It seems that the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor issue is getting entangled into politicking. This has been indicated by Akali Dal leader, Harsimrat Kaur Badal’s statement, that Navjot Singh Sindhu played with the sentiments of people by making false claims and the Congress leader is yearning for political mileage through this long-pending corridor opening issue.
As Sidhu paid a visit to Pakistan recently, he was thrilled with Pak army chief’s assurance of opening up of the corridor on Guru Nanak’s 550 birth anniversary in 2019. Since then the matter has been moderately boiling among the party politicians. Maybe the ruling party politicians are taking advantage of this matter, but the Congress party leaders are not far behind either.
The Sikh Sangats have been raising demands for the passageway for the last 18 years. Existing just three km away from the Indian border and 120 km away from Lahore, Gurudwara Kartarpur Sahib, awaits the opening of the corridor for Sikh pilgrimage. After seven long decades, this matter has once again come into attention. As history tells us that Maharaja of Patiala, Bhupinder Singh had raised the present structure. This historic destination holds immense value for the Sikh community. Way back in the year 1995, the Pakistan government repaired this white domed building. It was later renovated in the year 2004 again. Pak President Parvez Musharraf was supposed to make the first heedful move in the corridor opening, but he failed to do so, and nothing fruitful has been done so far.
The devotees get a glimpse of this holy place only through the iron-cased telescope set up by the Border Security Force, at the Indo-Pak border. Navjot Singh Sidhu also met Sushma Swaraj and requested her to initiate a dialogue with the government of Pakistan. Being a significant matter for the Sikh community in India, if such efforts begin, it would undoubtedly help them to take a pilgrimage to the place where Guru Nanak settled after his travels and spent 17 long years.
However, Akali Dal leader Harsimrat Kaur Badal claimed that Swaraj reprimanded Sidhu for messing up the issue. But, as ANI reported, Ms Swaraj wrote to Ms Badal that Pakistan has neither included visits to Kartarpur by Indian Sikh pilgrims under bilateral protocol nor sent any official communication for establishing the corridor.
Sidhu said that he had a detailed discussion with the foreign affairs minister Sushma Swaraj about the necessity of corridor opening. She told him that, “the draft is being prepared and I will write a letter.” This has been considered as his refutation of the stinging charges against him. Guru Nanak’s birthplace, Nankana Sahib, also exists in Pakistan’s periphery.