This was the second time when Ajay Bisaria wasn't allowed a meeting with Indian pilgrims in Pakistan.
After the Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan wasn't allowed to enter a gurdwara by Sikh groups reportedly protesting over a controversial movie, India has summoned Pakistan's envoy in New Delhi to express its dissent.
Ajay Bisaria and his wife had gone to Gurdwara Panja Sahib near Islamabad on Friday. They had necessary permission from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan, but were stopped outside the gurdwara by Sikhs who were protesting over the film
Nanak Shah Fakir. They weren't even allowed to meet the Indian pilgrims visiting the shrine.
This was the second time when Ajay Bisaria wasn't allowed a meeting with Indian pilgrims in Pakistan. He had planned to visit the gurdwara on Baisakhi in April, but had to cancel it over reports that the Sikhs might stage a protest.
According to reports, Mr Bisaria's arrival to the gurdwara had triggered the protest. The Evacuee Trust Property Board, which manages the historic Katas Raj temple and other shrines of Hindus and Sikhs in Pakistan who had migrated to India following the Partition, fearing more protests by Sikh groups requested the commissioner not to attend the ceremony.
"The Deputy High Commissioner of Pakistan was summoned and a strong protest was lodged at the denial of access to the Indian High Commissioner and consular officials of the Indian High Commission to visit Gurdwara Panja Sahib and meet the Indian pilgrims despite a travel permission having been granted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan," a statement by the Ministry of External Affairs said.
India and Pakistan have a bilateral agreement that facilitates visits to religious shrines. It was conveyed to the Pakistani side that preventing the Indian High Commission officials from discharging their consular responsibilities was in violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961, and the 1974 bilateral Protocol on visit to religious shrines.
The Supreme Court had in April allowed the all-India release of the film after restrictions put by the Sikh body Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC). The committee had claimed that the film, based on the life and teachings of Guru Nanak Dev, hurt the sentiments of the Sikh community.
(With inputs from PTI)