Nod To Sikhs But Pakistan Turns Back Hindu Devotees En Route To Nankana Sahib, India Slams Snub

Last Updated:November 05, 2025, 09:16 IST

Pakistani officials said only those listed as Sikhs would be allowed to board the bus bound for the sacred site even though the Hindus had completed all formalities

In total, Pakistani authorities had approved over 2,100 visas for Indian pilgrims, but only 1,796 crossed the border as part of the official Sikh group. (PTI)

The joy of several pilgrims on the eve of Guru Nanak Dev Ji’s birth anniversary was marred by a startling turn at the border crossing at Wagah when a group of Hindus, who had crossed into Pakistan alongside a larger Sikh delegation, was suddenly barred from proceeding further, despite having completed all formalities.

The Times of India reported that the Hindus, including families from Delhi and Lucknow, “walked back humiliated" after Pakistani officials announced that only those listed as Sikhs would be allowed to board the bus bound for the sacred site in Nankana Sahib. “They told us, ‘You are Hindu, you can’t go with the Sikh jatha’," recalled one pilgrim.

In total, Pakistani authorities had approved over 2,100 visas for Indian pilgrims, but only 1,796 crossed the border as part of the official Sikh group. Around 300 travellers, including both Sikhs and Hindus, were refused entry for alleged procedural lapses, though Hindus in particular say they were singled out on the basis of the religious label in their travel documents.

The exclusion raised immediate protest and condemnation from Indian officials and pilgrims alike, with an Indian intelligence official calling the move “unprecedented" and warning that it could foreshadow tighter restrictions even for the coveted Kartarpur Corridor.

For the Hindus turned away, the event was deeply disappointing. TOI quoted devotee Amar Chand from Delhi describing how his family, having crossed the border, completed immigration, bought tickets for the bus—only to be halted at the last moment and asked to return. The family had hoped to pay tribute alongside Sikh pilgrims at holy sites of Guru Nanak in Pakistan.

The first contingent of Indian Sikh pilgrims crossed the Attari-Wagah border into Pakistan on Tuesday to participate in the celebrations of Parkash Purab (birth anniversary) of Guru Nanak Dev Ji at Gurdwara Janamsthan in Nankana Sahib. The main celebrations for the 556th birth anniversary of the founder of Sikhism fall on Wednesday, November 5.

The Ministry of Home Affairs had initially denied permission for the jatha, citing prevailing security concerns and heightened tensions between the two countries in the wake of Operation Sindoor—India’s precision strikes on terror launchpads in Pakistan and PoK after the Pahalgam terror attack in April.

However, after appeals from various Sikh religious organisations, including the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), the Indian government allowed the pilgrimage to proceed. This jatha is the first official delegation to cross the border since the period of military tension.

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