- The Sikh community will encourage religious tourism in Pakistan.
- The Sikh businessmen made the commitment during a meeting with special assistant to prime minister Syed Zulfi Bukhari.
- The meeting took place in the UK.
- The meeting was facilitated by Khalsa Jatha (Central Gurdwara).
The Peter Virdee Foundation and UK Sikh community has pledged to donate millions of pounds to promote Sikh tourism in Pakistan. The commitment was made by the PVF, a non-governmental organization, working for marginalized sections of the society, in a meeting with Chairman National Tourism Coordination board (NTCB) Sayed Zulfikar Abbas Bukhari in London.
Zulfi Bukhari is also serving as chairman of the Pakistan Tourism Board. The meeting was conferred at The Rembrandt Hotel in London two days ago.
The meeting was facilitated by Khalsa Jatha (Central Gurdwara). SAPM Bukhari made announcements on the occasion. The Sikh community also appreciated the incumbent government of Pakistan for taking the initiative of Kartarpur Sahib Corridor as the celebrations for the 550th birth anniversary of Baba Guru Nanak are approaching.
Establishment of tourism desks
Zulfi Bukhari assured the Sikh community that special tourism desks will be established in the Pakistani embassies to facilitate the Sikh Yatrees coming to visit their religious places in Pakistan. He also announced the provision of high standard bus services connecting all the main Gurdwaras in Pakistan. Special religious visas, online visas might be announced, Bukhari added.
Bukhari said Pakistan wants the Sikh community in the world to contribute.
“This is a very special year, the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Sahib and as Pakistanis we want to celebrate it in an elaborate fashion. We don’t just want it to be a national event but we want it to be covered globally. I want you to be on board to organise seminars, exhibitions and conferences around it to build up the hype that this occasion deserves.”
Sikh Representatives of the meeting
The minority community representatives who met with Zulfi Bukhari include Gurpreet Singh, Peter Virdee, Bhai Amrik Singh, Peter Kaur Gill MP, Lord Suri, and many others. Sukhjeevan Singh who is the Spokesperson of Sikh Council UK also attended the meeting.
Earlier, Navjot Sigh Sidhu came to Pakistan to attend the inaugural ceremony of cricketer cum politician Prime Minister Imran Khan in August last year where he met Pakistan’s Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa. Army Chief offered on the occasion to open the Kartarpur Corridor on the eve of 550th birth anniversary of Baba Guru Nanak – the first ever Guru of Sikh and founder of Sikhism.
Imran Khan, later in November, laid the foundation stone for the initiation of developmental work at Kartarpur Corridor. The developmental work which is mainly based on infrastructure development is continuous on both sides of the border ahead of Guru Nanak’s anniversary in September this year.
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