India refuses to receive Pak train for Sikh pilgrims

http://dawn.com/2012/06/09/india-refuses-to-receive-pak-train-for-sikh-pilgrims/

LAHORE, June 8: Nearly 600 Sikhs couldn’t reach Lahore on Friday after the Indian authorities refused to receive a train sent by Pakistan Railways to Wagah to bring the pilgrims from Attari and Amritsar railway stations.

The pilgrims were scheduled to reach Lahore by train via Wagah in order to participate in Jore Mela held every year to mark the death anniversary of Guru Arjun Dev. The weeklong festival beginning on June 10 is observed in Nankana and other cities where Sikh holy places are situated.

“It is for the first time that the Indian authorities have refused to receive our train to bring Yatrees from India. The situation is really very embarrassing for us as well as for the pilgrims, as we spent the whole day here at Wagah railway station while the Sikh Yatrees remained stranded at the Attari and Amritsar railway stations despite having visas from the Pakistan High Commission,” Evacuee Trust Property Board’s Deputy Secretary-General Azhar Nazir Sulehri told Dawn.

He said the ETPB administration had made arrangements like free food, security, transport, lodging and boarding for the pilgrims. He said the Yatrees also held a protest at Attari and Amritsar railway stations against the Indian government’s decision.

Giving reason for the Indian refusal, Mr Sulehri said he had heard that the Shurumani Gurdawara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), a representative body of Sikh community in India, had made some amendments to its annual calendar of events in Pakistan by changing dates/schedule for the aforementioned event.

When asked whether the SGPC or Indian authorities had informed ETPB management or Pakistan’s foreign ministry about this change in advance, the official replied in the negative.

“We follow the Nanak Shahi Calendar of Sikh community, which is recognised by the two countries as well as other countries where the Sikhs are residing. So under this calendar as well as bilateral protocol, we had informed the Indian government about the arrangements and the arrival of Sikh Yatrees and the Pakistan High Commission to issue visas to those intending to participate in Jore Mela,” he explained.

He said the Yatrees, after being disallowed by the Indian government to travel to Pakistan by train, had decided to reach Wagah by road and they would hopefully enter Pakistan by foot on Saturday (today).

Meanwhile, a press release issued by the ETPB said that 1,000 Sikh pilgrims could visit Pakistan to attend Jore Mela every year under an agreement signed between the two governments in 1955, known as Nehru and Liaquat Pact.

No one from the Indian High Commission in Islamabad was available for comments when this reporter made calls to the HC on Friday.