Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday announced that the Centre has decided to re-open the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor from November 17 (Wednesday).
“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,” Shah tweeted.
“The nation is all set to celebrate the Prakash Utsav of Shri Guru Nanak Dev ji on 19th of November and I am sure that PM @NarendraModi govt’s decision to reopen the Kartarpur Sahib corridor will further boost the joy and happiness across the country,” the Union home minister’s another tweet read.
Earlier, reports had emerged that the central governmnet is all set to reopen the Kartarpur corridor which was shut in wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The corridor provides a visa-free border crossing for pilgrims from India visiting the Kartarpur Sahib gurdwara in Pakistan. Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib is the final resting place of Sikhism founder Guru Nanak Dev.
The corridor links the Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib to the Dera Baba Nanak shrine in the Gurdaspur district in India.
Notably, the Pakistan government has allowed the Indian pilgrims to cross over into Pakistan on the occasion of Guru Nanak Dev’s birth anniversary celebrations from November 17 to 26.
The decision will help Indian Sikh pilgrims visit Gurdwara Darbar Sahib, Sri Panja Sahib, Dera Sahib, Nankana Sahib and Kartarpur Sahib Gurdwara Sacha Sauda in Pakistan. Islamabad has issued around 3000 visas to Indian pilgrims.
Pakistan PM Imran Khan inaugurated the Kartarpur Corridor on the event of the 550th birth anniversary of Baba Guru Nanak in 2019. However, the corridor was closed in March 2020 after the Covid-19 outbreak.
BJP leaders from Punjab met Union Home Minister Amit Shah on November 15 and appealed to him to allow the reopening of the Kartarpur Corridor on November 19 on the occasion of Prakash Parv.
“We have requested Prime Minister Modi to reopen the Kartarpur corridor before Gurupurab which will be celebrated before November 19. And after meeting with him, we are hopeful that it will be opened soon,” BJP Punjab unit president Ashwani Sharma told news agency PTI.
The Centre on November 11 announced that a ‘jatha’ of around 1500 pilgrims will be allowed to visit Pakistan from November 17-26 via the Attari-Wagah Integrated Check Post.
“It’s been decided that a ‘jatha’ of around 1,500 pilgrims will visit Pakistan from Nov 17-26 as per the 1974 Protocol on Visits to Religious Shrines b/w India-Pakistan,” Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said.
“They [the jatha] will visit Gurdwara Darbar Sahib, Sri Panja Sahib, Dera Sahib, Kartarpur Sahib and Gurdwara Sacha Sauda,” Bagchi added.
