As many as 2238 Indian Sikh Yatrees reached Gurdwara Janam Asthan Nankana via the Wagah Border on special buses to attend the 327th Baisakhi festival, where they were warmly and grandly welcomed here at Gurdawara Janmasthan Nankana on Friday. On this occasion, Deputy Commissioner Muhammad Tasleem Akhtar Rao, District Police Officer Arsalan Zahid, Additional Deputy Commissioner Maheen Fatima, Assistant Commissioner Sana Sharafat, Additional Secretary Shrines Nasir Mushtaq, Deputy Secretary Shrines Syed Faraz Abbas, Manager Gurdwara Janam Asthan Imran Nabi, and Sikh leader Sardar Gopal Singh Chawla were also present who gave warm reception.
Flower petals were showered on the Indian Sikh Yatrees who expressed joy and devotion upon reaching the birthplace of their spiritual leader, Baba Guru Nanak.
Speaking on the occasion, the Indian Sikh Yatrees group leader Sardar Surjit Singh thanked the Government of Pakistan and local administration for a warm reception. He said that the Yatrees are feeling as they are in their own home. They also thanked for better renovation of Gurdawaras in Pakistan.
Meanwhile, talking to Minute Mirror, SP Investigation Hina Naik Bakht said that foolproof security arrangements have been conducted for the festival.She hoped that Indian Sikh Yatrees would take good memories with them.
Those who arrived include three elderly men whose journey carried memories spanning more than eight decades, as they returned to their birthplace in Pakistan for the first time since the 1947 partition.
Baba Karnail Singh, Baba Sardar Shobaik Singh and Sardar Harbans Singh were among the pilgrims who crossed into Pakistan to attend the Baisakhi festival. For them, the visit was not merely a religious pilgrimage but a deeply personal return to their ancestral village after a lifetime of separation.
The three were born in Dogej Wahgariyan, a village on the outskirts of Lahore, but were displaced during Partition and later settled in Shahura, a border area in India’s Amritsar district. Despite the passage of time, they said memories of their village remained vivid.
During immigration at Wagah, the elderly pilgrims appeared emotional. Baba Karnail Singh recalled village streets, trees and a well where he spent his childhood. Baba Sardar Shobaik Singh said he still remembered the names of his Muslim friends but did not know where they were now, adding that not being able to return earlier had remained a lifelong regret.
For Sardar Harbans Singh, the visit fulfilled a long-held wish. He said his only desire in life had been to see his birthplace once again.
Their story stood out among a larger group of 2,238 Indian Sikh pilgrims who arrived in Pakistan to participate in Baisakhi and the 327th birth anniversary of the Khalsa.