New Delhi
9 April 2006
The controversy over the Jathas of Sikh pilgrims travelling to
Pakistan has resurfaced this year with complaints of denial of visas to "genuine"
pilgrims at the expense of a few, who will travel to Pakistan from April 11 to 20 despite
the fact that their names were either not recommended by the Government of India or not
cleared after vetting by the Indian agencies.
Adding to the consternation of certain sections of the Sikh community is the tacit
approval of visas by the Pakistan High Commission to about 800 persons who have
been nominated by organisations other than the Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee
or the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee for permission to travel to Pakistan
under the 1974 Protocol governing pilgrimage to the holy Sikh shrines there.
In a letter dated 3 April 2006, the Ministry of Interior of the Government of Pakistan has
told the Pakistan High Commission to grant pilgrimage visa to a Sikh Jatha from the
"Shiromani Akali Dal, New Delhi". The letter, a copy of which is in the possession of this
newspaper, reads: "It has been decided to grant fifteen (15) days pilgrimage visa to 780
Sikh Jatha from Shiromani Akali Dal, New Delhi, India (as per list attached) to visit
Pakistan on the eve of Baisakhi festival during April, 2006."
Questioning the "patronage" extended to the Shiromani Akali Dal, New Delhi, the sources
said pilgrims travel to Pakistan on four different occasions in a year. Sixty per cent of the
pilgrims are sponsored by the SGPC and the remaining 40 per cent by the states in
proportion to the Sikh population. However, the persons nominated by the "Shiromani
Akali Dal, New Delhi" manage to accompany the "official" Jatha.
"The Indian agencies vet the list before clearing the names of the persons who will
undertake the pilgrimage. Some don't make the cut for various reasons. Then how do the
persons who are not subjected to any verification get the pilgrimage visas and that too
not once but multiple times within a year when the guidelines clearly suggest a pilgrim
can undertake the journey only once in five years?" they wondered.
In another glaring exception, the Pakistan High Commission has granted a visa to a
repeat a Mr Kuldip Singh, an executive member of the DSGMC, despite the fact that his
name was struck off the list of pilgrims by the government agencies. (When contacted,
DSGMC President Harvinder Singh Sarna confirmed Mr Kuldip will indeed lead the
delegation from April 11 to 20.)
The sources said that as per the Government of India guidelines, a person is permitted
to visit the Sikh shrines in Pakistan only once in the preceding five years. Also, persons
are not recommended if any case is pending against them in a court. In the instant case,
the agencies concerned detected that not only did he visit Pakistan last year but also
has a case pending in a Delhi court.
The controversy can be traced to the denial of visas to 729 persons nominated by the
SGPC in November 2004. That year, 650 persons from the Shiromani Akali Dal, New
Delhi travelled as part of the 2,480-strong Jatha to Pakistan. That prompted SGPC
President Bibi Jagir Kaur to seek the then external affairs minister, Mr Natwar Singh's
intervention for putting a ban on this practice.
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