Chandigarh, Sep 16 (PTI) A BJP leader on Tuesday slammed Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann for criticising the Centre over refusal to Sikh jathas to visit Pakistan for Guru Nanak Dev’s ‘Parkash Purb’ celebrations in November, saying there was a security threat perception in the neighbouring nation.
BJP national spokesperson R P Singh also asked Mann who would be responsible if anything went wrong with any Indian pilgrim in Pakistan.
The Punjab chief minister on Monday attacked the BJP-led Centre for giving its nod to the Asia Cup T20 cricket match between India and Pakistan but denying permission to send a Sikh jatha to the neighbouring country for the birth anniversary celebrations of Guru Nanak Dev in November.
BJP leader Singh said the Centre has inputs that something wrong could happen with the pilgrims in Pakistan.
“There is a security threat perception,” said Singh on the current ban on pilgrims’ visits to Pakistan.
He asserted that no country visits Pakistan to play cricket.
Many countries have issued advisories to their citizens against visiting Pakistan for even tourism purposes, he said.
Those who claimed that Indian pilgrims have been stopped are wrong, said Singh while speaking to reporters here.
He said it was Prime Minister Narendra Modi whose efforts led to the opening of the Kartarpur Corridor.
The senior BJP leader asked CM Mann to write to the Centre if he can guarantee the security of pilgrims visiting Pakistan.
Singh said it was the Modi government which evacuated Sikhs from Afghanistan.
“Wherever an Indian gets stuck in any country, the Indian government evacuates. We do not want that situation to happen,” he said.
Replying to a question on the cricket match played between India and Pakistan, Singh said it was not a bilateral series.
It is a multilateral series in which many countries are playing cricket, he said.
He further said this match was played in Dubai and not in Pakistan.
The match became a flashpoint of intense debate, with political parties, leaders and some kin of the Pahalgam victims demanding a boycott of the clash due to cross-border links of the dastardly terror act.
According to an advisory by the under secretary of the home affairs department to the chief secretary of Punjab and other neighbouring states, “Taking into account the prevailing security scenario with Pakistan, it would not be possible to send the Sikh pilgrim jatha to Pakistan on the occasion of Sri Guru Nanak Dev ji in November 2025.
Accordingly, it is requested to suitably advise Sikh organisations in your state and it may be ensured that no processing of applications for jatha is undertaken.”
(This report has been published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. Apart from the headline, no editing has been done in the copy by ABP Live.)
