PTI LAHORE PAKISTANI authorities have put in place stringent security measures for the Baisakhi festival that will begin at Gurdwara Panja Sahib on April 12, including the deployment of paramilitary Pakistan Rangers to provide security to Sikh pilgrims from India.

Baisakhi is an ancient harvest festival in the Punjab region (India and Pakistan), which marks the beginning of a new solar year and new harvest season.

Senior police official Akhtar Abbas said foolproof security arrangements had been made for pilgrims at Gurdwara Panja Sahib Hassanabdal.

Though the government had been guarding Sikh ‘jathas’ for many years, the security cover will be further strengthened this year, he said.

More than 800 policemen, including commandos and over 100 officials in plainclothes, will be deployed for security duties.

For the first time, luggage scanners will be installed at all sensitive locations.

Over 50 security cameras and walk-through gates have also been installed, Abbas said.

“Some 900 Sikhs are expected to arrive here from India while another 100 or so will come from other countries to take part in the Baisakhi festival,” Evacuee Trust Property Board spokesman Amir Hashmi told PTI on Sunday.

Besides the Pakistan Rangers, police will be deployed to provide security to the pilgrims, he said.

Sikh pilgrims from Britain and other Western countries had started arriving in Lahore while the Indian Sikhs are expected to arrive through the Wagah land border from Monday, he said.

Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee chief Sardar Sham Singh said the ETPB had assigned duties to various federal and provincial government departments to facilitate the Sikh pilgrims .