani, the officers and employees of the board would remain busy day and night to serve the guests.
Federal Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal visited Gurdwara Janam Asthan to felicitate the Sikh pilgrims and said that Baba Guru Nanak taught the lesson of harmony and tolerance.
The Kartarpur corridor connects Pakistani and Indian Punjab, the place of Sikhism. The Corridor was inaugurated on November 9, 2018, allowing visa-free access to Sikh pilgrims from India to visit the holy shrine.
The establishment of the corridor reflected Pakistan’s continued commitment to facilitating Sikh pilgrims and was in line with the government’s efforts to promote religious tourism.
Also read: Nearly 3,000 visas issued to India's Sikh pilgrims for Guru Nanak’s birth celebrations
Since 1947, Sikh community of India and across the world was desirous of the access to the Gurdwara because it is just about 4-5 kilometres from Pakistan-India border. Kartarpur Corridor is functioning under a MoU between Pakistan and India, which allowed 5,000 yatrees (Sikh pilgrims) to enter from the Indian side on a daily basis.
The founder of Sikh religion Baba Guru Nanak Dev Ji spent the last 18 years of his life in Kartarpur. The Gurdwara is considered to be the most sacred shrine of Sikh religion.
His birth is celebrated worldwide as Guru Nanak Gurpurab on Katak Pooranmashi ‘full-moon of Kattak’.
The pilgrims will return to the India through Wagha border on November 15.
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