Pakistan's pilgrims finally get green signal

PANAJI: A large group of Catholic pilgrims from Pakistan have finally got the all-clear for their long-awaited tour of India.
After leaving them twiddling their thumbs for days, the Indian high commission in Islamabad approved their visa requests recently.
TOI had reported on November 18 that around 300 pilgrims, most of them with Goan roots, would make the trip to Goa for the decennial Exposition of the Sacred Relics of St Francis Xavier, in addition to visiting Mumbai and Vailankanni.
The pilgrims were expected in batches, the first of whom were to attend the feast of the saint on December 3. The commission’s delay in granting approvals put paid to the pilgrims’ progress, thus ensuring their absence at the feast.
Though a section of the media had reported that the Pakistani pilgrims had called off the tour before the feast due to the visa issue, this was never really the case. Even on December 2, the high commission in Islamabad informed the pilgrims that they are still following up for approval from the ministry of home affairs in New Delhi and assured them that they are making every possible effort to get the approval.
Peter Mendes, a Goan based in Karachi, who has been arranging pilgrimages to Goa since 1997, spoke to TOI about the new plan. “There are three main groups which will be leaving for Goa," he said. "As soon as the passports arrive on Thursday, I plan to send the first group on December 15. The second will follow on December 18 and the last on December 22."
Several members of the Pakistani clergy too were expected to visit Goa this December. They will now turn up in 2015. "Archbishop Joseph Coutts of Karachi and some other priests plan to visit Goa soon after the New Year, since they’re now all very busy with the Christmas season," said Mendes.
The delay in issuing the visas left many pilgrims in the lurch. Initially, the first batch of pilgrims was to leave on November 27, followed by batches on December 2, 18 and 22. But the absence of visas meant that many pilgrims, already on leave from work and with hotel bookings in Goa, had to pay up for a no-show.
A few pilgrims thus dropped out, and around 285 are now expected to make the trip to India. A few pilgrims also changed their travel plans after they realized they couldn’t make it for the feast. They’re now planning to travel elsewhere, and are awaiting the return of their passports from the high commission in Islamabad.