Sikh jatha waited endlessly for passports

[me moorakh mugadh]

AMRITSAR: The delay in submitting the passports by the Pakistan High Commission is said to have prevented the Sikh jatha from leaving for Pakistan. The jatha would now leave on Saturday to mark the martyrdom of Guru Arjan Dev at Gurdwara Dera Sahib, Lahore, on June 16.

The delay put many Sikh devotees who had arrived at the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) complex from far flung places through a lot of inconvenience. They said that they waited endlessly for the passports to arrive as the SGPC officials kept them giving assurances that they were arriving throughout the day.

Jaspal Singh, in-charge Yatra Branch, said that the ministry of home affairs (MHA) had struck out 11 names of persons aspiring to be part of the jatha while the Pakistan high commission has struck out 28 names from the list.

Close to 10 devotees sponsored by Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee were also denied visas. Interestingly, all the 21 SGPC employees including one member have been granted visas.

Sources claimed that the names were deleted by the MHA on getting complaints from Sikh devotees from other parts of the country, especially Patna, that they were not being given proper representation in the jatha. The Pakistan high commission is said to have deleted names of persons who have already travelled with the jatha and those who go to Pakistan for business purposes.

Amrik Singh who had been waiting for his passport at the SGPC complex said, "They (SGPC) are least bothered about what the devotees are going through. I arrived here at 7 am. Nobody has bothered to tell me when is the jatha expected to leave." Other Sik

h devotees who had come in from Chandigarh and Jammu expressed similar views.

Hardev Kaur, resident of Chandigarh, said that she was thoroughly confused and did not know if she should return or stay in Amritsar. "The formalities should have been completed days before sending the jatha to Pakistan," she added.