NewDelhi: Bidding adieu, a group of Sikh devotees from India started off their spiritual journey to take part in the religious procession in Pakistan confirmed the High Commission today.
The group left from Delhi for Nankana Sahib in Pakistan, to join the procession ‘Nagar Kirtan’ led by Sardar Paramjit Singh Sarna, the former president of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) which also includes representatives from different sections of the Sikh community in India, the Pakistan High Commission said in a statement, News18 reports.
The procession was sent off on Monday morning by several dignitaries, including Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal reports said.
The statement also Acting High Commissioner of Pakistan Syed Haider Shah attended the send-off ceremony as a special guest.
The ‘Nagar Kirtan’ via Ludhiana and Amritsar would be crossing over to Pakistan on October 31 through the Wagah border, the High Commission said.
“Today, a religious procession (‘Nagar Kirtan’) of Sikh devotees from India started off their spiritual journey from New Delhi to the birthplace of Guru Nanak Dev, founder of Sikh religion, in Nankana Sahib, a sacred city in Pakistan,” the statement said.
The procession is being welcomed by Pakistan as a special gesture this year on the auspicious occasion of the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev, the statement added.
“Around 1,300 visas issued for the ‘Nagar Kirtan are over and above the ‘jatha’ covered under the ‘Protocol on Visits to Religious Shrines 1974’ between Pakistan and India,” the statement further said.