Pak Authorities Ban Sikh Pilgrims to Visit Places for which They Don’t Have Visas
As 1,400 India Sikh pilgrims arrived in Pakistan to participate in celebrations marking the Baisakhi festival, authorities have put a ban on the travel of pilgrims to places for which they don’t have a visa, reported IANS.
Citing unnamed official sources, report said that the Home Department of Punjab province issued an official circular imposing ban on such travels.
The department sent the circular to law enforcement agencies and to the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB), which deals with shrines of minority communities and organises pilgrimages to such sites, report said.
The circular said that it was the duty of authorities “to provide all facilities and protection to the Sikh yatris (pilgrims). But it is important for their (Sikhs’) protection to disallow them to visit places for which they are not issued visa by the Pakistan High Commission in India.”
The Home Department asked both the law enforcement agencies and the ETPB to enforce ban at any cost, report said.
The circular said that locals taking pilgrims to places for which they don’t have visas would be strictly dealt with, said report.
