Many Sikhs in India and Pakistan are calling for easier access into each other’s countries. The hardship is due to tensions between the countries, which has made travel visas very difficult to obtain. The main reason that Sikhs from India want to visit Pakistan is that many of their pilgrimage sites are there. The founder of the Sikh religion was born in Pakistan as well as many Sikh martyrs were killed in the city of Lahore, making these popular places of pilgrimage. Pakistanis also would like to travel to India for trade and goods.
As thousands of people from India have made the pilgrimage to Pakistan over the last few years, it seems like nothing will stop them from travelling. In fact the borders are getting more lenient as time goes on. In 2005, Pakistan allowed approximately 2000 of these people to enter during the ceremonies that marked the death of a famous Sikh leader. The Pakistani government was even willing to issue visas for 5000 Sikhs during these celebrations. The number of Sikhs that made the pilgrimage across the border was the largest ever since India and Pakistan became separate independent countries in 1947. Before then both nations were part of ‘India’.
Watch the video here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-15847429
and (for interest) the additional article here:
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