Islamabad, Nov 8, (Asia Free Press): Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday said that the “mindset of the Indian government is the greatest hurdle towards peace in our region today,” as he commemorated the second anniversary of the Kartarpur Corridor.
Taking to his Twitter account, the premier wrote: “Today is the second anniversary of the Kartarpur Corridor – a corridor of interfaith harmony that allows India’s Sikh community special access to one of their holiest sites.”
He added that the Kartarpur Corridor reflects his government’s commitment to minority rights and interfaith harmony.
Pakistan provides visa-free access to pilgrims visiting Gurdwara Darbar Sahib through the Kartarpur Corridor. The Kartarpur Corridor can accommodate additional visitors on special occasions in addition to the 5000 pilgrims who visit Kartarpur on a daily basis, seven days a week.
This year’s pilgrimage to the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur was cancelled due to the Covid-19 epidemic. November 9 is the second anniversary of the opening of the corridor connecting the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan to India.
Baba Guru Nanak spent the last 18 years of his life in Kartarpur. As such, the Gurdwara is regarded as Sikhs’ most sacred place of worship.
For the 550th anniversary of the birth of Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, the corridor was opened in November of 2019.
Between May 22 and August 12, Pakistan put New Delhi under Category C because the Delta variant had spread throughout Pakistan, which meant that pilgrims from India needed special permissions to travel there.
In the wake of Covid-19, both India and Pakistan temporarily stopped the pilgrimage and halted registration in March.
The pilgrimage was reopened in Islamabad later in October, but India refused to accept the gesture.
This year on the Sikh Guru’s birth anniversary, thousands of pilgrims waited to see if the Kartarpur Corridor would reopen, but Indian officials refused to do so.
To mark the second anniversary of the Kartarpur Corridor’s opening, former cricketer and Indian National Congress lawmaker Navjot Singh Sidhu travelled to Gurdaspur district’s Darshan Asthan along zero line to get a “glimpse” of Gurdwara Darbar Sahib, during which he urged the Modi-led central government to reopen it.
After looking at the historic gurdwara through binoculars, Sidhu offered prayer and said, “I prayed to Baba Nanak to reopen the corridor. I seek his blessings again, because due to his power, the corridor was opened.”
