Pakistani authorities at the Wagah border barred a group of Hindus, who had crossed into Pakistan alongside a larger Sikh delegation, from proceeding further, despite having completed all formalities to travel to Nankana Sahib for Guru Nanak Dev's birth anniversary.
Indian officials condemned the act, describing it as discriminatory and unprecedented, and suggested it may have been intended to create divisions. Many Hindu devotees returned dejected, raising concerns about future pilgrimages, including those to Kartarpur Sahib.
The Hindus, including families from Delhi and Lucknow, “walked back humiliated” after Pakistani officials announced that only those listed as Sikhs would be allowed to board the bus bound for the sacred site in Nankana Sahib. “They told us, ‘You are Hindu, you can’t go with the Sikh jatha’,” a pilgrim was quoted as saying by The Times of India.
This was the first jatha to visit Pakistan after Operation Sindoor. Notably, the Centre had initially refused permission for the said pilgrimage, citing security concerns in the backdrop of India's Operation Sindoor against Pakistan subsequent to the April 22 Pahalgam (J&K) terror attack in which 26 civilians were killed.
However, the government later agreed to allow a symbolic Jatha maintaining the long-standing tradition following appeals from Sikh organisations.
According to News18, Pakistani authorities had approved over 2,100 visas for Indian pilgrims, but only 1,796 crossed the border as part of the official Sikh group. Around 300 travellers, including both Sikhs and Hindus, were refused entry for alleged procedural lapses, though Hindus in particular claim they were discriminated against on the basis of the religious designation in their travel documents.
