Dawn April 15, 2007.

TAXILA, April 14: More than 10,000 Sikh pilgrims performed the last of their rituals of the Besakhi festival that drew to a close at Gurdwara Punja Sahib in Hassanabdal on Saturday.

After Bhog that marked the reading of the concluding part of the Guru Granth Sahib, Prasad, a sugar-made sweet, was distributed among the yatrees who came from different parts of the country as well as abroad.

Much jubilation and enthusiasm was seen on the last day and the Gurdwara was jampacked with the Hindu and Sikh devotees. Sikh men wearing yellow turbans and women in colourful dresses were roaming in and outside the Gurdwara with visible enjoyment on their faces.

More than 4,000 Sikh yatrees from India were due Saturday evening to leave for Lahore through special trains to return to their hometowns.

Talking to the pilgrims, Federal Minister for Religious Affairs Ijazul Haq said the government had made a com pressive strategy to develop boarding and lodging facilities around the Sikh religious places.

“We will be able to invite over 50,000 Sikh pilgrims after 2010,” he noted.

According to him, the government had initiated a Rs140 million development plan to improve infrastructure at and around the holy places of the minorities.

He said to provide improved facilities to the Sikh community on their arrival, facilities at Wagah border crossing would be brought on a par with those at international airports.

There will be no restrictions on the number of the Sikh yatrees visiting Pakistan, the minister told the gathering.

He also extended felicitations from President Gen Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz to the Sikh pilgrims celebrating the Besakhi festival.

Speaking on the occasion, World Muslim Sikh Federation Chairman Sardar Manmohan Singh appreciated the cordial relations being developed between India and Pakistan.

Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) Chairman Lt-Gen (retired) Zulfiqar Ali Khan said the Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee was overseeing the implementation of the uplift plan mention by the religious affairs minister.

He said a task force had been formed at provincial level to pay surprise visits to check the quality of material being used in the construction work. “The task force will be submitting reports on monthly basis,” he added.