Amid recitation of Gurbani and religious slogans of “Sat Sri Akal”, a Sikh jatha comprising of 290 pilgrims departed for Pakistan on Sunday to take part in commemorative services on the death anniversary of Maharaja Ranjit Singh.
The Sikh pilgrims gathered at the office of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) before departure, where Chief Secretary Kulwant Singh Mannan, OSD to the SGPC president Satbir Singh, and Secretary Balwinder Singh Kahlwan sent them off.
The jatha was led by SGPC members Khushwinder Singh Bhatia and Harjinder Kaur, and deputy secretary Azaddeep Singh, who gave Guru Bakhshish Siropa to the devotees.
Mannan said that SGPC arranges such pilgrimages every year on the occasion of Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s death anniversary, enabling devotees to visit the gurdwaras in Pakistan.
He said that this time, passports of 302 devotees were sent to the Pakistan Embassy for visas, of which 290 were cleared. He added that there is great desire among the Sikh community to visit the gurdwaras in Pakistan and urged the governments to ensure timely grant of visas to avoid inconvenience to devotees.
Bhatia said that he was honoured to lead the jatha with the blessings of Guru Sahibans. He said the pilgrims would first visit Gurdwara Nankana Sahib, Gurdwara Sri Panja Sahib, Gurdwara Sri Darbar Sahib, Gurdwara Sri Kartarpur Sahib, Gurdwara Sri Rori Sahib and Gurdwara Dehra Sahib before attending the main death anniversary celebrations of Maharaja Ranjit Singh on June 29. The Jatha will return to India on June 30.
