Growing aversion: India keeps out Pakistani pilgrims.
The visas granted to Pakistanis are a mere shadow of those granted to Indians who travel to Pakistan for religious purposes.
LAHORE: Even when it was unable to use the coronavirus as a pretext, India spent the majority of last year restricting the freedom of worship for Muslim visitors from Pakistan.
The Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government’s violations of the Protocol on Visits to Religious Shrines, agreed between India and Pakistan in September 1974, are nothing new to the Muslim population in Pakistan.
The Urs of Hazrat Mujaddid Alif Sani, Hazrat Khawaja Alauddin Ali Ahmad Sabir, Hazrat Hafiz Abdullah Shah, Hazrat Khawaja Nizamuddin Auliya, Hazrat Khawaja Moinuddin Chishti, and Hazrat Amir Khusro all require pilgrims from Pakistan to obtain visas each year, according to the Federal Ministry of Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony.
When asked about the situation, Mian Fayyaz, the head of a group of Hazrat Moinuddin Chishti worshippers, informed the Express Tribune that in February of previous year, the Indian government had rejected their visas just two days before the Urs.
Fayyaz mourned, “We had waited all year to be able to go; all our planning had been finished but it was all for nothing when India suddenly denied us visas. Fayyaz recommended the federal government raise the issue with the Indian Ministry of External Affairs in light of the impending 811th Urs of Hazrat Moinuddin Chishti. Even though India was open to tourists from other countries, Muslim pilgrims from the nation were not given visas for the Urs of Hazrat Mujaddid Alif Sani, which was celebrated in September of 2022, in addition to the Urs of Hazrat Moinuddin Chishti. In contrast, Pakistan grants 3,000 visas for the Vaisakhi Mela, 1,000 for Guru Arjan Dev Ji’s Martyrdom Day, 500 for Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s birth anniversary, and 3,000 for Baba Guru Nanak Dev Ji’s birthday each year.
In November of last year, more than 2,500 Indian pilgrims travelled to Pakistan to commemorate the 553rd anniversary of Baba Guru Nanak’s birth; however, only 147 Pakistanis were permitted to attend India’s Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya’s 719th annual Urs celebrations in the Indian capital, New Delhi. This serves as further evidence of India’s hostility toward Pakistani Muslim pilgrims. According to representatives of the Evacuee Trust Property Board, Pakistan has always been amenable to permitting Indian pilgrims, as seen by Pakistan’s support for the construction of the Kartarpur Corridor.
According to a representative of the Evacuee Trust Property Board, “On the other hand, India has long had a hostility to pilgrims from our side, which effectively deprives them of their freedom to perform their religious rituals.”
