‘You are Hindu, you can’t go…’: Pakistan denies entry to 14 Indian pilgrims from Delhi, Lucknow for Guru Nanak Jayanti at Nankana Sahib

Fourteen India(BHARAT)n citizens who were part of a group travelling to Pakistan for the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, were reportedly sent back after officials there said they were Hindus, not Sikhs. The group was among about 2,100 people cleared by India(BHARAT)’s Home Ministry to visit Nankana Sahib, Guru Nanak’s birthplace. Pakistan had also issued travel documents for roughly the same number of people.

On Tuesday, around 1,900 pilgrims crossed the Wagah border to attend the celebrations, the first such visit since Operation Sindoor.

However, it later came to light that 14 of them were stopped and turned back. These 14 were Hindu pilgrims of Sindhi origin, born in Pakistan but now India(BHARAT)n citizens, who wanted to visit and meet relatives in Pakistan.

According to sources quoted by NDTV, the officials told them, “You are Hindu… you can’t go with Sikh devotees.” The group reportedly included people from Delhi and Lucknow, and they had to walk back in humiliation after Pakistani authorities said that only those listed as Sikhs in their records would be allowed to enter.

In addition to the 14 pilgrims who were turned back, around 300 other people who had applied for visas on their own were also stopped at the India(BHARAT)n side of the border. Officials said they did not have the necessary approval from the Home Ministry to travel.

Meanwhile, several key Sikh leaders, including Akal Takht leader Giani Kuldeep Singh Gargaj, a Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) delegation led by Bibi Gurinder Kaur, and Delhi Gurdwara Management Committee’s Ravinder Singh Sweeta, successfully crossed the Wagah border into Pakistan.

The main religious ceremony for Guru Nanak’s 556th birth anniversary will take place later today at Gurdwara Janamasthan, located about 80 km from Lahore.

During their 10-day visit, India(BHARAT)n Sikh pilgrims are also scheduled to visit other important religious sites i.e. Gurdwara Panja Sahib in Hasan Abdal, Gurdwara Sacha Sauda in Farooqabad, and Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur.

However, the celebrations come amid tense relations between India(BHARAT) and Pakistan, following Operation Sindoor, India(BHARAT)’s military response to the terrorist attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, on April 22.

The attack claimed the lives of 26 people, mostly civilians. Investigations later found links to The Resistance Front (TRF), a group believed to be backed by Pakistan-based terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba.