On a day when both India and Pakistan made progress on building Kartarpur corridor, two officials of the Indian High Commission in Pakistan were reportedly humiliated and barred from entering gurdwaras in the neighbouring country.

The officials, Aranjeet Singh and Sunil Kumar, were not allowed to enter Gurdwara Nankana Sahib on Wednesday night and Gurdwara Sacha Sauda on Thursday, saying that the Indian government has hurt the sentiments of Sikhs by allowing the screening of the film ‘Nanak Shah Fakir’. Both the gurdwaras are in Punjab province of Pakistan.

The Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) said the Pakistan Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (PGPC) officials have stopped the Indian officials. The visiting officials were heard saying in a video that “No Sikh was stopped from entering the house of the Guru. We are wondering as why you are stopping us.”

The PGPC officials, however, kept saying that they should better leave the premises. “We had written to the Indian High Commission asking it not to send its officials to any of the gurdwara since the release of the film,” ETPB secretary Tariq Wazir said, adding that the Indian officials ignored their advice.

The officials were reported to have visited the Gurdwara Sacha Sauda to exchange greetings with the visiting Indian Sikhs, who are here to take part in festivities related to the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak.

“We request the officials of the Indian High Commission not to visit any gurdwara without permission of the board as we have to security measures for them,” Wazir said.

In June, the PGPC officials had barred Indian high commissioner Ajay Basaria and his wife from entering Gurdwara Panja Sahib at Hassan Abdal, Rawalpindi.

(This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.)

First Published: Nov 23, 2018 09:37 IST