M A I N   N E W S

PM’s no to SGPC jatha for Pak
Tribune News Service

Amritsar, August 21
Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee has refused to accept the demand of the SGPC to send a jatha of kar sevaks to Pakistan for the maintenance of Sikh shrines.

In a letter to Mr Kirpal Singh Badungar, SGPC President, Mr Vajpayee said time was not proper to send volunteers for kar seva. Appreciating the desire of the SGPC to carry out kar seva of the Sikh shrines in Afghanistan, Mr Vajpayee asked Mr Budungar to defer the decision.

He said Pakistan was not honouring the written agreement reached between both neighbouring countries in 1974 regarding the maintenance of Sikh religious places. Though the issue was raised during the visit of Pervez Musharraf last year, no action had been taken in this regard so far, he said.