Sikhs Pilgrims Allowed To Visit Pakistan After India Reverses Ban
On a crisp fall morning in Amritsar, Jagjit Singh stood at the gates of his local Sikh temple clutching a folder thick with documents, identity papers, passport copies, and the pilgrimage forms he had painstakingly filled out since June.
Last month, his hopes had been dashed by an advisory from India’s Ministry of Home Affairs barring the pilgrimage following “Operation Sindoor.”
Like thousands of other Sikh devotees across Punjab, he had been preparing for months to make the sacred journey across the border to Sri Nankana Sahib Gurdwara in Pakistan, the birthplace of Guru Nanak Dev Ji, the founder of Sikhism, for Prakash Purab, which celebrates the birth of the Guru.
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“The government gave permission for the India-Pakistan cricket match and not our pilgrimage,” Singh said, his voice heavy with frustration. “For Sikhs, Kartarpur Sahib is like Mecca and Madina for Muslims and Ayodhya for Hindus.”
In a latest move, the government reversed that ban. India’s Ministry of Home Affairs announced that Sikh pilgrims will now be allowed to visit Pakistan next month. However, only applications sponsored by recognised Sikh religious bodies (after being vetted by authorities) will be accepted.
The reversal has brought relief and renewed hope for devotees like Singh.
“This is what we prayed for,” he said after hearing the announcement. “Faith cannot be fenced by politics.”
The decision follows months of appeals from Sikh religious bodies and Punjab’s political leadership. Earlier, more than 2,000 pilgrims across Punjab had completed their preparations before the government halted the pilgrimage, citing “security concerns.”
The ban came in the aftermath of the April 22 terror attack in the Baisaran Valley near Pahalgam Kashmir, where heavily armed gunmen killed 26 civilians, including newlyweds and a local Muslim guide who tried to resist them.
The Resistance Front, believed to be a proxy of Lashkar-e-Taiba, initially claimed responsibility before retracting it. The massacre, India’s deadliest since the 2008 Mumbai attacks, prompted “Operation Sindoor,” a precision strike across the border described by Indian officials as “non-escalatory and non-targeting of military installations.”
The operation, however, led to a temporary freeze on all religious exchanges with Pakistan, including the annual Sikh pilgrimage to Nankana Sahib. For many elderly devotees, it had meant losing what they saw as their final chance to bow before their Guru’s birthplace.
“Our faith is not political,” said Balbir Singh, a septuagenarian from Jalandhar. “To cancel now, when cricket matches are allowed, hurts deeply.”
A cross-border tradition
The earlier ban had set off a political firestorm in Punjab, but both the The SGPC, which manages Sikh temples in Punjab, and the Akal Takht, which represents the highest seat of earthly authority for Sikhs, applauded the reversal.
“The SGPC appreciates this decision,” said its president, Harjinder Singh Dhami.
He emphasized that the Parkash Purab of Guru Nanak Dev, the first of the 10 Sikh Gurus, holds profound significance not only for the Sikh community, but for humanity at large. On this sacred occasion, Sikh devotees carry a deep emotional desire for this pilgrimage.
The Sikh tradition of cross-border pilgrimage dates back to Partition in 1947 — when several of Sikhism’s holiest shrines, including Nankana Sahib, Kartarpur Sahib and Panja Sahib — ended up in Pakistan, leaving a spiritual void for millions. In 1974, India and Pakistan signed a bilateral protocol to facilitate religious visits, allowing limited travel for Sikh, Hindu and Muslim pilgrims.
Even wars did not interrupt the tradition. Pilgrimages continued through the conflicts of 1965, 1971 and even during the 1999 Kargil War. To many Sikhs, the post-”Operation Sindoor” ban represented a break with this continuity.
The 2019 inauguration of the Kartarpur Corridor had briefly revived optimism. The 2.9-mile visa-free passage from Dera Baba Nanak in India to Kartarpur Sahib in Pakistan was hailed as a diplomatic breakthrough. For the first time, ordinary Sikhs could access one of their holiest sites without layers of red tape. But following the Pahalgam attack, India closed its side of the corridor indefinitely, another setback for the community.
‘Ready whenever the gates open’
By reopening the pilgrimage route, the government appears to be recalibrating, acknowledging Sikh sentiments while maintaining oversight through tighter screening. Officials said security reviews will continue to guide future clearances, but for now, the move restores a tradition that has endured for decades.
In Punjab’s Sikh temples, the mood is one of cautious joy. Families that had cancelled plans are quietly preparing again.
“We are ready whenever the gates open,” said a pilgrim from Ferozepur who did not want to be identified by name. “Guru Nanak’s message is peace; it should not stop at the border.”
Officials emphasized that while the ban has been lifted, strict security protocols remain. Every application will undergo vetting by state police and intelligence agencies, before final approval.
In a region where conflict too often defines identity, the reopening of the pilgrimage route offers a reminder of what endures. Guru Nanak’s teachings — compassion, equality and unity — continue to resonate across political borders.
By lifting the ban, India has not just reopened a route for Sikh pilgrims, it has reopened a small but vital corridor of trust, where devotion might again momentarily eclipse division.
Zaffar Iqbal is a journalist based in Kashmir, India. He has reported on armed encounters, environmental issues, crime, politics, culture and human rights. He’s formerly the bureau chief of Jammu-Kashmir for NDTV.