Pakistan on Saturday said India has rejected the visa applications of 192 Pakistani Zaireen who were scheduled to reach Delhi to participate in the Urs of Hazrat Khawaja Nizamuddin Aulia (RA) from January 1-8, 2018.
The visit was to take place under the provisions of the 1974 Pakistan-India Protocol on ‘Visits to Religious Shrines’ and is a regular, annual feature.
"As a result of this Indian decision, the Pakistani Zaireen would be deprived of the opportunity to participate in the Urs, which is of special significance. This is unfortunate and runs counter to the letter and spirit of the 1974 Protocol and objective of people-to-people contacts," the Foreign Office (FO) said in a statement.
Earlier this year, despite Pakistan's offer to send a special train, delays on India's part resulted in Sikh pilgrims from India being unable to participate in the Martyrdom Anniversary of Guru Arjan Dev and death anniversary of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the FO said.
"Besides being violative of the bilateral Protocol, and the basic human right to religious freedom, such measures also undermine the efforts aimed at improving the environment, increasing people-to-people contacts and normalizing relations between the two countries. It is ironic that this was done on the occasion of Urs of Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya who was a symbol of bringing communities closer to each other," the FO said in a statement.
