Sikh pilgrims from India arrive in Pakistan for Jor Mela

Lahore, June 8

Over 800 Sikhs from India arrived here on Saturday to take part in Jor Mela, a three-day festival commemorating the death anniversary of the fifth Sikh guru, Guru Arjan Dev Ji.

The Jor Mela will be held from June 15 at Gurdwara Dera Sahib, Lahore.

Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) officer Ghulam Mohayuddin told PTI that Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee president and Punjab Minorities Minister Ramesh Singh Arora and the ETPB senior officers welcomed the 846 visiting pilgrims at the Wagah border.

The Sikh pilgrims expressed great joy upon their arrival. “We will have the darshan (blessing to witness) of our Guru’s land. I feel very happy,” Gurbachan Singh, who heads the delegation, said and added there is a sense of belonging here.

Arora, the first Sikh minister in Pakistan’s Punjab province, said all the arrangements for the Sikh pilgrims have been made by the ETPB, which looks after the affairs of the minorities in the country.

Special arrangements have been made for the security, transport and medical facilities of the pilgrims, he said.

Soon after their arrival, the pilgrims left for Gurdwara Panja Sahib in Hasanabdal, about 400-odd km northwest from here.

During their 10-day stay, the Indian Sikhs pilgrims would also visit Gurdwara Janam Asthan, Nankana Sahib, the birthplace of Guru Nanak; Gurdwara Sacha Sauda, Farooqabad; Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib, Narowal; and Gurdwara Rohri Sahib, Aminabad.

They will return on June 17.