Pakistan recently made it compulsory for its Sikh residents to seek prior permission from their topmost religious body before traveling to other countries, especially India.
“Pakistani Sikhs will now have to take prior permission from PGSPC (Pakistan Gurdwara Sikh Parbhandhik Committee) to leave the country,” Saddiqul Farooq, Evacuee Trust Property Board Chairman told the media.
Farooq said that the decision was based on Pakistan’s want to maintain a complete record of those Sikhs who are leaving the country to visit holy shrines in other countries like India.
“We want to include PGSPC to have a complete record of the Pakistani Sikhs leaving the country for pilgrimage,” he said.
Earlier, there were no such restrictions on Sikhs in Pakistan. Farooq also said that two other committees had been set up by PGSPC president Sardar Shyam Singh and member of Punjab legislative assembly Ramesh Singh Arora to look into other legislations that have been proposed recently. The ETPB, which looks after the maintenance of minority holy places in Pakistan, later announced that a couple of residential apartments would be constructed near a gurudwara in Lahore. There are a total number of 100,000 Sikhs currently residing in Pakistan.
Photo Credits: The Hindu
