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500 Sikh pilgrims in Pakistan for
Saka Nankana anniversary
WSN Network
ATTOCK: As many as 500 Sikh pilgrims arrived here on Tuesday
to participate in the Saka festival. The government of
Pakistan has given
permission to the yatrees to participate in the festival. The Sikh
yatrees are arriving in Hasanabdal to attend the festival on special
invitation of Chairman of Evacuee Trust Board (ETB) Syed Asif Hashmi.
Chaitan Singh, while lauding the efforts of the
Pakistan
government, said people-to-people contact would further strengthen
the relations between India and Pakistan. He also appreciated the
arrangements made by the ETB. The pilgrims will stay in Hasanabdal
for one-day and then will leave for Nankana Sahab on February 18.
The jatha has arrived in connection with “Saka Nankana Sahib
anniversary” to be held at Nankana Sahib on February 21. On this day
in 1920, a movement was launched to get the Gurdwaras freed from the
control of Mahants who were supported by the British.
Saka Nankana Sahib forms a very important part of Sikh
history and this was for the first time that Indian Sikh pilgrims
were visiting
Pakistan to
mark the Saka Nankana Sahib anniversary. The Saka constitutes the
core of the Gurdwara Reform Movement started by Sikhs in early part
of the twentieth century and highlights the unprecedented
discipline, self-control and exemplary patience displayed by Sikh
protesters even in the face of extreme barbarism.
18
February 2009
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