Sikhs in Pakistan?
Earlier in the month, an East Panjabi newspaper editor, Baljit Brar, posed the possibility that Pakistan stood to earn up to $500 million per year by promoting Sikh tourism.
Brar suggests that since the airport in Lahore is more convenient and is better maintained than that in Amritsar, with better border mobility the Lahore airport could be the airport of choice for diasporic Sikhs. Many Sikhs have bought into the ‘Romance that is Panjabiyat,’ including at-times the present langa(w)r-iter. While Brar’s numbers may be grossly optimistic, I do believe that many Sikhs would love to take advantage of new tourism and travel opportunities.
Many Sikhs left West Panjabi villages and cities in their stead in 1947. Another langa(w)r-iter had commented on the traumas of Partition. The opportunity to revisit one ancestral home may be part of the process in healing old wounds.
Brar makes a number of suggestions. In a world where economics flows across borders, new opportunities may avail themselves to the Sikhs to increase the prosperity of Panjab. One hopes governments can help create an environment where greater flows are possible. I definitely have longed to visit West Panjab. What about you? Is something like this feasible?
2 Responses to “Sikhs in Pakistan?”
By gurdit on Jul 16, 2008 at 7:53 am | Quote
the lahore airport, which is already open to diasporic sikhs who are citizens of countries other than india, is definitely convenient for them (or for indian sikhs who live outside of punjab, provided there were direct flights to lahore and that they were allowed to fly). however, this is not necessarily true for punjabi sikhs. the suggestion made by brar towards the end of the article seems more practical for punjabi sikh pilgrims: open the wagah border. when i lived in lahore in the mid-1990s, i crossed the wagah border by road (literally walking across the border) several times. sometimes, it took me less than two hours to get from the center of lahore to that of amritsar (and vice versa). it would typically take around the same time if not more to merely commute to airports in both cities.
By Jodha on Jul 18, 2008 at 8:42 am | Quote
Thank you Gurdit for emphasizing that point that Brar was making the suggestion for East Punjabi Sikhs. Sorry if that was not clear enough.