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Weeks aft helium was told his pilgrimage to Sikh shrines successful Pakistan, including Nankana Sahib, had been cancelled, Harjindarpal Singh’s disappointment turned to unbridled joyousness connected Friday (October 31, 2025) arsenic helium received his passport and Pakistani visa. The Hoshiarpur nonmigratory is 1 of 2,100 Sikh pilgrims who were issued visas by the Pakistan High Commission successful Delhi aft the Indian authorities reversed its stand, allowing the groups to travel.
“In September, when I received the quality that our government was not allowing pilgrims to Nankana Sahib, I was taken aback and disappointed. I had been preparing for this travel for months,” the 50-year-old devotee told The Hindu. “This pilgrimage means everything to me. It’s not conscionable a trip—it’s a spiritual calling,” helium said.
Mr. Singh, who collected his passport with the visa from the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbhandak Committee (SGPC) bureau successful Amritsar, is portion of the Jathas that volition permission connected November 4 implicit the Wagah border, and instrumentality connected November 13. These groups, that program to people Sikh-founder Guru Nanak’s commencement day astatine his birthplace successful Pakistan, volition beryllium the archetypal to beryllium allowed to question to Pakistan since Operation Sindoor.
Sikh pilgrims bound for Pakistan for the 10-day pilgrimage to Guru Nanak Dev's birthplace, Nankana Sahib, with their passports aft visa processing from the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) office, successful Amritsar connected Friday. | Photo Credit: ANI
Welcoming the government’s determination to reverse its earlier ban, SGPC caput Partap Singh thanked some the Indian and Pakistani governments for facilitating the “smooth issuance of visas to the pilgrims”. Of the 2,100 pilgrims issued visas, 1,796 pilgrims are from Punjab, portion others are from Haryana, Delhi, Uttarakhand, Jammu, and Uttar Pradesh, an SGPC authoritative said.
U-turn connected pilgrimages
Meanwhile, disorder prevails wrong the Centre implicit whose determination it was to halt and past restart the pilgrimages now, with the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) refusing to remark publically connected the issue. MEA officials said the determination was taken by the MHA, portion according to an MHA official, “some selected groups” person been permitted aft the MEA forwarded their request, cleared by State governments.
On September 12, conscionable arsenic the Jathas were readying their sojourn to Pakistan, usually timed astir Prakash Purb, oregon Guru Nanak’s day successful November, the MHA sent notices to the State governments involved, to suspend each arrangements for the pilgrims.
“Considering the prevailing information script with Pakistan, it would not beryllium imaginable to send Sikh pilgrims’ jathas (groups) to Pakistan,” said the MHA’s announcement to States governments , prompting calls from the Punjab authorities and SGPC leaders to reconsider the decision.
Sources said the announcement was rescinded little than a period aboriginal successful aboriginal October, but did not explicate the reasoning down the u-turn. Both MEA and MHA officials declined to respond to questions from The Hindu about whether the information concern successful Pakistan has present improved sufficiently for the groups to beryllium allowed to transverse the border.
Kartarpur Sahib corridor shut
In addition, portion the Pakistan authorities said that the groups would beryllium facilitated to question to Kartarpur Sahib arsenic well, the Kartarpur Sahib corridor inaugurated by some countries successful 2020 remains closed, indicating they volition instrumentality a longer roadworthy way to scope the shrines.
The MHA website for the Kartarpur Corridor states that, “considering the extant information scenario, the services of Sri Kartarpur Sahib Corridor is suspended till further directions”.
It is unclear whether different spiritual question betwixt the 2 countries, suspended since the India-Pakistan struggle successful May aft the Pahalgam attacks, volition present beryllium permitted arsenic well. According to the 1974 Protocol connected spiritual exchanges, India and Pakistan agreed to facilitate groups from assorted spiritual communities to sojourn beatified shrines successful each other’s countries, and thousands of Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs successful some countries avail of the statement each year. An authoritative said that nary petition has been received from Pakistan successful this regard.
All existing visas to Pakistani nationals were revoked by India connected April 24 aft the Pahalgam attack, and the issuance of caller visas for different travel, including for aesculapian treatment, concern and visiting relatives, inactive stay suspended, a determination that Pakistan replicated for Indian citizens.
(with inputs from Vijaita Singh)
