SHEIKHUPURA, April 6: Around 3,000 Sikhs from India, Afghanistan and Pakistan reached Nankana Sahib, some 60 kms from here, on Tuesday to participate in the Baisakhi Mela.

The pilgrims from European countries will arrive here on April 8 to attend the three-day celebrations commencing from Wednesday (today) at Gurdwara Janam Asthan. Sikhs celebrate Baisakhi to mark the wheat harvesting season.

Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee Pakistan member Sardar Mastan Singh told newsmen that the pilgrims would proceed to Sucha Sauda near Farooqabad on April 9. In the evening, they would go to Hasanabdal through Lahore. The pilgrims would return to their countries on April 16, he said.

Our Staff Reporter adds from Lahore: The pilgrims reached Pakistan by two special trains on Tuesday. They were received by the officials of the Evacuee Trust Properties Board and the Gurdwara Parabandhak Committee Pakistan at the Wagah railway station.

Jatha leader and Shrimani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) India member Sardar Mokh Singh told newsmen that the recent peace initiatives by the two countries had enabled their visit.

He said that people-to-people contact should continue to normalize relations between India and Pakistan. He hoped that maximum number of Sikhs would also be allowed in future to attend their all religious festival in Pakistan.