Pakistan gives Visas to 220 Indian Pilgrims to visit Shadani Darbar Tirth

Despite a freeze on official bilateral dialogue between India and Pakistan, pilgrimages between  these countries is continuing. Today the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi has announced that it has issued visas to 220 Hindu pilgrims from India.

According to a statement by the high commission, visas were issued to the Indian pilgrims who wished to attend the 310th birthday celebrations at Shiv Avtari Satguru Sant Shadaram Sahib, scheduled to be held from December 5-16, 2018, in Sukkur. Shadani Darbar Tirth, a 300-year old temple, is a sacred place for devotees and is included under the framework of the ‘India-Pakistan Protocol on Visits to Religious Shrines’, 1974.The Foundation of Shadani Darbar was laid at Hayat Pitafi Tehsil, Mirpur Mathelo, Ghotki district in 1786 by Sant Shadaram Sahib, who was born in Lahore in 1708. And every year a large number of Sikh and Hindu pilgrims from India visit Pakistan every year to observe various religious festivals.

The development comes days after Prime Minister Imran Khan performed the ground-breaking ceremony for the “Kartarpur Corridor”. November 30, more than 3800 Sikh pilgrims returned to India from Pakistan after participating in the 549th birth anniversary celebrations of Guru Nanak Dev

The high commission said that issuance of pilgrimage visas was in line with the government’s efforts for promoting visits to religious shrines and people-to-people exchanges between the two countries. On Nov 30, 2018, more than 3,800 Sikh pilgrims returned to India from Pakistan after participating in the 549th birth anniversary celebrations of Baba Guru Nanak Dev Ji.

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