The devotees stranded at Faisalabad International Airport. AMRITSAR: In a fresh setback to Pakistani Sikh pilgrims hoping to undertake the pilgrimage to Sri Hemkund Sahib in India, Pakistani authorities on Friday prevented a jatha from travelling to India, leaving the devotees stranded at Faisalabad International Airport after they were asked to produce a No Objection Certificate (NOC), which the pilgrims claimed was not required for their journey.Jatha leader Papinder Singh informed in early Friday that the group was scheduled to fly from Faisalabad to Sharjah at 2.10am and then travel onwards to Delhi.However, immigration officials at the airport stopped them and sought an NOC before allowing them to board the flight.Papinder Singh said that, before the pilgrims reached the airport, Pakistan Punjab,s Sikh minority minister and president of the Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (PSGPC), Ramesh Arora, along with Evacuee Trust Property Board deputy secretary Nasir Mushtaq, had met them at Nankana Sahib and allegedly pressured them not to travel to India by air and instead assured them to send via road through the Attari-Wagah land border.“The issue of the NOC was never raised with us before, but when immigration asked for NOC weasked Arora to provide them with NOC but he expressed his helplessness ",said he.The pilgrims, who were issued Indian visas covering Delhi, Amritsar, Sri Anandpur Sahib and Sri Hemkund Sahib, were waiting at Faisalabad airport for permission from the Pakistan government to travel to India.“We have already missed our Faisalabad-Sharjah flight and will also miss our onward flight from Sharjah to Delhi.Had we been allowed to travel as scheduled, we would have reached Delhi by Friday evening,” Singh said.The latest development comes amid continuing difficulties faced by Pakistani Sikh pilgrims following the closure of the Attari-Wagah land border.Singh said India had issued 92 visas to Sikh devotees seeking to visit Sri Hemkund Sahib, but the pilgrims had been forced to take a costly alternative air route by Pakistan government.They had spent nearly Pak Rs 2 crore on making all the arrangements and were now highly disappointed, praying to Waheguru at the airport, said the Jatha leader.He said they had appealed to the Pakistan government to grant special permission for the pilgrims to cross into India through the Attari-Wagah land route, arguing that this would save them from missing the pilgrimage to Sri Hemkund Sahib.“We are sitting at the airport, waiting for the Pakistan government to resolve the issue and allow us to proceed to India via the land route,” he added further.
