TAXILA: Sikh pilgrim from India will not be able to attend events marking the death anniversaries of Maharaja Ranjit Sindh and Guru Arjan Dev in Pakistan this month.

Sikh representative bodies and officials have decided that both events will be observed at a small scale because of the coronavirus epidemic.

Sikhs from around the world, and particularly from India, visit Pakistan, and in particular Gurdwara Punja Sahib in Hassanabdal, every year to mark the death anniversaries of Maharaja Ranjit Singh and Duru Arjan Dev.

Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (PSGPC) Pardhan (President) Sardar Satwant Singh said that the 413th death anniversary of the fifth of 11 Sikh gurus, Guru Arjan Dev - also known as the Shaheedi Jor Mela - and the 181st death anniversary of Maharaja Ranjit Singh would be observed in a simple manner due to the coronavirus epidemic.

He said the centuries-old Sikh festival Baisakhi was also celebrated in the shadow of the coronavirus, with no foreign pilgrims in attendance. Usually, around 3,000 pilgrims from India visit Gurdwara Punja Sahib in this regard.

Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) Deputy Secretary Shrines Imran Gondal confirmed the development, and said that the PSGPC and the ETPB held a joint meeting where they unanimously decided there would be no large event or mass rituals and no foreign pilgrims would participate in these events.

Published in Dawn, June 14th, 2020