Union home minister Amit Shah on Tuesday announces that Centre has decided to reopen the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor from Wednesday, November 17. He said that the decision reflects the immense reverence of Modi government towards Guru Nanak.
“In a major decision, that will benefit large numbers of Sikh pilgrims, PM @Narendramodi govt has decided to re-open the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor from tomorrow, Nov 17. This decision reflects the immense reverence of Modi govt towards Shri Guru Nanak Dev Ji and our Sikh community, he tweeted.
Former CM Captain Amarinder Singh and his party rival Navjot Singh Sidhu thanked PM Modi on “timely opening” of the corridor “on the occasion of Guru Purab of Guru Nanak Dev Ji”.
My profound gratitude to PM @narendramodi and HM @AmitShah for the timely opening of the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor. It will provide a chance to thousands of devotees to pay obeisance at the holy shrine on the occasion of Guru Purab of Guru Nanak Dev Ji.— Capt.Amarinder Singh (@capt_amarinder) November 16, 2021
Welcome step …. The reopening of the Corridor of infinite possibilities … invaluable gift for Nanak naam levas … may the corridor of the Great Guru remain open eternally to shower blessings on one an all …. Sarbat da bhala pic.twitter.com/88Dw9o8nA9— Navjot Singh Sidhu (@sherryontopp) November 16, 2021
CM Charanjit Singh Channi also welcomed the decision. “I warmly welcome the decision to reopen the Sri Kartapur Sahib Corridor on the auspicious occasion of 552nd Parkash Purb of Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji. This laudatory step has fulfilled aspirations of millions of devotees who’ve been deprived of ‘Darshan Didare’ due to Covid pandemic,” he tweeted.
The formal announcement came hours after Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Harjit Singh Grewal told News18 that Kartarpur Corridor will be thrown open for devotees from Thursday, November 18. The registration for the same will begin from Wednesday, he said. However, with the formal announcement it was clarified that pilgrims can use the passage for travel to gurdwara in Pakistan from November 17 itself.
Grewal’s statement came two days after a Punjab BJP delegation led-by state party president Ashwani Sharma met Prime Minister Narendra Modi to appeal for reopening the corridor by Gurpurab.
“The festival is on November 19 and the followers of Guru Nanak must be allowed to travel to his birthplace in Pakistan. The corridor was opened on November 9, 2019, at the BJP’s initiative. The historic gurdwara is a mere 4.7 kilometres from the Indian border and should have been negotiated to be part of the Indian territory during Partition in 1947,” Sharma was quoted as saying.
He claimed that the Covid situation had improved enough to give Sikh pilgrims free travel access to Kartarpur Sahib. The visa-free corridor was closed due to the pandemic last year, as travel restrictions were imposed.
A delegation of Punjab BJP leaders, led by Harjeet Grewal, met Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday with the same request to open the Kartarpur Corridor on the occasion of Gurpurab. Shah reportedly said the government would look into the matter at the earliest.
A Sikh Jatha of 1,500 pilgrims will visit Pakistan from November 17-26, but they will go via Wagah-Attari Border and not Kartarpur.
The pilgrimage to the Kartarpur Sahib gurdwara was suspended in March 2020 because of the Covid-19 outbreak. The Kartarpur corridor provides a visa-free border crossing for pilgrims from India visiting the Kartarpur Sahib gurdwara in Pakistan. It links the Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib, the final resting place of Sikhism founder Guru Nanak Dev, to the Dera Baba Nanak shrine in the Gurdaspur district in India.
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