Daily Times

As per the news published in the Dawn dated 17 September 2019, the Kartarpur corridor for the Indian Sikh pilgrims to visit the most sacred Sikh shrine of Baba Guru Nanak, located in the Kartarpur village of Pakistan in the Narowal District, just a few kilometres from the Pakistan-India border is being opened on 9 November 2019. As stated by the project director Atif Majeed the visa-free border crossing from India to Kartarpur, Pakistan, would be inaugurated on Nov 9, 2019 just ahead of the 550th birth anniversary of Sikhism founder Baba Guru Nanak on Nov 12, to enable the Sikh community of India and the foreign countries to attend one of the Sikh religion’s most sacred festivals. Up to 5,000 Indians will be allowed access to the shrine daily, with plans to eventually double the capacity.

The Sikh minority community in India’s northern state of Punjab and present worldwide has since long been asking for an easier access to the temple in Kartarpur. The temple marks the site where the Baba Guru Nanak died. Previously, to visit the shrine at Kartarpur the Sikhs had to get through the visa process, arrive Lahore or some other Pakistani major city and then drive to the village Kartarpur, which is just four kilometres from the Indian border. Now, instead of visas, the Sikh pilgrims will be given special permission at the border to access the shrine by using the Kartarpur corridor, that comprises roadways, an 800-metre bridge over the River Ravi and an immigration office.

A year ago, Pakistan had started constructing the Kartarpur corridor to meet the longstanding desire of the Indian Sikhs to facilitate their visits to the shrine of Baba Guru Nanak. This is being done by Pakistan in accordance with the Article 36 of its Constitution, as Pakistan is a strong proponent of granting and protecting basic and religious rights to/of the minorities. This article says, “The state shall safeguard the legitimate rights and interest of minorities, including their due representation in the Federal and Provincial services”. The development of Kartarpur corridor is meant to promote religious freedom and harmony of the minorities.

After the development of Kartarpur Corridor, Pakistan will facilitate the visit of 5,000 pilgrims per day, round the year, and 10,000 pilgrims on special days. The development of the Kartarpur Corridor is to allow the South Asian and world’s Sikh community to observe their religious obligations befittingly thus reinforcing Pakistan’s endeavours to respect and safeguard equal religious freedom and basic rights of all minorities.

Opening of the Kartarpur corridor by Pakistan when India is carrying out genocide of the Muslims of the occupied Jammu and Kashmir, as amply reflected by the Western media outlets, is meant to teach India that even in the adverse times, how a state should ensure the rights of its religious and other minorities

The Prime Minister of Pakistan will inaugurate the Kartarpur corridor on 9 November 2019, quite in time to facilitate the Indian Sikhs to attend the 550th birth anniversary of Baba Guru Nanak. This corridor is being opened for the Sikhs on 9 November 2019, despite Pakistan’s ongoing tensions with India over Jammu and Kashmir, where India has abrogated Articles 35 A and 370 of the Indian constitution, without the consent of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, thus taking away their autonomy granted to them under the Indian constitution. Moreover to crush the Kashmiris possible reaction and also to damage their peaceful freedom struggle, India has clamped the curfew in the Kashmir valley for the last 46 days and very badly violated the human rights of the Kashmiris.

Despite this precarious situation in Jammu and Kashmir, where India has taken unilateral steps about Jammu and Kashmir in violation of the UNSC resolutions on Kashmir, the Simla Agreement and the Indian constitution, Pakistan’s resolve of opening the Kartarpur Corridor on 9 November 2019 for the Sikh community is a great goodwill gesture. In fact opening of the Kartarpur corridor by Pakistan at a time, when India is carrying out genocide of the Muslims of the occupied Jammu and Kashmir and the Muslims in the mainland India, as amply reflected by the Western media outlets, is meant to indirectly teach India a lesson even in the adverse times and situation that how a state should ensure the rights of its religious and other minorities.

In view of the above discussed situation, the opening of the Katarpur corridor by Pakistan for the Indian Sikhs in November 2019 is a major step towards teaching India that it should also respect its religious and other minorities, like the Muslims, Sikhs and the Christians. It is expected that this good will gesture of Pakistan will ultimately contribute towards reconciliation between Pakistan and India, in a good spirit of seeking peace and stability by resolving all issues, including the Jammu and Kashmir dispute, through a dialogue. In this context, Pakistan thinks that to break the ongoing logjam it is necessary to enhance people to people contacts, which will be greatly promoted by the development of the Kartarpur corridor.

The writer is a former Research Fellow of Islamabad Policy Research Institute (IPRI), Islamabad and Senior Research Fellow of Strategic Vision Institute (SVI), Islamabad