This is the first time since Partition in 1947 that visa-free access to Sikh pilgrims will be allowed into Kartarpur Gurdwara in Pakistan.
The Imran Khan government is throwing open the international border at Wagah, Punjab, not only for all Sikh pilgrims wanting to attend the ground-breaking ceremony of the Kartarpur Sahib corridor on 28 November, but also for a handful of Indian journalists.
The fact that Indian journalists are also being invited, as guests of the Pakistan government, is indicative of the Imran Khan government’s decision to unilaterally introduce some people-to-people confidence-building measures that ease the tension on the ground.
This is the first time in 71 years, since Partition that the border is being opened up for visa-free access.
Kartarpur Corridor
This path, the Kartarpur corridor, will lead from the Dera Baba Nanak village in the state of Punjab, India, across the international border to a town called Kartarpur in the province of Punjab, Pakistan. The Pakistani town is home to a holy site of Sikhism, the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib, where the founder of the religion, Guru Nanak, is said to have lived for 18 years until his death in 1539.
The construction of this “faith corridor” will mean that many Sikhs from India who were not able to visit the Kartarpur gurdwara will now be able to do so. Currently, many devotees in India use binoculars to view the shrine situated a short distance away.
Pakistan initiative
It was former Indian cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu, who made the first announcement that Pakistan was willing to open the Kartarpur Corridor. He was passed on this information none other than Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa during the swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister Imran Khan.
Later, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry announced that a mechanism had already been evolved to allow the Sikh pilgrims to travel to this side of the border without any visa.
Capt Amarinder Singh Comments
Capt Amarinder Singh, the chief minister of the Indian state of Punjab, and a leader of India’s opposition Congress party, declined an invitation from Khan to attend the groundbreaking ceremony in Pakistan. He tweeted that, while he had “always cherished” the dream to visit the Kartarpur gurdwara, he “cannot go while killings of Indian soldiers and terror attacks in Punjab continue.”
A letter, whose image Singh uploaded along with his tweet, referred in particular to an attack in Amritsar a week ago, in which three men were killed, and around 20 injured, during a religious gathering.
Welcome decision of Pakistan PM @ImranKhanPTI to build Kartarpur Corridor but will not go there for their ground-breaking ceremony unless Pak ends violence against India. As CM, I have a responsibility to Punjab & will protect it from terror till the last drop of my blood. pic.twitter.com/13ociXp6y8
— Capt.Amarinder Singh (@capt_amarinder) 26 November 2018