Baisakhi 2022: A member of the Jatha said, "We had applied for 900 visa permits."
A group of Sikh 'Jatha' departed for Pakistan's Lahore on Tuesday for celebrating the festival of Baisakhi (Khalsa Sajna Day).
"We all are ready to go to the Guru's place to bow the head at Guru Nanak Dev, who is the Guru for Indians and Pir for the people of Pakistan," said a member of the batch while talking to ANI.
"We had applied for 900 visa permits but could get permits for only 705, resulting in the disheartening of the 195 whose visas were rejected," said Ravinder Singh Khalsa.
"We really hope the new Prime Minister of Pakistan Shehbaz Sharif to keep the brotherhood amongst countries maintained and ease the Visa system," he added.
Most of the pilgrim devotees have emphasized their demand for cancelling the visa requirements to visit the Gurudwara in the neighbouring country.
Another devotee Paramjeet Singh said, "such cancellations of visa permits make people lose the only chances for Guru Darshan, which is anyways not easy. We expect the Pak PM to make visits to Nankana Sahib Gurudwara as easy as the Kartarpur Sahib."
The integrated check post (ICP) of the Kartarpur Corridor was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 8 November 2019 for facilitating a smooth, visa-free movement of Indian pilgrims to Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib.
People have expressed genuine hopes for Pakistan's newly elected PM, who belonged to Punjab's Taran Taran. They are optimistic about the better relationships between the countries for neighbourhood, trade and business.