A 29-year-old Indian man named Shihab Chottur crossed into Pakistan on Tuesday across the Wagah border on his way to Makkah to conduct the Hajj.
The Keralite had begun his 8,640-kilometer trek from Malappuram on June 2, 2022, and has been waiting for his visa in Amritsar for the previous four months in order to continue through Pakistan. From Kerala to Punjab, Chottur has travelled 3,300 kilometres on foot, traversing seven states.
In September of last year, he was denied entry to Pakistan since there is no agreement between New Delhi and Islamabad about transit visas for people travelling on foot. Chottur decided to remain in a school in Amritsar while he awaited his visa as a result. He was granted a two-day transit visa for Lahore and is presently in Pakistan.
The 29-year-old posted a video of himself crossing the Wagah-Attari border on Instagram with the caption “Alhamdullilah reached Pakistan.”
The Hajj aspirant maintains that for him, the journey is not difficult because of the miles he needs to cover afoot but rather the real difficulty lay with the preparation and permissions required for his travel.
