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Indian Sikhs defy advice to pray in Pakistan

* Official says 35 security cameras installed, 500 guards deployed for pilgrims’ safety

HASAN ABDAL: Roads were closed, shops shuttered and police on guard in Hasan Abdal, as about 2,000 Indian Sikh yatrees (pilgrims) defied advice to honour the founder of the faith.

Indian authorities urged the faithful to shun the annual pilgrimage to the neighbouring country, fearing for their safety as deadly attacks by extremists have soared in Pakistan, killing more than 340 people since October.

But for defiant Sikhs, seeing the sites where their most revered spiritual leader, Guru Nanak, once trod was worth the risk.

“I had a strong will this year to visit holy shrines in Pakistan, despite all the advice and security threats being highlighted in the media,” said Manjeet Kaur, a 20-year-old woman from the Poonch district of Indian-held Kashmir.

“If I have to die in a bomb blast in Pakistan, nobody can avert it, so I decided to travel to Pakistan,” she said, strolling in the serene courtyard of Hasan Abdal’s Gurdwara Panja Sahib shrine.

Sikhs arrived en masse from India this week to celebrate the anniversary of the birth of Guru Nanak, founder of the Sikh religion.

The tour began in Guru Nanak’s birthplace, Nankana Sahib, near Lahore, before moving to Hasan Abdal, one of the holiest sites in world for Sikhism, about 50 kilometres from Islamabad.

‘Makkah of Sikhs’: “This place is the Makkah of Sikhs. We will come here even if we come here to die,” said former Indian Army captain Amar Singh, adjusting a large blue turban and staring in awe at the main shrine.

Police were taking no chances, and Gurdwara Panja Sahib was transformed into a fortress for the pilgrimage, which ended on Thursday.

Barricades blocked all traffic on the roads around the shrine. Heavily armed police stood by buildings and on streets, while authorities banned the movement of all non-Sikhs around the holy complex.

Safeguard: “We have installed 35 security cameras around this complex and deployed 500 security guards to protect this area,” said Hasan Akhtar, a senior police official. “Pakistani Sikhs feel threatened by the Taliban and other extremist forces,” said Paramjeet Singh, 35, a yatree from Indian Punjab. afp

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