Sikh pilgrims accorded warm welcome in Lahore

          Lahore: Sikh pilgrims from India who have reached here to attend the 468th death anniversary (Jyoti Jot) of Guru Nanak Dev at Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib in Narowal were given a warm welcome here by local Sikh bodies. The government authorities also joined them. Seventy pilgrims in three groups crossed the Wagah border post on Thursday, and one more group comprising of 25 Sikh pilgrims will be arriving here on Friday. Members of the Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (PSGPC), including PSGPC president Sardar Bishon Singh, PSGPC advisor Sardar Sham Singh, Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) shrines administrator Khurram Siddique and ETPB deputy administrator Faraz Abbas were present at the Wagah Railway Station to welcome the pilgrims. Sardar Bhupinder Singh Bhullar of Bhai Mardana Society, who led one of the groups said that more such trips should be organised to bridge the gap created between them by political differences. He said that though they did not face any difficulty in getting visas, yet a procedure should be introduced to give pilgrims visas at the border since the current procedure required them to go to New Delhi to get visas. Jyoti Jot that began on Thursday started with the reading of the Sikh holy book, Guru Granth Sahib, and will end tomorrow with Bhog Sahib (distribution of sweets among the pilgrims). The pilgrims also plan to visit other gurdwaras including Sacha Sauda, Panja Sahib, Dera Sahib and Imanabad during their five-day visit, the Daily Times reported.
- September 21, 2007

Haj pilgrims: Protest over polio certificate

          Ludhiana: Muslims have protested against the Saudi Arabian Govt making polio immunization mandatory for Haj pilgrims to Mecca during Ramadan. "The Muslims believe that the governments of Saudi Arabia and India have taken this decision under pressure from the European countries," Maulana Habib-Ur-Rehman, a Muslim clergy, said. The decision had outraged the Muslim community, who said that India and Saudi Arabia are acting under pressure from America and European countries. "American and European countries are trying to put a check on our growth indirectly. They think if they do it directly they will face opposition and so they are doing it indirectly," Rehman said. The Saudi Arabia has sought an assurance from India that all Haj pilgrims are inoculated against polio. The Haj involves weeklong celebrations and takes place seventy days after the end of the holy month of Ramadan. It includes several ceremonies, all of which symbolise the essential concepts of the Islamic faith.
- September 13, 2007

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