Kartarpur ready for pilgrims, says Imran
The portal where pilgrims have to register continues to ask for a passport to be uploaded even as Pakistan says it does not require the document
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan on Sunday shared photos of the Kartarpur complex and Gurdwara Darbar Sahib, saying the shrine is ready to welcome Sikh pilgrims for the 550th birth anniversary celebrations of Guru Nanak .
The pictures were shared by Khan on his Twitter account ahead of the planned inauguration of the Kartarpur corridor on November 9.
The year 2019 marks the 550th birth anniversary year of Sikhism founder Guru Nanak , whose birthplace is Nankana Sahib in Pakistan.
“Kartarpur (is) ready to welcome Sikh pilgrims,” he tweeted.
In another tweet, he congratulated his own government for completing the construction work on time. “I want to congratulate our govt for readying Kartarpur, in record time, for Guru Nanak jee’s 550th birthday celebrations,” he said.
Last week, Khan removed the condition of passport for the Indian Sikhs visiting Kartarpur and the service fee of $20 dollars for those coming for the inaugural ceremony and on the 550th birth anniversary of the Sikh Guru on November 12.
The proposed opening of the corridor coincides with the presence of tens of thousands of protestors in the capital Islamabad. Their leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman had demanded resignation of Khan as conditions to disperse peacefully. Meanwhile, Ahsan Iqbal, a leader of Pakistan Muslims League-Nawaz and ally of Rehman, on Saturday criticised the Khan’s move to allow Sikhs from India enter into Pakistan without passport.
Iqbal said Kartarpur opening was a good gesture but “lifting condition of passport for foreigners like Indians was a blunder”.
The Kartarpur Corridor will connect the Dera Baba Nanak shrine in India’s Punjab with Darbar Sahib at Kartarpur located at Narowal district of Pakistan’s Punjab province.
Notwithstanding a chill in bilateral ties over Kashmir, Pakistan and India after tough negotiations signed a landmark agreement last week to operationalise the historic Kartarpur corridor to allow Indian Sikh pilgrims to visit the holy Darbar Sahib in Pakistan.
: The process of online registration for the pilgrimage to Gurdwara Darbar Sahib, Kartarpur, via the Kartarpur corridor is beset with confusion.
The portal (prakashpurb550.mha.gov.in) where pilgrims from the country are to register continues to ask for a passport to be uploaded, even as Pakistan has said it does not require the document. Those without a passport are, thus, unable to register for now.
The second relates to how to pay the service fee of $20 (around ₹1,400) that Pakistan will levy, though, this amount will not be charged for the day of the opening, November 9, and the day of the birth of Guru Nanak, November 12. Registration on the web portal that Indian officials launched after an agreement with Pakistan started on October 24. Slots have already been filled till November 14.
For now, people wanting to register in villages and small towns of Punjab are visiting Sewa Kendras, service facilitation centres of the Punjab government. These centres are charging ₹20 for filling up each online registration form.
“I have applied for the pilgrimage by registering at the website that the government has set up. There is no clarity, however, whether the service fee will be accepted online. I am also not clear on whether this amount has to be paid in dollars or Indian rupees,” said Yogesh Kamra, a resident of the city.
“Although Pakistan has removed the condition of requiring a passport, but converting our rupees into US dollars or vice-versa still requires a passport,” he said
Kamra also expressed his fears that pilgrims are undergoing rigorous police inquiry before getting clearance to visit the gurdwara.
The Indian government is yet to take a decision on the modalities and nitty-gritty of the payment of fee.
When asked if pilgrims needed to pay the service fee while applying online, Indian officials, after signing the agreement, had told reporters at Dera Baba Nanak, “Online registration will be free as India has not levied any kind of charges. It is Pakistan that has done this. We will make you aware of the mode
PEOPLE ALSO DO NOT KNOW HOW TO PAY THE SERVICE FEE OF $20 (AROUND ₹1,400) THAT PAKISTAN WILL CHARGE, THOUGH THIS AMOUNT WILL NOT BE CHARGED ON THE OPENING DAY
and the procedure of payment to Pakistan after getting clarity from their side.”
“I will talk to the authorities concerned to make the process easier, so that the facility for which devotees have prayed for decades is easily accessible to the masses,” said Amritsar MP Gurjit Singh Aujla.
Former MP Prem Singh Chandumajra has lashed out at the state government for charging money from citizens for helping them register online.
“Even as we are seeking complete waiver of the service fee to be charged by the Pakistan, our own state government is charging money. This facility at the sewa kendras should be free of cost,” he claimed.