Share this story!            

Government will encourage Sikh pilgrims to visit Pakistan: PM

ISLAMABAD: The government will encourage pilgrims from other countries to visit Pakistan to promote inter-faith harmony and build the country's image as a moderate state, Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani said on Thursday.

Talking to a delegation of Sikh pilgrims, he said the government was committed to protecting minorities’ rights. He welcomed Sikh pilgrims who came to pay homage to Guru Nanak on his birth anniversary and ensured government support to facilitate their stay. He said the government would ensure security at gurdwaras so that the Sikh pilgrims perform their religious obligations in peace.Gilani said an inter-faith complex would be built in the capital for people to share views on different religions. It would help create a balanced and a more tolerant society, he added. He said the government was making concerted efforts to renovate historic gurdwaras in the country, adding the Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhan Committee had already been reconstituted to facilitate Sikh pilgrims’ stay in Pakistan. He mentioned development schemes such as the construction of pre-fabricated huts, cement rooms and baradaris at Gurdwara Janamsthan in Nankana Sahib and construction of langar halls at Gurdwara Punja Sahib in Hassanabdal. The PM said it was encouraging that Muslims and Sikhs were living in complete harmony in the country.

The PM announced he would lay the foundation stone of the Baba Guru Nanak International University, being constructed on an area of 2,500 acres, by the end of the month. He said the government was considering increasing the number of Sikh pilgrims to Pakistan and increasing the number of scholarships to Sikh students from SAARC countries. app

Home | National

Share this story!