Amid national lockdown due to COVID-19, the Sikh pilgrims were stranded at the gurdwara Hazur Sahib in Maharashtra’s Nanded.
Chandigarh: Returning from Maharashtra, a large group of Sikh pilgrims who have tested positive for COVID-19 has emerged as a huge challenge for Punjab.
More than 173 pilgrims have tested positive for the highly infectious novel coronavirus.
Amid national lockdown due to COVID-19, the Sikh pilgrims were stranded at the gurdwara Hazur Sahib in Maharashtra’s Nanded.
From April 22, they started returning to Punjab but the order to quarantine them came five days later.
Balbir Singh Sidhu, Punjab Health Minister, targeted by the opposition Akali Dal for carelessness in not assuring proper quarantining of the pilgrims, has accused the Maharashtra government where his party Congress is part of the ruling Shiv Sena-led alliance.
“Maharashtra did not help the pilgrims and left them on their own. They didn’t get them tested,” the health minister said on Thursday.
The Akali Dal has asked for Sidhu’s resignation, blaming him for not setting up guidelines for testing the pilgrims on their return in Punjab.
Due to the lockdown implemented on March 25, as many as 4,000 pilgrims went from Punjab to the Nanded Gurdwara and were stranded. Over 3,500 have returned to Punjab after the Union Home Ministry gave them permission.
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Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has been criticized for his remark that the most number of COVID-19 cases in the state can be linked to the Tablighi Jamaat meet in Delhi and the Sikh pilgrims returning from Nanded.
The Hazur Sahib Gurdwara was warned about the possibility that it was a COVID-19 hotspot after the first few pilgrims tested positive.
Punjab has 539 COVID-19 cases and 19 fatalities.
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