M A I N   N E W S

Token jatha leaves for Pakistan
Tribune News Service

Wagah, April 11
A token jatha of 99 Sikh devotees today left for Pakistan to celebrate Baisakhi at Gurdwara Panja Sahib and to pay obeisance at other gurdwaras, from the Wagah joint check post here today.

Mr Bakshish Singh Dharowali is the leader of the SGPC jatha while Mr Harwinder Singh Sarna is leading the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) jatha. They were received by Mr Sham Singh, joint Chairman, Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (PSGPC) and other officials, after the pilgrims crossed over to Pakistan.

Earlier, the jatha led by the Panj Piaras was given a warm send-off at the SGPC office, Amritsar, amid slogans of ‘bole so nihal’. Last year, the Indian Government had allowed a token jatha of 50 devotees to visit Pakistan on Guru Nanak Dev’s birth anniversary. Before the formation of the PSGPC on April 11, 1999, the strength of Sikh devotees who used to visit Pakistan was about 3000. However, during Bibi Jagir Kaur’s term as President, the SGPC stopped sending jathas in protest against the formation of the PSGPC. During the Kargil conflict, the Indian Government declined to send a jatha due to tensions between the two countries. However, Mr Simranjit Singh Mann, President, Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar), succeeded in visiting Pakistan, using his diplomatic passport.

While the SGPC President, Mr Kirpal Singh Badungar, has said the deputation of the Shiromani committee would reiterate its demand to disband the PSGPC, Mr Parmjit Singh Sarna, President, Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee, said the representatives of his committee would ask the Pakistan Government to form international Sikh Gurdwara prabandhak committee to replace the PSGPC. He said representatives of various Sikh organisations, including the SGPC, DSGMC and the American Sikh Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee, should be included in the proposed committee for upkeep of the Sikh shrines in Pakistan and other parts of the world. Mr Sarna said the DSGMC would also seek a status on the Vatican pattern for Nankana Sahib, the birth place of Guru Nanak Dev.

Meanwhile, the International Bhai Mardana Yadgari Kirtan Darbar Society (IBMYKDS), led by Mr Harpal Singh Bhullar, would demand the immediate release of 25 Sikh youths, languishing in various Pakistan jails. He alleged that these youths were being tortured so that they could be converted to Islam. The society would also submit a memorandum to General Pervez Musharraf, President of Pakistan, seeking the immediate release of these youths. Mr Bhullar said the Sikh youths, who had gone abroad looking for greener pastures were pushed into Pakistan by the Iranian police. Their money and traveling documents, including passports, were taken away by the Iranian police. He said four of these youths were in Mach jail while six were in Baluchistan, 12 in Quetta and six were in Kot Lakhpat jail, Lahore.

In another development Mr Balwinder Singh Jahabal, general secretary, in a written press statement alleged that the SGPC secretary, Mr Harbeant Singh, and personal assistant to the SGPC chief had connived to stop the members of Khalra Mission Committee from visiting Pakistan.

Fatehgarh Sahib, UNI adds: Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) president Kirpal Singh Badungar today said Sikh pilgrims, who left for Lahore today, would not accept "siropa" (robe of honour) from Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (PSGPC) because the SGPC did not recognise the Pakistan’s Sikh body.