Pakistan’s opening of Kartarpur has a message

My eyes have welled up with tears that you have come to your home, to your Guru’s home, said Imran Khan

On November 26, 2018, Pakistan Prime Minister Khan, along with Chief of Army Staff Qamar Javed Bajwa, inaugurated the Kartarpur Corridor or Rahdari in the Narowal district of Punjab. The corridor linking Pakistan’s Kartarpur to India’s Gurdaspur opened the way for Sikh pilgrims to visit one of their holiest places, the shrine of Guru Nanak Dev Saheb. Celebrated as the residence where Guru Nanak is said to have spent the last eighteen years of his life, the Gurdwara Darbar Saheb in Kartarpur is as sacred to Sikhs as Makkah is to Muslims. Khan promised to open the corridor for the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev Saheb in November 2019.

One road opens the way for another. In March 2019, the government of Pakistan stated its willingness to open the Sharda Temple Corridor in Pakistan-administered Jammu and Kashmir for Hindu pilgrims from Kashmir across the border and India.

In April 2019, the government announced restoration and reopening of Hindu temples that had been closed for prayer for decades. The restoration work, according to the Evacuee Trust Property

Board, was to start with two historic Hindu temples in Sialkot and Peshawar.

Buddhist monks from South Korea visited the Bhamala Stupa in Haripur, Pakistan, earlier this month. Buddhist chief monks Dr Neung-her Sinim, Jeok Kyung and Jeong Wei prayed for peace in the region at their scared stupa. Speaking to Gulf News, Dr Neung said: “Pakistanis and the world must realise the significance Bhamala holds for the spiritual community. Our ancestors chose this place. This is why we pray here for peace in the region and the world.”

Earlier this week, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf central secretary Information Ahmad Jawad announced the reopening of four hundred Hindu temples in Pakistan.

Bleeding horror

On November 9, India’s Supreme Court announced the Ayodhya verdict. The verdict reopened, in all its bleeding horror, the memories of the enormity of the demolition of the centuries old Babri Masjid and its aftermath.

On November 9, Pakistan opened the Kartarpur Corridor. The day became another landmark in Pakistan’s rediscovered enlightenment and acceptance with generosity of spirit a fundamental tenet of humanity: inclusiveness. With the arrival of Sikh pilgrims from India, including former Indian prime minister, Manmohan Singh, the fewmile Kartarpur Corridor became the pathway to one of Sikhs’ holiest places..

A year ago, Prime Minister Khan made a promise to his Sikh friend and guest, Navjot Singh Sidhu, and all visiting Sikhs that Pakistan would open the Kartarpur Corridor for the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak. Pakistan kept its promise.

Khan, speaking on the occasion of the opening of the Kartarpur Rahdari said: “I am always so happy to see the Sikh community that has come here. God lives in the hearts of all of us. All the messengers who have come and gone only ever brought two messages, that of peace and justice.”

Khan said: “I am happy we could do this for you. Believe me, I had no idea of the importance this place holds; I found out a year ago.” That Khan is the leader of a Pakistan that is inclusive, diverse, generous, compassionate. That is the Pakistan of Mohammad Ali Jinnah’s vision, and the hope of millions of Pakistanis. That is my Pakistan.

And that is the Pakistan of all those Pakistanis who think of their neighbours like the bus driver Saddam Hussain does. His unrehearsed, glorious words to an Indian journalist on November 9, while driving a shuttle bus from the Kartarpur terminal to the Gurdwara, echo the collective sentiments of a Pakistan that believes in the power of religions, even in their differences, acting as a unifier.

Hussain said: “My happiness is such it might be more than yours. My eyes have welled up with tears that you have come to your home, to your Guru’s home. Allah knows. We have that feeling when we go for Haj. The way you have come, I swear I don’t know how to describe it. I don’t have words; I feel so much joy. Punjab has united again. May Allah keep you happy like you are now, and you keep visiting like you are now. Our arms are always open for you whenever you visit, sir.”

■ Mehr Tarar is a noted Pakistani journalist, broadcaster and columnist. Twitter: @MehrTarar