KARTARPUR CORRIDOR WILL ATONE FOR SINS OF PARTITION: PM

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday attacked the previous Congress government for its inability to bring Kartarpur Sahib under India during Partition. Releasing a commemorative coin as part of the 350th birth anniversary celebrations of 10th Sikh guru Guru Gobind Singh, Modi also came down on the Congress for the 1984 riots that took place following the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

Referring to the Kartapur Sahib corridor, he said that now devotees do not have to look at the shrine in Pakistan using binoculars and they could visit the place without visa.

“A mistake took place in August, 1947. It [the corridor] is an atonement of the mistake. An important place of our guru was only a few kilometers away. But it could not be made part [of India during Partition] ... the corridor is an effort to reduce the damage,” he said in a veiled attack on the then Congress government. Guru Nanak passed away in Kartarpur on September 22, 1539.

Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, former Chief Justice of India JS Khehar and several Sikh leaders were present at the Prime Minister’s residence to participate in the event.

Modi said be it Guru Nanak or Guru Gobind Singh, they have taught us to be on the side of justice.