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The Pakistan Hindu Council (PHC) has invited a group of 250 pilgrims, including from India, to visit the country in an attempt to encourage "faith tourism", Dawn news reported.
The group will visit the shrine of Paramhans Ji Maharaaj, a saint who had died at Teri village, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Karak district in 1919. "A number of Hindu pilgrims from India, the United Arab Emirates and the US will arrive in Peshawar on Jan 1 to visit the Samadhi at Teri," PHC patron Ramesh Kumar Vankwani told Dawn news. The Hindu Council has arranged the programme in collaboration with Pakistan International Airlines. "This is the second time that the council has invited Hindu pilgrims from other countries so that they can see for themselves the existence of a tolerant and pluralistic society in Pakistan," Vankwani added. Fifty-four Hindus from India, Canada, Singapore, Australia and Spain had visited the country last month. The group was led by Shri Satguru Ji Maharaaj Ji, the fifth successor of Paramhans Ji Maharaaj. Chief Justice of Pakistan Gulzar Ahmad had celebrated Diwali at Teri temple last month to express solidarity with local members of the Hindu community and to welcome pilgrims from other parts of the country. According to Vankwani, the PHC invited the Chief Justice only to give a message to "hate-mongers that the state is determined to foil their nefarious designs". In his speech at the temple, he had assured the Hindu community that they enjoyed the same rights as other Pakistanis. --IANS san/ksk/ ( 265 Words) 2021-12-30-12:18:04 (IANS)
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