Karnal/Amritsar, June 12 -- A day after 94 pilgrims from Haryana were denied entry into Pakistan at the Attari-Wagah border check post, Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (HSGMC) president Jagdish Singh Jhinda accepted the mistake but blamed the state government for delaying the notification. The pilgrims were part of a jatha (delegation) that left on Wednesday for a 10-day religious pilgrimage to mark the martyrdom day of Guru Arjan Dev in Lahore. The group was left stranded all day waiting for final approval from Indian authorities, eventually making them unable to proceed with their journey. The jatha was scheduled to visit several sacred Sikh shrines, including Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib, Dera Sahib, and Panja Sahib. Those in the know said that the jatha lacked clearance from the Union ministry of home affairs (MHA). The MHA did not give clearance as the state home department of Haryana failed to complete verification of the pilgrims and send a report to the MHA, they said. Speaking with HT, Jhinda said that Haryana pilgrims had only a nine-day timeframe to prepare, unlike the one month given by the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC). "The government and the HSGMC made all efforts for timely verification, but could not succeed. Officials and HSGMC employees made efforts throughout the day in Chandigarh to obtain clearance, but without success. The government must realise that there are several processes, and nine days are not enough. The SGPC completes the process even when they do not get the notification," he said. Jhinda said that he will write to the chief minister requesting prior information by at least a month for future pilgrimages. Harkesh Singh Mohri, president of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) Haryana unit, was among the 94-member jatha. He said that pilgrims from Delhi and Punjab were allowed to proceed across the border, but the Haryana group was turned back after waiting for nearly 10 hours. "Starting from Ambala on Friday, we will stage protests and submit memorandums to DCs addressed to the chief minister to take action against those responsible for the lapse," he said. People in the know said that the official notification for the pilgrimage was issued on June 1 and circulated to all deputy commissioners in Haryana. Following this, the HSGMC collected the passports, required documents, and fees. Later, DCs received the lists on June 4 and carried out the police verification through superintendents of police (SPs) to forward the final list back, while the passports had already been submitted to the Pakistan Embassy in New Delhi. But what led to the delay in approval still remains to be acknowledged, sources said. Senior Congress leader and member of Parliament from Gurdaspur, Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, expressed concern over the denial of permission to Haryana Sikh devotees....