Sikh pilgrims arrive in Pakistan for Baisakhi festival

A delegation of 1,100 Sikh pilgrims from India arrived in Pakistan today to participate in the Baisakhi festival and visit several historic gurdwaras.

Officials of the Evacuee Trust Property Board and Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee greeted the pilgrims when they arrived by a special train at Wagah railway station.

Special banners with messages of welcome in English and Hindi were put up by authorities.

ETPB Deputy Secretary Fraz Abbas told PTI that 1,100 'yatris' had arrived in the special train.

"A second batch of some 400 Sikhs will reach here by train later," he said.

The main Baisakhi festival will be held at Gurdwara Hasan Abdal in Rawalpindi district, 50 km from Islamabad, on April 13.
 

Abbas said strict security measures had been put in place for the pilgrims and paramilitary Pakistan Rangers had been deployed to protect them.

During their 10-day stay in Pakistan, the yatris will visit Gurdwara Janamsthan in Nankana Sahib, Gurdwara Dera Sahib in Lahore, Gurdwara Punja Sahib and Gurdwara Sacha Soda in Farooqabad, he said.