Pak cancels Baisakhi celebrations at Gurdwara Punja Sahib amid COVID-19 crisis

Pakistan has cancelled the Baisakhi celebrations at Gurdwara Punja Sahib in Punjab province from April 14, in which around 2,000 Sikhs from India were to participate, due to the coronavirus pandemic in the country, authorities said on Monday. The number of the coronavirus cases in Pakistan on Monday reached 3,277 with the infections in the worst-hit Punjab province approaching 1,500. The deadly virus which originated in China's Wuhan city has infected more than 1.2 million people globally.

"The government has cancelled both Baisakhi and Sadhu Bela festivals scheduled to be held in April and May, respectively, because of coronavirus," Mir Hashmi, the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) spokesman, told PTI. He said the Pakistan government was to issue over 2,000 visas to Indian Sikhs for the Baisakhi festival but it has stopped the process earlier because of the pandemic. "Instructions have also been issued to the management of the Gurdwara Hasan Abdal not to open it for local Sikhs for the Baisakhi festivities either," he said.

Baisakhi is an ancient festival which marks the beginning of a new harvest season. It was scheduled to begin here on April 12 and the main event was to be held on April 14 at the revered Gurdwara in Hasan Abdal city of Punjab province. Thousands of local Sikhs in addition to pilgrims from India and other parts of the world participate in it every year.

The ETPB looks after the holy places of the minority community in the country. Gurdwara Punja Sahib has a handprint of the founder of Sikhism, Guru Nanak Dev, on a boulder of the shrine. In 2019, over 2,200 Sikhs from India visited Pakistan to celebrate Baisakhi.

Under the framework of the Pakistan-India Protocol on Visits to Religious Shrines of 1974, a large number of Sikh Yatrees (pilgrims) from India visit Pakistan to observe various religious festivals and occasions every year. ETPB Chairman Amir Ahmed said all worship places would remain closed till April 14 owing to the lockdown in connection with the coronavirus crisis.

He said the ETPB has ensured anti-coronavirus spray at all minority worship places. The board also said that this year 'the Sadhu Bela festival' in Sukker, district of Sindh, will also not be held in May because of the virus. "Around 100 Indian Hindus and local pilgrims participate in this festival every year but the government has decided to cancel it for this year because of the effects of coronavirus," the ETPB spokesperson said.

Last year some 2,200 Indian Sikhs and around 100 Indian Hindus participated in Baisakhi and Sadhu Bela festivals in Pakistan..

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