The Kartarpur Corridor with Pakistan will reopen from Wednesday, just two days ahead of Gurupurab, the birth anniversary of Sikh holy guru Guru Nanak Dev Ji. The government’s move came after a Sikh delegation on Sunday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and urged him to reopen the corridor.
The Sikh pilgrimage corridor, connecting the Darbar Singh Sahib Gurudwara in Pakistan from Dera Baba Nanak Sahib in Gurdaspur in Punjab, was closed since March 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. It gives access to Sikh pilgrims to visit Gurudwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan without a visa.
The reopening coincides with the upcoming Punjab Assembly elections, with the Bharatiya Janata Party and Aam Aadmi Party, and the Shiromani Akali Dal in fray with the ruling Congress, which has been facing an internal crisis within the state for a year.
Punjab BJP leaders in New Delhi had delivered a memorandum to PM Narendra Modi on Sunday, requesting the opening of the Kartarpur corridor. Later, announcing the reopening, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that the decision taken by the Prime Minister shows the Union government’s reverence towards Guru Nanak Dev Ji and the Sikh community.
“In a major decision, that will benefit large numbers of Sikh pilgrims, PM @Narendramodi govt has decided to reopen the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor from tomorrow, Nov 17. This decision reflects the immense reverence of Modi govt towards Guru Nanak Dev Ji and our Sikh community,” Shah said in a tweet.
The Home Minister said: “The nation is all set to celebrate the Prakash Utsav of Shri Guru Nanak Dev ji on November 19, and I am sure that Modi government’s decision to reopen the Kartarpur Sahib corridor will further boost the joy and happiness across the country.”
Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi welcomed the move and said the state Cabinet would be part of the jatha which would visit the historic shrine in Pakistan on November 18.
His predecessor Capt Amarinder Singh also thanked Modi and Shah for reopening the Kartarpur Corridor. Amarinder Singh said the reopening of the corridor was a long-pending demand of millions of followers. “There could not have been a better occasion than now for opening of the corridor as thousands of devotees will get the chance to pay their obeisance at the holy shrine on the Guruparab day itself,” Amarinder Singh said in a statement.
The Centre’s decision to reopen the corridor was also applauded by several political parties, including the SAD, Congress, and AAP. SAD President Sukhbir Singh Badal and senior party member Manjinder Singh Sirsa expressed their delight at the government’s decision. On the other hand, Punjab Congress Chief Navjot Singh Sidhu described it as a “invaluable gift for Guru Nanak Dev devotees.”
Ahead of the reopening, political parties had appeared to use the corridor to use the reopening of the corridor to woo voters. The first to raise Sikh devotees’ hopes was senior BJP leader Tarun Chugh, who claimed last week that the Union government could open the corridor soon.
Former Union Minister and Akali Dal leader Harsimrat Kaur Badal had also demanded that the corridor be opened in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. Navjot Sidhu had also earlier visited Dera Baba Nanak to pray for the corridor’s reopening as soon as possible.
Last week, Pakistan had also urged India to reopen the corridor.
Covid-19 Guidelines in Place
Pilgrims will have to undergo temperature checks and anyone with Covid-19 symptoms will be moved to isolation. RT-PCR certificates should not be older than 72 hours, and mask rules and social distancing will be followed throughout the pilgrimage, along with sanitisation stations in place.
However, no Covid-19 test will be conducted on arrival at the Gurdwara.
History
In February 1999, the Kartarpur Sahib corridor was proposed by the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee when he took a bus ride to Lahore during a peace initiative with Pakistan.
Then, a year later, Pakistan agreed to build a bridge from the India side of the border to the shrine, allowing Sikh pilgrims from India to visit the shrine visa-free (and without a passport).
In August 2018, Navjot Sidhu attended Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s inauguration ceremony. Sidhu said that upon his return from Islamabad, Pakistan Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa informed him that the Pakistan government planned to open the Dera Baba Nanak (Kartarpur) corridor on Guru Nanak’s 550th birth anniversary.
India signed the Kartarpur corridor agreement with Pakistan on October 24, 2019. Under the pact, Indian pilgrims of all faiths are allowed to undertake round the year visa-free travel through the 4.5-km-long passage. In November 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had inaugurated the dedicated corridor.
Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, his wife Gursharan Kaur, the then Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and Union minister Hardeep Puri were part of the first group that visited the gurudwara in Pakistan in November 2019 through the corridor.
Former Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal, his son and SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal and the then Union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal were also part of the delegation led by Akal Takht Jathedar Harpreet Singh.
Darbar Sahib is believed to be the final resting place of Guru Nanak Dev ji.
The foundation stone for the Kartarpur Sahib corridor was laid on November 26, 2018 and the corridor was completed on the 550th birth anniversary of the Sikh Guru in 2019.
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