Amritsar, Feb 16 : To mark the Saka Nankana Sahib anniversary on February 21, a Sikh Jatha (group) comprising nearly 150 devotees left for Pakistan this morning.

Chatin Singh, Former MP and member of the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) is leading the Jatha.

The event is being held to commemorate the anniversary of a movement launched in 1920 to free Gurdwaras from the control of Mahants who were supported by the British.

Singh said that this is for the first time that an SGPC-led Jatha is going to Pakistan to mark the Saka Nankana Sahib anniversary.

He described it as entirely religious visit.

He urged the Indian and Pakistan Governments to ease visa procedures for devotees.

The Saka Nankana forms a very important part of Sikh history. In political terms, it comes next only to the Jallianwala Bagh massacre of April 1919. The Saka constitutes the core of the Gurdwara Reform Movement started by Sikhs in early part of the twentieth century.

Saka highlights the unprecedented discipline, self-control and exemplary patience displayed by Sikh protesters even in the face of extreme barbarism. (ANI)