3,000 Sikh pilgrims from India have arrived in Pakistan to celebrate the Baisakhi festival.
The pilgrims were warmly welcomed at the Wagah border.
Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) Additional Secretary Rana Shahid Saleem and Sikh Parbandhak Committee head Sardar Amir Singh welcomed the pilgrims.
Speaking on the occasion, Sardar Amarjit Singh, the group leader of Sikh pilgrims, said that they have come with a message of peace and love.
The land of Pakistan is very sacred for Sikhs all over the world, he added.
Saleem said that the best facilities will be provided to Sikh guests from all over the world, including India. He said that it was sad that India did not permit running a special train for pilgrims this year.
Sardar Amarjit Singh said that the Sikh pilgrims will also visit Gurdwara Nankana Sahib and other holy places.
The main celebration of the Baisakhi festival will be held on April 14 at Gurdwara Panja Sahib in Hasan Abdal. Pakistan has issued visas to 2,956 pilgrims valid from April 9 to 18.
Among the Sikh pilgrims coming from India, there are many who have come to Pakistan for the first time, while there are a few who have come here to visit their ancestral homes.
Madhan Singh from Jalandhar and his sister Surjeet Kaur from Delhi want to see their native Mansehra.
Speaking to Express News, Surjit said that when the subcontinent was partitioned in 1947, she was one and a half years old.
Also read: Pakistan issues visas to Indian Sikh pilgrims for Baisakhi celebrations
Their father died during the partition riots, but they wish to once kiss and bow to the land where she was born.
Madhan Singh said that their father's name was Moti Singh, and their grandfather had three brothers, one of whom remained in Pakistan and converted to Islam.
His Muslim relatives still live in Mansehra’s Kashmiri Bazar. He keeps in touch with his Muslim relatives via telephone but has never met them.
The two siblings appealed to the authorities to allow them to visit their ancestral home for a few hours and meet relatives.
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