Pawan Singh Arora is a public relations officer in the Office of the Governor of Punjab, Pakistan. Additionally, he serves as a coordinator for Minority Affairs within the office. Pawan is widely published in Punjab. He broke the glass ceiling by becoming the first gazetted officer from the Sikh community in Pakistan. While assisting the governor of Punjab, he oversees the Kartarpur project and arranged the first International Sikh Convention. In his promotion of religious and heritage tourism, he collaborated with WCLA to design the first Yatra-guided tour of Sikh heritage in the walled city of Lahore. Pawan holds a bachelor's in business communication and commerce, a master's in communication and a master's in philosophy in gender studies and human rights from the University of the Punjab. For his social action project, he was awarded by the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Human Rights as well as the British Council. He is a Humphrey Fellow and an IVLP alumnus. Pawan has also produced creative writing, theater plays, television programs, articles, radio broadcasting and YouTube videos on religious freedom, diversity and socio-cultural awareness.

IVLP Impact Award Project: Promoting Heritage Tourism in Pakistan

The goals of the project were to bring local and international tourists to knowledge-based attractions in Pakistan, to open economic doors to the great potential for religious and heritage tourism as well as digitally preserve Pakistan's Sikh heritage and legacy precisely. Why begin with Sikh sites? Pakistan is the origin of the Sikh faith before the Sikhs were largely displaced during the 1947 partition. Thus, there is hope to connect to the older generations who have childhood memories of these abandoned religious sides. Additionally, every Sikh is religiously motivated by the Nankana Sahib, and thus there is a need to develop a sustainable channel to the past for the next generations.

The major activities of this project were photography, content writing, graphic designing and publications. One product is an educational heritage website for children which will cover 40 heritage sites for each letter of the Gurumukhi alphabet, the religious language of the Sikh faith. The geographical touchpoints were mostly in the Punjab and KPK provinces. The project will be beneficial in the long term for the local communities of the sites, and it will attract tourists across the globe by targeting the 5th largest community in the world.

"I was amazed by the amount of hidden heritage in our country; the pictures will be a huge contribution to my journey also. Thank you for providing me the chance." - Project Photographer

IVLP Exchange Experience

Pawan was a participant in the IVLP Project Promoting Tourism to Historic Religious Sites, organized by the U.S. Department of State and the Mississippi Consortium for International Development.

Pawan's exchange experience led to the development of his IVLP Impact Award Project: "In the lowest point of COVID-19 isolation, the IVLP experience lifted me out of the depression and trauma resulting from the loss of so many wonderful people. The IVLP journey gave me hope to knock on many doors and open some gracefully. I am excited that I am working on a project right after becoming part of the IVLP family."

U.S. Communities Visited Virtually 

Washington, DC; Tampa, FL; Chicago, IL; Louisville, KY

Country: Pakistan

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