Saka Panja Sahib: SGPC sends 117-member Sikh jatha to Pakistan

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, October 28

Amid the resentment over the denial of visas to some of its members, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) has sent a 117-member jatha to Pakistan to participate in the centenary of Shaheedi Saka (martyrdom massacre) Panja Sahib that falls on October 30.

The SGPC had chalked out joint programmes in coordination with the Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (PSGPC) and Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) at Gurdwara Sri Panja Sahib located in Hasan Abdal.

On October 5, a delegation of the SGPC led by president Harjinder Singh Dhami had met the representatives of the Pakistan religious body to schedule programmes there.

The SGPC had recommended a list of 157 aspirants, of which 40 were denied visas. Dhami said among those whose visas were cancelled included the ‘granthis’ and ‘raagis’ of the Golden Temple, who were supposed to perform during the joint programme, adding that this would affect the programme for centenary congregation.

It is learnt that a team of the SGPC was still at the Pakistan Embassy office in New Delhi with the hope that visas of the remaining members of the jatha would get approved, but the chances of the same were negligible.

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