TAXILA: No Sikhs from within the country or abroad were allowed to visit Gurdwara Punja Sahib Hassanabdal to celebrate the Baisakhi Festival on Tuesday as a precaution to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

The centuries-old Sikh religious festival of Baisakhi, also known as the Sikh baptism ceremony, was participated by a few religious leaders.

The traditional hustle and bustle was missing as this year the original three-day event was restricted to just one day, and came to an end without group prayers and services.

Features such as the procession named Nagar Kirtan and the singing of hymns from the Guru Granth Sahib did not take place at Gurdwara Punja Sahib.

The Granthi or chief pastor Kulbeer Singh offered the mainBhogceremony while thepardhan(president) of the Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee Sardar Satwant Singh offered theArdas.

Special prayers were also offered by Sikh elders for safety and prosperity of Pakistan in this testing time when the whole world is suffering from the Covid-19 pandemic.

Baisakhi celebrations mark the Sikh new year and is also known as the spring harvest festival.

It is an important event in Sikh calendar, celebrated at Gurdwara Punja Sahib in Hassanabdal and attended by Sikhs living in Pakistan as well as pilgrims from India and across the world.

Chief Pastor Kulbeer Singh said that every year the festival begins with a visit to the gurdwara, followed by parades, singing and the chanting of hymns from the Guru Granth Sahib.

He said in an extraordinary step to prevent coronavirus from spreading, the Sikh community has closed all gurdwaras in the country.

President Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee Sardar Satwant Singhand Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) Chairman Dr Aamer Ahmed expressed their best wishes to the local and international Sikh community with the hope and prayer that soon Sikh pilgrims from across the world will be visiting these gurdwaras again when the situation normalises.

ETPB Deputy Secretary Shrines Imran Gondal said that the ETPB and Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee had unanimously decided that this year there would be no celebrations of Baisakhi and no pilgrims would be allowed to visit from India and rest of the world.

Sundeep Kaur, a member of the local Sikh community, said she was missing her friends from the Buner area of KP and Afghanistan.

Published in Dawn, April 15th, 2020