Pakistan to declare Panja Sahib a holy city

The Pakistan government has decided to declare Panja Sahib, a place of religious significance for the Sikh community, as a holy city, a visiting Pakistan official said.

The president of Pakistan-India Friendship Association and legal counsel to Pakistan's interior ministry, Arif Chaudhry, discosed this when he called on Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal here, a Punjab government spokesman said Friday.

Chaudhary said that the Pakistan-India Friendship Association will organise a function at Panja Sahib to mark the occasion soon.

Appreciating the gesture of the Pakistan government and the association, Badal said he had always championed the cause for further strengthening the bilateral ties between India and Pakistan.

Trade ties between both countries had vast potential for improvement, he noted.

Panja Sahib, situated nearly 50 km from Rawalpindi city in Pakistan, is the place where the founder of Sikhism, Guru Nanak Dev, is said to have pushed a big rock with his bare hands to find water at the site. The imprint of his palm is said to be on the rock.

The place has a Gurdwara (Sikh temple) and is visited by devout Sikhs from India and other parts of the world.