Sikh devotees cross over to Pakistan

          New Delhi: As many as 238 devotees, including 150 Congress workers from Punjab, crossed over to Pakistan through the Wagah border to pay obeisance at Gurdwaras there. The Punjab Public Relation Department said 150 Congress activists led by Vice Chairman of Punjab Planning Commission R C Bhardwaj crossed over to Pakistan to pay obeisance in the different Sikh and Hindu shrines in Pakistan. During the five-day stay in Pakistan, the group would also observe Baisakhi festival in Lahore, the release added. Besides the 150 Congress workers, 88 other Sikh devotees from Indore, led by Gurdipa Singh Bhatia, also crossed over the border to join the Indian Sikh delegation which went to Pakistan under the leadership of Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandak Committee (SGPC).
- April 13, 2005

Baisakhi: SGPC delegation for Pak

          Lahore: A 3000-member delegation of the Shromani Gurdawara Perbundikh Committee (SGPC) will arrive here today to participate in Baiisakhi festival. According to the Daily Times, the pilgrims will perform all the rituals including Akhand Paat Sahib, Bhog, Ardas, Hukam Nama at the festival held at Punjab Sahib in Hasanabdal on April 14. The report states that Pakistani officials including the Chairman of the Evacuee Property Trust Board General (Retd) Zulfiqar Ali Khan and SGPC Pakistan Vice President, Sardar Bishan Singh will receive the delegation at the Wagah border, with the pilgrims leaving for Hasan Abdal on trains provided by Pakistan Railways. The paper quoted EPTB deputy administrator Faraz Abbas as saying that the department had arranged for tents, food and medicine at the Wagah border adding the closed-circuit cameras and walk- through-gates had been installed at all the gurdawaras to prevent any untoward incident. He said that other departments had also deputed their staff for security for the occasion. It's understood that mob attacks at Gurudwara Nankana Sahib and other religious places of worship including churches and mosques have forced authorities to strengthen security to prevent unsavoury incidents from taking place. The pilgrims will leave for Nankana Sahib on the same trains on April 15, reach Lahore on April 17 and then leave for India.
- April 11, 2005

Char Dham: Priests threaten to strike

          Dehradun: Pilgrims visiting Uttaranchal next month are likely to face new problems . Char Dham (Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri) priests are protesting against the introduction of 'Unified Act'. Under this, the arrangements for the pilgrimage will be done by the Char Dham Development Committee, a government organisation. Priests have warned the authorities that if the government does not take this proposal back then they would not open the doors of the temple for the pilgrims coming next month. "We will fight against the Act proposed by the government .We will not execute this Act even if we have to sacrifice our life for it," said Jagdish Prasad Dimiri, Vice President Char Dham Sangarsh Samiti. Hundreds of people from various parts of the world come to visit Dehradun popularly known as Dev Bhoomi. Till date the management of all the four pilgrim centres were done by the temple authorities themselves. This year state government decided to bring all the pilgrimage site under one authority. According to the sate government, the introduction of the state 'Unified Act' would not affect priests in any way and the procedure will be the same as earlier. Government officials are trying to make priests understand the benefits of the implementation of the Act. "The doubts in them (Priests) is natural as they are not fully informed about the decisions taken by us during the meeting. So we will try to solve this problem by talking to them. I am confident that no such thing will happen which will hamper pilgrims coming here," said N.N.Prasad, Tourism Secretary of Uttaranchal. The state government has already formed the Char Dham Development Committee and it is being chaired by the State Tourism Minister. Before implementing the Unified Act, it (the Act) is going to be discussed in the Legislative Assembly. But the protest shown by the Char Dham Sangarsh Committee before implementation of the Act might affect the Char Dham pilgrimage.
- April 9, 2005

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