New Delhi, 11 September (H.S.):

Delhi Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa has described the stopping of Pakistani Sikh pilgrims at Faisalabad Airport while they were travelling to undertake the sacred pilgrimage to Sri Hemkunt Sahib as a direct attack on their religious sentiments and faith.

In a post on X on Friday, Sirsa said that obstructing Pakistani Sikh pilgrims at Faisalabad Airport in the name of obtaining a No-Objection Certificate (NOC) was yet another shameful example of what he described as the “disgraceful mindset” of the Pakistan government and the persecution of minorities in the country. He said preventing devotees from travelling to pay obeisance at their Guru’s shrine amounted to a direct assault on their religious sentiments and faith.

Sirsa said the conduct of the Pakistan government clearly demonstrated, in his view, that it did not want Sikh pilgrims to reach their Guru’s sacred abode and offer prayers. He asserted that such petty actions could not shake the faith of the Sikh community.

He demanded that the Pakistan government immediately apologise for its actions and, without further delay, allow all the pilgrims to travel safely to India so that they could pay their respects and offer prayers at Sri Hemkunt Sahib.

“Pakistan should remember that building barriers in the path of faith cannot stop devotion,” Sirsa said, adding that the Khalsa Panth and the Sikh community would never forget this injustice.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar