Pakistan Denies Entry to 14 Indian Hindu Pilgrims During Guru Nanak Jayanti Celebrations

Sikh devotees wait to board a bus for Attari border to visit Pakistan

New Delhi:

Pakistan authorities turned away fourteen Indian citizens who were part of a pilgrim group traveling to Nankana Sahib for Guru Nanak's 556th birth anniversary celebrations, reportedly because they were identified as Hindus rather than Sikhs.

These fourteen individuals were among approximately 2,100 pilgrims approved by the Union Home Ministry for travel to Pakistan. Islamabad had issued travel documents to a similar number of pilgrims.

Around 1,900 people successfully crossed into Pakistan through the Wagah border on Tuesday, marking the first civilian exchange between the two nations since May's four-day military conflict known as Operation Sindoor.

However, the fourteen Hindu pilgrims—all Pakistani-born Sindhis who had acquired Indian citizenship and hoped to visit relatives—were denied entry. Sources informed NDTV that Pakistani officials explicitly told them, "You are Hindu... you can't go with Sikh devotees."

According to sources, these fourteen individuals from Delhi and Lucknow returned "humiliated" after Pakistani authorities insisted that only those registered as Sikhs would be permitted entry.

Additionally, 300 people who had independently applied for visas were stopped at the Indian side of the border because they lacked the required approval from India's Home Ministry.

Among those who successfully crossed the Wagah border into Pakistan were Akal Takht leader Giani Kuldeep Singh Gargaj, a Shrimoni Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee delegation led by Bibi Gurinder Kaur, and Ravinder Singh Sweeta from the Delhi Gurdwara Management Committee.

The main celebration ceremony will take place today at Gurdwara Janamasthan, located 80 kilometers from Lahore.

During their ten-day visit, the Indian Sikh pilgrims will also visit Gurdwara Panja Sahib Hasan Abdal, Gurdwara Sacha Sauda Farooqabad, and Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur.

Tensions continue to run high between Delhi and Islamabad following Operation Sindoor, India's military response to the April 22 terrorist attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir.

Twenty-six people, primarily civilians, were killed in that attack, which was linked to The Resistance Front, an offshoot of the Pakistan-sponsored terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba.