Cross-border faith brings India, Pakistan on common ground here

If the activity, as seen from this border town in north Punjab’s Gurdaspur district, on both sides of the international border (IB) between the two countries is any indication, Sikh and Hindu pilgrims from secular India will soon be headed to Islamic Pakistan through a specially created road corridor that will facilitate their visa-free travel to the towering pearly-white temple, to offer prayers at the shrine that holds immense religious significance on both sides

Over 70 years after they became separate countries and have largely shared at best strained to downright hostile ties, India and Pakistan have been brought on common ground by a religious monument of faith the Kartarpur Sahib gurdwara. If the activity, as seen from this border town in north Punjab’s Gurdaspur district, on both sides of the international border (IB) between the two countries is any indication, Sikh and Hindu pilgrims from secular India will soon be headed to Islamic Pakistan through a specially created road corridor that will facilitate their visa-free travel to the towering pearly-white temple, to offer prayers at the shrine that holds immense religious significance on both sides.

Standing at the Viewers’ Gallery at the border out post (BoP) manned by India’s Border Security Force (BSF) troopers, the hectic activity to build the Kartarpur Corridor inside Pakistan can be partially seen beyond the “dhussi” (earthen embankment) with heavy machinery and men tasked to complete the task at hand. The deadline, for both countries, to ensure that the corridor project is completed, is before November this year, when the 550th birth anniversary celebrations of Guru Nanak Dev (1469-1539), the founder of Sikhism, will be observed in both countries. What makes the Kartarpur Sahib gurdwara, which is located around 4.5-km from the IB and is in Narowal district of Pakistan, significant for the Sikh community is that Guru Nanak spent the last 18 years of his life there and is his final resting place.

“It has been the cherished desire of every Sikh on this side of the border to visit Kartarpur Sahib. The prayers have been answered after over 70 years. We are all just waiting for the moment when going there will actually become a reality for people from India,” said Joginder Singh, a village elder distributing religious offerings outside the Gurdwara Saheed Baba Singh Sohn at the BoP.

Scores of people arrive at the BoP daily to have a ‘darshan’ (glimpse) of the Kartarpur Sahib gurdwara from the viewers’ gallery under the watchful eye of the BSF troopers and the recently stationed Punjab Police personnel. “This pilgrimage is important. It will be great when people will be able to actually go and offer prayers at the gurdwara in Pakistan,” said Manjeet Singh, a farmer.

The gurdwara is visible on clear days from the elevated Viewers’ Gallery.

“People come here and offer prayers. On weekends and holidays, hundreds of people come here,” a BSF official from its 10th battalion posted here said.

On the Indian side, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has put up red flags to mark the area where a highway is proposed from Dera Baba Nanak town till the IB. The Punjab government has initiated the land acquisition process for the highway and other facilities for pilgrims. There is more work happening on the Pakistan side where the actual corridor, with a proper security fence, is being built.

The importance of the Kartarpur Corridor can be gauged from the fact that governments in both countries are dealing with this matter of faith with sensitivity. The project’s ground-breaking ceremony in Pakistan saw the country’s Prime Minister Imran Khan and Army Chief Qamar Javed Bajwa in attendance (on November 28, 2018) while the foundation stone on the India side had Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu and Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh present (on November 26).

The agreed draft between India and Pakistan proposes that 500 pilgrims will be allowed to traverse the Corridor daily from India. Pakistan has proposed entry of only Sikh devotees, which the Indian Punjab state is opposing. Pointing out that Guru Nanak was born in a Hindu family and is

revered by followers of all religions, especially Hindus, Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has urged the Indian government to get this changed.

“The Sikh ethos prescribes nondiscrimination, with even the concept of langar being caste-less service for all. Gurdwaras are open to all, without religious bias. A large number of Hindus in India are ardent followers of Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji, and it was their cherished dream to visit the Kartarpur Sahib Gurdwara, “he said.

“For years, a tradition of Hindu families in north India was to convert their eldest sons to Sikhism,” Rupinder Singh, a Sikh researcher, said.

For both the nuclear-armed nations that have fought three wars and talk only about cross-border terrorism not trade, the leap through faith to have cross-border pilgrimage through the Kartarpur Corridor could be a significant milestone in the rocky ties between the neighbours.