‘Spiritual home’: Sikh pilgrims mark Baisakhi at Pakistan’s Panja Sahib shrine

Short Url
Updated 14 April 2025
Follow

‘Spiritual home’: Sikh pilgrims mark Baisakhi at Pakistan’s Panja Sahib shrine

‘Spiritual home’: Sikh pilgrims mark Baisakhi at Pakistan’s Panja Sahib shrine
  • Pakistan has issued more than 6,500 visas to Indian Sikh pilgrims for the Baisakhi festival from April 10-19
  • Sikhism’s founder Guru Nanak was born in 1469 in village in Nankana Sahib near eastern Pakistani city of Lahore

HASAN ABDAL, Pakistan: For much of the year, Hasan Abdal, a small town about 45 kilometers northwest of Islamabad, remains quiet and uneventful. But this week, its narrow streets have come to life with color and devotion as Sikh pilgrims from India and other countries gather at Gurdwara Panja Sahib in their vibrant turbans and flowing beards to mark Baisakhi, one of the holiest days in the Sikh calendar.
The festival, held every April 14, commemorates the founding of the Khalsa, the Sikh order established by Guru Gobind Singh in 1699, and coincides with the spring harvest.
For many pilgrims, the journey to Pakistan, which is home to some of Sikhism’s most sacred sites, is a once-in-a-lifetime spiritual experience.
“What Makkah and Madinah are for Muslims, Pakistan is for Sikhs,” Sardar Sartook Singh, president of the temple in Hasan Abdal, told Arab News.
“Every year, around 3,000 pilgrims come from India, along with many more from other parts of the world, to Gurdwara Panja Sahib for the Baisakhi celebrations,” he continued. “This year, the Government of Pakistan issued over 6,000 visas to Indian pilgrims. Out of these, around 5,800 have arrived.”




The picture, taken on April 12, 2025, shows the foundation stone of the sacred tank laid by the ninth and last ruling Maharaja of Patiala, Tikka Yadavindra Singh, in 1989 at the Panja Sahib shrine in Hasan Abdal, Pakistan. (AN photo)

In recent years, Pakistan has stepped up efforts to promote religious tourism by providing easy access to historic sites linked to Hinduism, Sikhism and Buddhism.
A key initiative is the Kartarpur Corridor, launched in November 2019, which allows Sikhs from India to visit Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur without a visa. The site holds deep significance as the place where Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, spent his final years.




Sikh devotees take a dip in the holy sarovar at the Gurdwara Panja Sahib during the Baisakhi festival, the annual spring harvest festival, in Hasan Abdal on April 12, 2025. (AN photo)

The temple in Hasan Abdal also holds immense importance. According to legend, Guru Nanak once stopped a boulder, thrown at him by a local saint, with his hand, leaving behind the imprint, or panja, that gives the shrine its name.
Today, the site draws pilgrims from India, the United Kingdom, Canada and beyond, many of whom also visit two other important Gurdwaras of Kartarpur Sahib and Nankana Sahib.
“I had always dreamt of visiting Guru [Nanak] Ji’s shrine,” said 60-year-old Jaranjeet Kaur, who traveled from Patiala in India with her niece. “Seeing it made me happier than the birth of my first child.”




A Sikh devotee worships during the Baisakhi festival at the Panja Sahib shrine in Hasan Abdal, Pakistan, on April 12, 2025. (AN photo)

Her niece Sugdeep Kaur also expressed her emotions about their ongoing journey.
“Since childhood, we heard of the imprint of Guru Nanak’s hand on a boulder with flowing water,” she said. “But witnessing it in person brings immense peace. I’ll return next year with my children from Canada.”




The picture taken on April 12, 2025, shows the carved marble floor of the Panja Sahib shrine in Hasan Abdal, Pakistan. (AN photo)

One of Sikhism’s features is selfless service, or sewa, which is also central to this spiritual gathering. Pilgrims from India and other places can be seen working in the kitchen or helping others. One of them, Sukhpal Kaur, washes dishes with a smile.
“Without sewa, there is no mewa [reward],” she said. “No one has asked us to help, but it’s a blessing to serve.”




A Sikh devotee worships during the Baisakhi festival at the Panja Sahib shrine in Hasan Abdal, Pakistan, on April 12, 2025. (AN photo)

Amarjeet Kaur, another Indian pilgrim from Barnala, said her trip to Pakistan was like a dream come true.
“I used to pray daily to see Baba Guru Nanak’s shrine,” she said. “This year, he has listened. The care shown by Pakistani pilgrims also compelled us to join in sewa.”




The picture taken on April 12, 2025, shows a decorated hallway of the Panja Sahib shrine in Hasan Abdal, Pakistan. (AN photo)

Speaking to Arab News, Saifullah Khokhar, additional secretary of shrines at the Evacuee Trust Property Board, said there was a marked increase in the number of Sikh pilgrims every year.
“Religious tourism has grown 72 percent in the past seven months,” he said. “Visitors leave with a changed view of Pakistan, one of hospitality and peace.”
As Sikh pilgrims at the temple chanted hymns, shared meals and bathed in the sacred water at Panja Sahib, their presence transformed the quiet town into a vibrant expression of faith, community and cross-border connection.
“Pakistan is more sacred to Sikhs [living abroad] than to Pakistanis themselves,” Singh, the Gurdwara’s president, said. “Our faith began here. It is our spiritual home.”
 


Pakistan detects poliovirus in sewage samples from 18 districts including major cities

Pakistan detects poliovirus in sewage samples from 18 districts including major cities
Updated 5 sec ago
Follow

Pakistan detects poliovirus in sewage samples from 18 districts including major cities

Pakistan detects poliovirus in sewage samples from 18 districts including major cities
  • Karachi, Lahore, Quetta, Islamabad, Peshawar, Rawalpindi among cities where samples positive
  • Pakistan has reported seven polio cases so far this year, 74 cases were confirmed last year

PESHAWAR: The poliovirus has been detected in sewage samples from 18 districts of Pakistan, including major urban cities like Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi, the national polio eradication program said on Monday.

Polio is a paralyzing disease that has no cure. Multiple doses of the oral polio vaccine and completion of the routine vaccination schedule for all children under the age of 5 is essential to provide children high immunity against the disease.

Pakistan has reported seven polio cases so far this year and has planned three major vaccination campaigns in the first half of 2025. Last year, 74 polio cases were confirmed in Pakistan.

“As robust poliovirus surveillance continues in Pakistan, 38 environmental samples collected from 31 districts between Apr. 7-17 were tested at the Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication,” the lab said in a statement. 

“The lab confirmed detection of wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) in sewage samples of Loralai, Quetta, Zhob, Islamabad, Abbottabad, Bannu, DI Khan, Peshawar, Tank, North Waziristan, Lahore, Rawalpindi, Badin, Jamshoro, Hyderabad, Kashmore, Karachi, and Sukkur.”

A third nationwide campaign to vaccinate children under the age of five is scheduled from May. 26 to June 1.

In the early 1990s, Pakistan reported around 20,000 polio cases annually but in 2018 the number dropped to eight cases. Six cases were reported in 2023 and only one in 2021. 

Pakistan and Afghanistan are the last two countries in the world where polio remains endemic.

Pakistan’s polio program began in 1994 but efforts to eradicate the virus have since been undermined by vaccine misinformation and opposition from some religious hard-liners who say immunization is a foreign ploy to sterilize Muslim children or a cover for Western spies. 

Militant groups also frequently attack and kill members of polio vaccine teams and security guards protecting them.


19 killed after fuel tanker blast in Pakistan

19 killed after fuel tanker blast in Pakistan
Updated 05 May 2025
Follow

19 killed after fuel tanker blast in Pakistan

19 killed after fuel tanker blast in Pakistan
  • Oil tanker caught fire in southwestern Nushki district on April 28
  • Police say investigating possibility of negligence in oil tanker blast 

QUETTA, Pakistan: The death toll from an oil tanker blast in southwest Pakistan jumped to 19, officials said Monday, a week after the incident.

Crowds had gathered to douse the flames of the burning tanker after it pulled over near a market, when it exploded.More than 40 people were injured, many of them transported to the mega city of Karachi for treatment.

“The death toll climbs to 19,” local police official Muhammad Hasan Mengal told AFP.

The incident happened on April 28 in Nushki, a district of Balochistan province. 

He said police were investigating the possibility of negligence.


Pakistan calls on international partners to restrain ‘spoilers’ as Moody’s concerned over India standoff

Pakistan calls on international partners to restrain ‘spoilers’ as Moody’s concerned over India standoff
Updated 05 May 2025
Follow

Pakistan calls on international partners to restrain ‘spoilers’ as Moody’s concerned over India standoff

Pakistan calls on international partners to restrain ‘spoilers’ as Moody’s concerned over India standoff
  • Moody’s Ratings said escalating frictions with India would weigh on Pakistan’s economic growth, impair access to external financing
  • Last week, according to media reports, India raised concerns with the IMF on its loans to Pakistan, asking for a review of bailout

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar on Monday urged the international community to prevent ‘spoilers’ from obstructing its path to economic growth as Moody’s Ratings said escalating frictions between New Delhi and Islamabad could weigh on Pakistan’s economic growth and impair access to external financing.

Dar’s comments came in the wake of New Delhi blaming Islamabad for a deadly attack on domestic tourists in Indian Kashmir last month. India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has vowed to punish the backers of the attack “beyond their imagination” and fears have been rising that India might carry our surgical strikes or special forces raids along the de facto border that divides the disputed Kashmir valley between the two nations. Pakistan has denied involvement in last Tuesday’s attack but has warned it will hit back if it is targeted.

Speaking at the 4th Annual Regional Dialogue 2025 organized by the Institute of Regional Studies (IRS) in Islamabad, Dar, who is also the foreign minister, said Pakistan was endowed with rich natural and human resources and an enormous economic potential, located at the crossroads of South Asia, Central Asia, and the Middle East, and wanted to “capitalize on these inherent advantages for the prosperity and betterment of our people and that of the region.”

“We have prioritized geo-economics as one of the cardinal pillars of our engagement with our international partners. We are determined to enhance regional connectivity, and increase bilateral and multilateral developmental partnerships for socio-economic uplift,” the foreign minister said.

“To achieve these goals, we are desirous of peace in the region and beyond. At a time when we are headed on the path of economic stability, we do not want any distractions from our people-centric development agenda.”

He said he hoped the international community would help Islamabad achieve its goals, and prevent any spoilers in the region “from obstructing our path to peace and prosperity.”

The recent standoff with India has come as Pakistan treads a tricky and narrow path to economic recovery. 

On Monday, Moody’s Ratings said tensions between India and Pakistan would impair Pakistan’s economic growth and access to external financing. The ratings agency said persistent tensions could pressure Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves, though it did not expect a full-scale military conflict.

Pakistan secured a $7 billion bailout program from the IMF last year and was granted a new $1.3 billion climate resilience loan in March.

The program is critical to the $350 billion economy and Pakistan said it has stabilized under the bailout that helped it stave off a default threat.

Last week, according to media reports, India raised concerns with the IMF on its loans to Pakistan, asking for a review. 

The adviser to Pakistan’s finance minister has said the IMF program is “well on track.”

“The latest review has been done well and we are completely on track,” adviser Khurram Schehzad, told Reuters last week, adding that Pakistan had very productive spring meetings with financial institutions in Washington.

“We did about 70 meetings ... interest has been very high for investing and supporting Pakistan as the economy turns around,” Schehzad said.

The soaring tensions between the two countries have drawn global attention and calls for cooling tempers.

US Vice President JD Vance said on Thursday Washington hoped Pakistan would cooperate with India to hunt down Pakistan-based assailants.

Kashmir is claimed in full by both Hindu-majority India and Muslim-majority Pakistan, but each rules it in part.

-With input from Reuters


Family struggles to raise toddler after India expels mother to Pakistan

Family struggles to raise toddler after India expels mother to Pakistan
Updated 05 May 2025
Follow

Family struggles to raise toddler after India expels mother to Pakistan

Family struggles to raise toddler after India expels mother to Pakistan
  • India canceled Pakistanis’ visas after attack in Indian-administered Kashmir last week
  • Special NORI visas were granted to Pakistani or Bangladeshi nationals married to Indians

RAJOURI, Indian-administered Kashmir: Ongoing tensions between India and Pakistan have left one family struggling and worried after the mother of a toddler was expelled by India.

Two-year-old Ayiza Anjum’s father said his daughter had fallen ill since her mother was made to leave the country when India canceled visas of Pakistani nationals in the wake of an attack on tourists in Pahalgam that left 26 dead last week. 

Athiya Aslam lived in India on a long-term visa with her in-laws in Kashmir’s Rajouri district. 

Ayiza’s father, Anjum Tanweer, condemned the situation as a “dire injustice.”

“This [expulsion of Pakistani nationals] by the government according to us is very wrong,” he said. “Those living illegally [in India] it makes sense for them. But those who have families here, they have been wronged.”

Tanweer said it was the third day that his child had been crying and refusing to drink milk. 

“She is sick. It has become very difficult for me. I’m very worried,” the father said. 

Tanweer’s father appealed to the Indian government to bring back his daughter-in-law and reunite her with Ayiza.

“My small child who is left here is in a lot of distress. She hasn’t been able to eat for the last three days,” Tanweer Hussain Khan, the toddler’s grandfather, said. 

“We are all in a state of shock. I request the prime minister to [bring back] my daughter-in-law who has gone there [to Pakistan], whose child was snatched from her. I have complete hope that you will reunite them.”

On April 22, militants unleashed a deadly carnage in Baisaran valley, a tourist spot in Indian Kashmir, known for its lush green meadows. 25 tourists and a local pony handler were killed in the attack. India has alleged Pakistani involvement, without providing evidence. Islamabad denies the charge but fears continue to rise that New Delhi could carry out retaliatory strikes.

In response, among other measures, New Delhi canceled the visas of Pakistani nationals. However, it reportedly announced NORI (No Obligation to Return to India) visa holders as an exception.

NORI visas are provided to such Pakistani or Bangladeshi nationals who are married to Indian citizens or have close relatives in India.

Kashmir has been disputed between India and Pakistan for decades, with both claiming the valley in full but ruling it in part.
 


With militaries upgraded, risks multiply in any potential India-Pakistan conflict

With militaries upgraded, risks multiply in any potential India-Pakistan conflict
Updated 05 May 2025
Follow

With militaries upgraded, risks multiply in any potential India-Pakistan conflict

With militaries upgraded, risks multiply in any potential India-Pakistan conflict
  • India and Pakistan have significantly upgraded military capabilities since nuclear-armed neighbors clashed in 2019
  • In particular, India believes that it was at a disadvantage in 2019 because it had to rely mainly on aging Russian jets

ISLAMABAD/NEW DELHI: India and Pakistan have significantly upgraded their military capabilities since the nuclear-armed neighbors clashed in 2019, posing increased risks of escalation even in a limited conflict, former military officers and experts say.

Pakistan says India plans a military incursion after New Delhi blamed Islamabad for a deadly attack on domestic tourists in Indian Kashmir last month. India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has vowed to punish the backers of the attack “beyond their imagination.”

Pakistan has denied involvement in the attack but has warned it will hit back if it is targeted.

In 2019, India carried out air strikes inside Pakistan after the bombing of an Indian military convoy in Kashmir and said it destroyed “terrorist camps.” Pakistani jets conducted a retaliatory air strike and shot down an Indian aircraft during actions spread over two days.

The neighbors have fought three wars — in 1948, 1965 and 1971 — and clashed countless times since gaining independence, mostly over the Kashmir region which both claim. Both acquired nuclear weapons in the 1990s and Kashmir is considered one of the most dangerous flashpoints in the world.

Military experts say neither side will consider nuclear weapons unless pushed to the wall, but even a limited conflict would carry high risks of escalation.

They say such a conflict is likely to involve aircraft, missiles or drones, where India and Pakistan are considered closely matched, although India’s far greater resources would come into play over a longer period.

“Decision makers in both states now have a higher risk appetite for conflict initiation and escalation than prior to 2019,” said Frank O’Donnell, a non-resident fellow at the South Asia Program at the Stimson Center, a think-tank in Washington, as they had managed then to clash without nuclear weapons being used.

“But without a clear mutual sense of the precise actions, that could trigger inadvertent escalation,” he added.

Both sides have acquired new military hardware since 2019, opening up new conventional strike options.

“Each side will think they are in a better position than last time,” said Muhammad Faisal, a South Asia security researcher based at the University of Technology, Sydney. “It is only when we see actual combat that we will find out.”

In particular, India believes that it was at a disadvantage in 2019 because it had to rely mainly on aging Russian jets. It has since inducted 36 French-made Rafale fighter jets, a top Western aircraft, with more on order for its navy.

To counter, Pakistan got one of China’s most advanced war planes, the J-10, a rough equivalent of the Rafale, in batches since 2022. It has at least 20 of the aircraft, according to the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies.

The planes carry advanced capabilities, with the Rafale armed with Meteor air-to-air missiles that operate beyond visual range. The J-10 is armed with the comparable PL-15 missile, according to a Pakistani security official who declined to be identified because they were not authorized to brief the media.

To plug the gaps in air defenses exposed on both sides in the 2019 conflict, India secured Russia’s battle-tested S-400, a mobile anti-aircraft missile system. Pakistan obtained the HQ-9 from China, which is based on Russia’s S-300, one notch down.

’CLAMOUR FOR ACTION’

“Most certainly in some respects we are better off (than 2019),” said Anil Golani, a former air vice marshal in the Indian Air Force, and the director general of the Delhi-based Center for Air Power Studies think tank.

“There’s a lot of clamor for action in the country but, in my personal assessment, both India and Pakistan are not looking for an all-out conflict,” he added.

Hanging over any conflict is China, India’s rival and Pakistan’s close ally and biggest supplier of military equipment. Although the US has urged India and Pakistan to ease tensions, it will closely watch any conflict for insights on Beijing’s aerial strength.

The Chinese plane and its PL-15 missile have not previously been tested in combat.

“It could be a contest between Western and Chinese technology,” said Faisal, adding “for India, there is the dilemma of how many air squadrons to commit to the Pakistan front, as it must also guard against China.”

China and India fought a brief border war in 1962 and the two armies have clashed, most recently in 2022, along their tense Himalayan frontier.

Pakistan has a fleet of F-16s, the US aircraft acquired decades back when ties with Washington were stronger. These F-16s were deployed in the 2019 tussle, leading India to lodge protests with the US, although New Delhi now enjoys far closer ties with Washington.

This time, to avoid the political fallout with the F-16 and to take advantage of having a more advanced aircraft, Pakistan will likely spearhead with the Chinese J-10, experts said.

But a drone or ground-launched missile strike is considered more likely since neither would risk a pilot being shot down.

India has turned to Israel for combat-capable drones, getting the Heron Mark 2, and it has UA Predator drones on order. Pakistan has acquired Turkiye’s Bayraktar TB2 — used by Ukraine in its war with Russia — and the Akinci, also from Turkiye, according to the Pakistani security official.

Amid the standoff, Pakistan tested a surface-to-surface ballistic missile with a range of 450 km (280 miles) on Saturday, to show that the armed forces were ready to “safeguard national security against any aggression,” according to a statement from the country’s military. Pakistan also has a range of short-range and medium-range missiles, capable of being fired from ground, sea and air.

There was no immediate comment from India on the test. India’s capabilities include the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile of about 300 km range as well the Agni series of intercontinental ballistic missiles.

The 2019 skirmish almost spiraled out of control, with multiple missile strikes threatened before US intervention calmed the situation down.

Kaiser Tufail, a former fighter pilot in the Pakistani air force, said that India did not manage to establish deterrence in 2019, so it would aim for a more incisive strike this time, bringing more risks in its wake.

Modi said following the 2019 skirmishes that the country had felt the lack of Rafale fighters at the time, which were on order, and suggested that the results of the clash could have been different if it had the French fighter.

“If you go beyond what we saw in 2019, it is very risky,” said Tufail. “Nuclear-armed countries slugging it out is extremely dangerous.”