Sikh jatha given cold reception
From Our Correspondent

ATTARI, (Indo-Pakistan Border): Nov 8 — Sikh pilgrims who returned to India today were upset at the cold reception and shabby treatment meted out to them by the Pakistan authorities during their 10-day stay in that country.

The pilgrims and the SGPC General Secretary, Mr Balbir Singh Naushera Pannuan, who was the leader of the Sikh jatha, narrating their bitter experience to The Tribune said that officials of the Pakistan Wakf Board, which manages Sikh gurdwaras in Pakistan, not only insulted them but created obstacles to the smooth performance of the pilgrimage to Nankana Sahib, Punja Sahib and Dera Sahib at Lahore on the occasion of celebrations of the 529th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak, virtually sealing off these places and confining the devotees to gurdwara complexes.

Contrary to the earlier practice, the pilgrims were not allowed to visit Rawalpindi and nearby places and those who went for shopping were shadowed by Pakistan intelligence agencies and told not to go to certain places.

He said the Wakf Board administrator, Mr Javed openly termed the SGPC staff which went along with the jatha as agents of Raw. He even threatened to disallow the SGPC staff from accompanying Sikh pilgrims in future.

Even their complaint to senior officials of Pakistan brought no change to the behaviour of the Wakf Board officials. Instead their complaints were dismissed at the explanation that they (Wakf staff) acted on the directions of the Pakistan Government. The SGPC was not even allowed to keep 'golaks' (coffers) at these shrines to collect donations from devotees. He said that the 'golaks' of the Wakf Board were, however, removed following a scuffle with Wakf Board staff and replaced with SGPC golaks. A sum of about Rs 3 lakh was collected as donations.

Mr Balbir Singh was non-committal when asked whether the board's interference was an attempt to wrest control of the management of Sikh jathas in Pakistan and hand over the same to 'Khalistanis' close to the Pakistani Prime Minister. He said you know better the designs of the Pakistan Government.

The SGPC official alleged that the Wakf board had been directed to dislodge the SGPC from the gurdwaras management.

The general behaviour of the public was however warm and the pilgrims were welcomed although securitymen prevented them from mixing with Indians.

The invitation to Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif from the SGPC President, Mr Gurcharan Singh Tohra for the tercentenary celebrations of birth of Khalsa panth in April next year could also not be delivered due to the refusal of the Pakistan authorities to allow an emissary to meet him for security reasons.

Similar invitations to descendants of Raibular a big landlord and devotee of Guru Nanak and to one dozen Pakistani writers and journalists were however delivered to them.

Two Sikh pilgrims died of natural causes in Pakistan for ten-day pilgrimage on the occasion of Guru Nanak's birth anniversary.

The SGPC staff brought back the body of 50-year-old Gian Kaur, resident of Faridabad in Haryana in the train which brought the pilgrims. She is reported to have died in Meo Hospital in Lahore, yesterday of blood sugar. It was her first visit to the Sikh shrines in Pakistan after the family migrated from Bannu after partition. The body was received by her son and other relatives at the Attari railway station.

The other person, who died of heart failure, 40-year-old Sawinder Singh hailed from Kabul. The body was sent to Kabul by the Pakistan authorities. He died in a hospital in Lahore on November 6.