TAXILA, Feb 16: Over 200 Indian Sikh yatrees would arrive at Gurdwara Punja Sahib Hassanabdal on Tuesday for offering their religious rituals.

Over 600 Indian yatrees would visit Pakistan in connection with “Saka Nankana Sahib anniversary” to be held at Nankana Sahib on February 21. On this day in 1920 a movement was launched to get the Gurdwaras freed from the control of Mahants who were supported by the British.

Talking to Dawn, Dy administrator Shrines Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) Syed Faraz Abbass said that the Saka Nankana forms a very important part of Sikh history and this was for the first time that Indian Sikh pilgrims were visiting Pakistan to mark the Saka Nankana Sahib anniversary. Chatin Singh, Former MP and member of the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) is leading the Indian contingent.

The Saka constitutes the core of the Gurdwara Reform Movement started by Sikhs in early part of the twentieth century.

Saka highlights the unprecedented discipline, self-control and exemplary patience displayed by Sikh protesters even in the face of extreme barbarism. —Correspondent