Lahore: Over 2,000 Sikh pilgrims have so far arrived from India at Gurdwara Nankana Sahib in Pakistan’s Punjab province to mark the 550th birth anniversary of Sikhism founder Guru Nanak Dev, ahead of the opening of the landmark Kartarpur Corridor this week.
The Gurdwara Janamasthan Nankana Sahib was built at the site where Guru Nanak Dev was born. The year 2019 marks the 550th birth anniversary year of the founder of Sikkhism. The 2,200 Sikh pilgrims arrived here via Wagah border and were received by senior officials of the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB), a spokesperson of the same organisation told this agency.
After their arrival the pilgrims left for Gurdwara Janamasthan Nanakana Sahib, the spokesperson informed. During their stay, they will also visit other Gurdwaras in the Punjab province and attend the opening ceremony November 9 of the Kartarpur Corridor and take part in the main function in connection with the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev, November 12. They will leave for India November 14.
Talking to reporters, group leader Gurmeet Singh said that they have brought a message of love and peace. He said Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s decision to open the Kartarpur Corridor for Sikhs will be remembered for a long time. “We are very happy to come here,” he said.
Amir Ahmed, ETPB chairman, said the Sikh pilgrims will be fully facilitated and fool-proof security will be provided to them.
Earlier, most of the first batch of 1,100 Sikhs who crossed over here from Wagah, October 31 to attend the celebrations visited the Kartarpur Sahib along with Punjab Governor Chaudhry Sarwar and installed the gold palki they brought with them at the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib.
The governor had then said that Gurdwara Darbar Sahib was a gift from Pakistan to the Sikh community around the world. Some 5,000 Sikh pilgrims from India will visit daily after inauguration of the corridor by Prime Minister Imran Khan he said and added that the Kartarpur project will also help bring both countries closer.
The Kartarpur Corridor will connect the Dera Baba Nanak shrine in India’s Punjab with Darbar Sahib at Kartarpur, just four kilometres from the International Border, located at Narowal district of Pakistan’s Punjab province.
PTI