Pilgrimage corridor opens route to peace
INDIA AND PAKISTAN TO MAKE IT EASY FOR SIKHS TO VISIT HOLY SITE
India yesterday approved the building of a new border entry point and road connecting the northern state of Punjab to the border with Pakistan, making it quicker and easier for Sikh pilgrims to visit a holy site.
Muslim-majority Pakistan has also decided to open the corridor on its side of the border and Prime Minister Imran Khan will lay the foundation stone this month, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmoud Qureshi said in a tweet.
Many Sikhs see Pakistan as the place where their religion began: the founder of Sikhism, Guru Nanak, was born in 1469 in a small village near the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore.
“Government of Pakistan will be urged to recognise the sentiments of the Sikh community and to develop a corridor with suitable facilities in their territory as well,” the Indian government said in a statement.
Pakistan welcomed India’s decision. “Indian Cabinet endorsement of Pakistan’s proposition on #KartarPurBorderOpening is victory of peace lobby in both countries,” Pakistani Information and Broadcasting Minister Fawad Hussain said in a tweet. “It’s a step towards right direction and we hope such steps will encourage voice of reason and tranquillity on both sides of the border.” Thousands of Sikhs already visit the shrine in Pakistan every year.
The corridor indicates a thaw in relations between the two nuclear-armed foes. In September, India called off a meeting between their foreign ministers to protest the killing of Indian security personnel in Kashmir.
The Kartarpur Sahib gurdwara is a historic Sikh pilgrimage, 120km from Lahore, in Pakistan’s Punjab province.
The present-day gurdwara was built at the site where Guru Nanak died on September 22, 1539. It was at this place that Guru Nanak settled and assembled members of the Sikh community after his missionary visits. The Gurdwara Kartarpur Darbar Sahib in Narowal in Pakistan’s Punjab province holds religious significance for the Sikh community. It is where Baba Guru Nanak settled down after his travels as a missionary. He lived there for 18 years until his death.
The gurdwara is visible from the Indian side of the border. Pakistani authorities often cut elephant grass, which otherwise obstructs the view from India. The development of Kartarpur corridor from Dera Baba Nanak in Gurdaspur district to the International Border will facilitate pilgrims from India to visit Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur on the banks of the Ravi river.