WAH CANTT – Around 3,000 Sikh yatris, mostly from India, are expected to arrive on Monday (today) at Gurdwara Punja Sahib, Hassan Abdal, to offer religious rituals in connection with 312th Besakhi festival.
Talking to newsmen here at Hassan Abdal on Sunday, Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) Deputy Secretary Syed Faraz Abbas said that Indian Sikh yatris would arrive at Hassanabdal on Monday (today) through special trains via Wagha border for a three-day stay to offer religious rituals.
He said all high-ranking officials of ETPB and the district administration, besides representatives from Pakistani Sikh bodies, would welcome the yatris. “We have finalised security and other necessary arrangements, including food and accommodation, at Gurdwara Punja Sahib for the yatris,” he stated.
He said the Sikh yatris from India and other countries would leave for Nankana Sahib on April 14 after attending the main function ‘Bhog’. They would leave for Gurdwara Dera Sahib, Lahore, on April 17 and for India on April 19, he said. The ETPB deputy secretary said a large number of Sikh yatris from various other parts of the world, including UK, France, USA, Canada and UAE, were also expected to arrive here to offer religious rituals in connection with the Besakhi festival.
Sikhs and Hindus from other parts of the country, including FATA, Peshawar, Swat, Tando Adam, Larkana, Sukkur, Badin, Umar Kot, Karachi and Lahore, would also join the Besakhi celebrations, he concluded.
