Modi govt faces backlash for preventing Sikh pilgrims from travelling to Pakistan

The Modi government has refused permission to Sikh pilgrims to travel to Pakistan in November for the Parkash Parb of Guru Nanak.

According to a letter dated September 12, addressed to the chief secretaries of Punjab, Haryana and Delhi, state authorities were instructed to inform Sikh organisations and halt the processing of pilgrimage applications, The New Indian Express reported.

“In view of the prevailing security situation with Pakistan, it will not be possible to send the Sikh pilgrims’ jatha," read the letter. "Sikh organisations in your state may be apprised accordingly, and the processing of applications should be stopped with immediate effect."

The decision has drawn sharp criticism from political and religious leaders in Punjab.

Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann accused the Centre of adopting “double standards” by allowing cricket fixtures between India and Pakistan while blocking Sikh devotees from visiting holy sites.

“If you can permit cricket matches in the Asia Cup, why should Punjabis’ religious devotion towards their shrines in Pakistan be dismissed? Either allow all kinds of engagements with Pakistan or none. You permit cricket ties because the ICC is headed by ‘bade sahib ke ladle,’ but you deny Sikhs access to their gurdwaras due to strained relations after Operation Sindoor,” Mann remarked.

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He further questioned why trade through Wagah remains suspended while goods move between Gujarat, Mumbai and Karachi. “Does this not expose the BJP’s anti-Punjab, anti-Punjabi mindset? Perhaps they resent Punjabis because farmers forced them to repeal the three farm laws,” he said.

Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal urged Union Home Minister Amit Shah to review the decision, stressing that Sikh pilgrims were eager to pay their respects at shrines across the border.

Congress MLA Pargat Singh also condemned the move, saying the contrast between denying religious pilgrimages and permitting cricket “shows a painful inconsistency in priorities.”

The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) expressed strong disapproval. SGPC president Harjinder Singh Dhami noted that Sikh devotees had regularly visited Pakistan’s gurdwaras for decades and that such a ban was unprecedented.