Fatehgarh Sahib (Punjab), Sep 12 (PTI) A group of 125 pilgrims from Pakistan have reached Sirhind-Fatehgarh Sahib to participate in the three-day annual Rauza Sharif Urs, which begins Wednesday.
They entered India through the Wagah-Attari border and were accorded a warm welcome by officials of the district administration and Rauza Sharif at Sirhind on Monday night.
The 'jatha' (group) from Pakistan attending the Urs at the tomb of Sufi saint Sheikh Ahmad Farooqui is being led by Mohd Abu Bakr Cheema, and its deputy leader is Sherbaz, officials said.
A large number of Muslims from various parts of the country and abroad are expected to attend the event from September 13 to September 15.
The officials said it is after almost five years, including the Covid period, that pilgrims from Pakistan are here for the Urs.
Fatehgarh Sahib MLA Lakhveer Singh Rai welcomed the pilgrims.
Muhammad Iqbal, a pilgrim from Toba Tek Singh in Pakistan's Punjab said that before Partition, his family resided in Mohalla Jatpura in Sirhind city. He said his ancestral home used to be near Mansuri Tibba, but after the country's Partition in 1947, his family moved to Pakistan.
Ahsan Bhatti, also from Toba Tek Singh, said people on both sides of the border speak the same language and added they are receiving immense love from people here. Fatehgarh Sahib Deputy Commissioner Parneet Shergill said officials have been directed to ensure bus service,parking space, proper drinking water and health facilities and uninterrupted power supply to the area for the Urs.
Head of Rouza Sharif, Sirhind, Syed Sadiq Raza, said that for the convenience of pilgrims participating in the annual Urs, the civil and police administrations have made adequate arrangements for security, medical teams, ambulances, sanitation, water, temporary toilets and uninterrupted power supply.