This year marks the 550th birth anniversary of Sikhism’s founder, an event that has energised the Pakistani government’s efforts to bring more Sikhs to the country than ever before
Under the gurdwara’s bulbous domes, hundreds of Sikh pilgrims dipped into the holy water while others recited from the religion’s holy scriptures. Here in Hasanabdal, a city an hour north of Pakistan’s capital Islamabad, hundreds of Sikhs from around the world – including neighbouring India – were invited by the Pakistani government to celebrate Vaisakhi during a period of simmering tensions between India and Pakistan.
Gurdeep Singh, a Pakistani Sikh, also expressed delight that this year’s festivities had not been cancelled due to the India-Pakistan tensions. Singh is one of Pakistan’s approximately 20,000 Sikhs, a community that is small but undercounted due to an exclusion from the 2017 census. Last year, Pakistan passed a new law regulating Sikh marriages, providing them with recognition under their own legal framework.
Wazir, however, places blame across the border for any fear Indian Sikhs might have about coming to Pakistan this year for Vaisakhi or Guru Nanak’s birth celebrations in November. “Indian media has created a lot of fear for the Sikh pilgrims, who are mostly innocent villagers travelling for the first time to a foreign country,” Wazir says.
Now in his 70s, Indian Sikh Harjinder Singh is currently on his ninth trip to Pakistan and says he will continue travelling to Pakistan as long as the country extends visas to pilgrims. Aware that trips to Pakistan are not always possible, most of the time Harjinder watches videos of Sikh pilgrimage sites in Pakistan online. “As long as a visa is issued, I will come.
Inside the Panja Sahib gurdwara complex in Hasanabdal, Pakistan on the day of Vaisakhi celebrations.
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