DECIDING to participate in a Sikh religious function for the first time ever by observing the 400th anniversary of the martyrdom of Guru Arjan Dev later this month, the Pakistan government has said that it would restore ten closed gurdwaras in Pakistan. These include Gurdwara Dera Sahib in Lahore, where Guru Arjan Dev gave his ‘shaheedi’.
The restoration would be done through the Pakistan Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee. Disclosing this to chairman of the International Bhai Mardana Kirtan Darbar Society Harpal Singh Bhullar, PGPC president Bishan Singh said the Pakistan government would be releasing a postal stamp marking the ‘Shaheedi Diwas’ of Guru Arjan Dev on June 15. Pak PM Sahaukat Aziz would release the stamp.
PGPC president Sham Singh said the Pakistan government has allowed as many as 7,000 pilgrims from India to participate in the function in Lahore for which Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh has also been invited.
Incidentally, the Pakistan government had earlier allowed 10,000 pilgrims, but later reduced the number to 5,000, which now been increased to 7,000.
Bhullar said the president of the reception committee of the PGPC, Sham Singh, who is organising the ‘Shaheedi Diwas’ with the help of the Pak government, disclosed that Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz would also host a reception on June 15 evening for a select pilgrims.
The ‘Shaheedi Diwas’ would be spread over ten days— from June 13 to 22— as against a weeklong function proposed earlier.
A seminar on Sikh history and historical sites would also be held in Lahore on June 14, where 300 pilgrims from the Bhai Mardana Society would participate, along with hundreds of other pilgrims.