Attari, November 30
A pall of gloom descended at the Attari railway station here today when the fourth special train from Pakistan brought two bodies of women devotees who had gone on pilgrimage to Sikh shrines there to mark the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev.

With trembling hands and in faltering voices, the relatives of the deceased consoled each other.

It was the last wish of Gurbax Kaur of Dewan Bagh village, Baramulla, to die with a prayer on her lips in a gurdwara. It was perhaps this desire that led to her undertaking frequent pilgrimages to religious places. She died following a massive heart attack after ardas at Gurdwara Dera Sahib, Lahore.

“I never had a tougher day,'' said a dazed Tejinder Singh Sodhi , grandson of Gurbax Kaur and a scribe from Jammu. He said his mother (daughter of the deceased) and another relative had to be taken to a hospital in Baramulla for treatment after hearing the news. Family members of Gurbax Kaur were not in favour of her going to Pakistan alone. But it was her strong desire to visit Sikh shrines in Pakistan because earlier there had been a ban on residents of Jammu and Kashmir to visit Pakistan. This time, more than 150 pilgrims from Baramulla and adjoining areas visited Pakistan.

Similarly, Gursharn Kaur (69) of Patiala also died following cardiac arrest. She was taken to a hospital where she was declared dead.

Assistant commissioner, Customs, V.K. Mahajan, provided help to the family of the deceased. The SGPC provided ambulances to carry the bodies to Baramulla and Patiala.

On the other hand seven pilgrims from Pehowa (Haryana), including a woman, had been injured in a road accident near Hassan Abadal (Panja Sahib). Their vehicle collided with another four wheeler when they were on their way to the railway station, Panja Sahib. Amrik Singh Vichhoa and Balwant Singh Patti, leader and deputy leader of SGPC’s jatha said the Government of Pakistan attended the injured free of cost.

More than 3,000 Sikh pilgrims reached here in four special trains and Samjhauta Express while about 170 jatha members of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee reached here by road.