Good move by Pakistan government to promote tolerance and friendship. :k:
**Sikh pilgrims enter Pakistan city **
Thousands of Sikhs from India are due to arrive in the Pakistani city of Lahore to mark the 400th anniversary of the death of a religious leader. Nearly 200 Sikhs have already arrived in Pakistan to take part in ceremonies to mark the killing of Guru Arjun Dev. Last year, nearly 2,000 Sikhs crossed over on a pilgrimage to the birthplace of Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism. It was the first time since partition in 1947 that such a procession of Sikhs was granted entry by Pakistan. Sikhs regard Guru Arjun Dev as one of the holiest martyrs of their faith. His killing during the rule of Mughal king Jehangir in the early 17th Century triggered a protracted conflict between the Mughal dynasty and the Sikh community.
A BBC correspondent in Lahore says this is the first time the Pakistani government is allowing large-scale movement of Sikhs from India to pay tribute to a saint whose role in history has served as a dividing line between the Sikh and Muslim communities across the subcontinent. Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz had given instructions to issue visas to as many as 5,000 visitors from India for the anniversary celebrations, according to Pakistani organisers.
Re: Thousands of Sikh pilgrims to be welcomed by Pakistan
Yup, it shows that our leaders are prepared to welcome people of other faiths (even whose beliefs we may disgaree with) into Pakistan, which others in the region and beyond can learn from.
Re: Thousands of Sikh pilgrims to be welcomed by Pakistan
It's only on a larger scale this time, sikhs have been coming to Pak for years, and its a great tradition which must be carried on at an even larger level in the future!
Re: Thousands of Sikh pilgrims to be welcomed by Pakistan
there is nothing wrong with it, it should be promoted more to attract visitors to Pakistan. so they can see the reality on the ground instead of fed by wrong media perception.
Re: Thousands of Sikh pilgrims to be welcomed by Pakistan
Well the person at fault responsible for the demolition was some low level $hit and did not represent Pakistan as a whole. However, the prime minisers policy to allow large scale pilgrimations into the country does represent the country's attitude toward the sikhs, because the government is representative of its country far far greater than any one single person.
Re: Thousands of Sikh pilgrims to be welcomed by Pakistan
I'm not really sure what you are saying here. If , as you say, a "low level $hit" didn't think he could do it without impunity, he wouldn't have. What that means is that he knew his superiors are not going to care. Why would they?
Anyway, allow Sikhs to visit their Shrines is a good gesture, the ones that remain anyway.
Re: Thousands of Sikh pilgrims to be welcomed by Pakistan
The point is, Pakistani people, on this forum and otherwise, condemn this demolition, and only a handfull of the diehard kill-hindu people remain within the majority of people who have grown out of such hatred. This is proven very well by how the sikh are welcome to Pakistan thing. We have put up our show of gesture of freindship, but I havent seen much from the Indian side, apart from some fireworks using pages from the Quran for fuel. But Im not going to be narrow-minded here, the people who were burning the Quran publicly do not represent Indian community as a whole at all :)
Re: Thousands of Sikh pilgrims to be welcomed by Pakistan
Actually, when Chief Minister of West Punjab visited Chief Minister of East Punjab, he exchanged pagar with him and called him his brother in ethnicity. He said, the same blood is running through his vain as of Sikhs and that the divide between them means nothing.
Anyhow, it is a good gesture that the two halves are warming up to each other. Good omen for religious tolerance and cultural integration.
Re: Thousands of Sikh pilgrims to be welcomed by Pakistan
this demolition is not motivated by relegious hate, but greed/corruption/money of a single person. no one marched to attack temple as hate as Babri masjid, it was done by few people for land grab and making money with the help of an offcial. it was his assumption that no one will care, but its not the case, not many would agree with this disgraceful act of one person.
plus, its not the first time Sikhs comming to their sacred places in Pakistan, every year they come to Pakistan to visit cities of Nankana Sahib, Hassan Abdal, and Lahore, and this is very normal thing to see masses of Sikh people on the streets during this period, tell me any hate crime done against them??? they have been welcomed always with smiling faces
Re: Thousands of Sikh pilgrims to be welcomed by Pakistan
Anyhow, it is a good gesture that the two halves are warming up to each other. Good omen for religious tolerance and cultural integration.
tu isi baat ko le kar mar jaye ga yar, thats all u talk about, ur life revolves around trying to prove that pakistanis are somehow connected with indians, its about time u get over it yar...
Are we still talking about demolition here? Okay..