Harpal Singh Bhullar, Chairman, Bhai Mardana Yadgaar Society
By TNL Bureau
Ferozepur, May 9, 2018: No woman will be allowed to go alone on a pilgrimage to the Sikh shrines in Pakistan as part of official jatha (pilgrims group).
Chairman, Bhai Mardana Yadgaar Society, Ferozepur, Harpal Singh said that his organisation would not allow Sikh women below 50 years age to go alone as part of the Sikh jatha to Pakistan. It is now mandatory for some family member to accompany them.
The decision has been taken by his and other organisations said Bhullar adding that approval will also not be granted to clean-shaven men to be part of jatha.
The development followed the recent incident of Kiran Bala (31), a Sikh widow from Garhshanker, Hoshiarpur district of Punjab, who during the pilgrimage embraced Islam and remarried a Pakistani national.
She had gone to Pakistan on pilgrimage as a member of the SGPC jatha. She was alone, without any member of her family accompanying her in the jatha.