Amid news of some positive movement on the issue of opening of Kartarpur corridor, India-Pakistan ties were shadowed with controversy yet again.
Sources said that Indian diplomats were stopped from meeting visiting Sikh pilgrims from India at the Nankana Sahib Gurdwara in Lahore on Wednesday night and at Gurdwara Sachcha Sauda on Thursday morning.
Pakistan High Commission in Delhi has issued visas to some 3,800 Sikh devotees from India to attend Guru Nanak Dev birth anniversary celebrations under the 1974 framework of bilateral protocol on Visits to Religious Shrines.
ਸਿੰਘਾਂ ਵੱਲੋਂ ਨਨਕਾਣਾ ਸਾਹਿਬ ਤੇ ਗੁਰਦੁਆਰਾ ਸੱਚਾ ਸੋਦਾ ਵਿਖੇ ਪਾਕਿਸਤਾਨ ਸਥਿਤ ਭਾਰਤੀ ਐਮਬੈਸਡਰ ਰਣਜੀਤ ਅਤੇ ਸੁਨੀਲ ਕੁਮਾਰ ਨੂੰ ਧੱਕੇ ਮਾਰ ਕੇ ਬਾਹਰ ਕੱਢਿਆਂ.... #ਖਾਲਿਸਤਾਨ_ਜ਼ਿੰਦਾਬਾਦ - #ਰਿਫਰੈਂਡਮ2020 ਜ਼ਿੰਦਾਬਾਦ ਦੇ ਲਾਏ ਨਾਹਰੇ Prerecorded
Posted by US Media International on Thursday, 22 November 2018
Along with Sikh pilgrims from across the globe, the Indian jatha are to visit religious shrines and gurdwaras in Pakistan from 21st to 30th November.
While Pakistani authorities cited security concerns for not allowing Indian officials to enter the gurdwaras, a video that has surfaced shows Khalistani sympathiser Gopal Singh Chawla misbehave with and humiliate the diplomats instead of Pakistani Government security personnel barring their entry like in past instances.
Chawla has shared the stage with terror mastermind Hafiz Saeed in the past.
Referendum 2020 campaign posters, banners and flags have also been reportedly put up at Gurdwara Nankana Sahib Parikrama by Pakistan Evacuee Trust Board.
“The administrative control of Sikh holy places like gurdwara is with the Sikh Community. We do not interfere in their internal matters,” said Pakistan Foreign Ministry spokesperson Dr Mohammad Faisal dismissing Indian allegations on the matter.
#Referendum2020 Campaign Nov21-23 #NankanaSahib Sikhs From Punjab Will Be Asked To Vote in #November2020Ref To End INDIAN Occupation. @ani_digital @CNNnews18 @rsrobin1 @Geeta_Mohan @CNNnews18 @News18Punjab @JagbaniOnline @AnchorAnandN @republic @shawansen pic.twitter.com/JWFTOAMoc0
— Gurpatwant Singh Pannun (@SFJ_Lawyer) November 21, 2018
Earlier the Pro-Khalistan Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) in a statement released through its legal advisor Gurpatwant Singh Pannun announced that hundreds of referendum campaigners from North America, Europe and UK have reached Pakistan to coordinate the campaign.
SFJ activists will distribute T-shirts and Q&A pamphlet on Punjab Independence referendum among devotees who are visiting Pakistan from more than thirty countries said the statement.
ਰਿਫਰੈਂਡਮ 2020 ਦੇ ਕਾਰਕੁੰਨ ਪਹੁੰਚੇ “ਨਨਕਾਣਾ ਸਾਹਿਬ”। ਸਿੱਖਸ ਫੋਰ ਜਸਟਿਸ ਦੀ ਟੀਮ ਵੱਲੋਂ ਗੁਰਪੁਰਬ ਮੋਕੇ ਰਿਫਰੈਂਡਮ 2020 ਦਾ ਪ੍ਰਚਾਰ ਜ਼ੋਰਾਂ ਤੇ... ਦੇਸ਼ਾਂ ਵਿਦੇਸ਼ਾਂ ਤੋਂ ਆਉਣ ਵਾਲ਼ੀਆਂ ਸੰਗਤਾਂ ਨੂੰ ਰਿਫਰੈਂਡਮ ਦੇ ਸਵਾਲ ਜਵਾਬ ਵਾਲੇ ਪਰਚੇ ਅਤੇ ਸ਼ਰਟਾ ਵੰਡੀਆਂ ਜਾ ਰਹੀਆਂ ਹਨ ਭਾਰਤ ਵੱਲੋਂ ਸਿੱਖਾਂ ਦੀ ਕੀਤੀ ਨਸਲਕੁਸ਼ੀ ਤੇ ਸਿੱਖ ਨੋਜਵਾਨੀ ਤੇ ਹੋ ਰਹੇ ਤਸ਼ੱਦਦ ਦੇ ਰੋਸ ਵਜੋਂ ਸਿੰਘਾਂ ਨੇ ਪਾਕਿਸਤਾਨ ਸਥਿਤ ਭਾਰਤੀ ਐਮਬੈਸਡਰ ਰਣਜੀਤ ਤੇ ਸੁਨੀਲ ਨੂੰ ਗੁਰਦੁਆਰੇ ਦੇ ਅੰਦਰ ਵੀ ਨਹੀਂ ਵੜਨ ਦਿੱਤਾ Prerecorded
Posted by Sikhs for Justice on Thursday, 22 November 2018