Daily Times

The Government of Pakistan’s goodwill gesture of offering Sikh devotees an opportunity to worship at the Kartarpur Gurdwara without having to obtain a Pakistani Visa has caused a wave of joy to sweep across the Sikh community worldwide. Now, in honor of the 550th birthday celebrations of Baba Guru Nak, the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Mr. Imran Khan will formally inaugurate the Kartarpur Corridor on the 9th of November, 2019.

In Sikh tradition, the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib is considered the 2nd holiest site after the Gurdwara Janam Asthan (also known as the Gurdwara Nankana Sahib). This is the place where the premier Guru in Sikhism, Baba Guru Nanak spent 18 years of his life.

In order to gain access to this sacred shrine, Sikhs around the world pegged their hopes on an agreement being reached between Pakistan and India. Fortunately, this wish is about to come true in a matter of days.

Spanning an area of 42 acres, the work of renovating Gurdwara Darbar Sahib is in its final stages before completion. Despite India trying its level best to find a cause for delay, an agreement has reached between itself and Pakistan. As per the Agreement, five thousand pilgrims will be able to visit the Shrine from India every day.

Eleven months ago, when the project had just only been commenced, one could only see a tiny building encompassed by green fields on all sides. However, the area seems to have been transformed now. Within a narrow window of a mere 10 months, the plans for the Shrine’s expansion came to fruition. Pakistan’s sincere efforts have made Gurdwara Darbar Sahib the largest Gurdwara in the world. The expansion plans also provide for the prospective addition of new rooms, a mass kitchen, museum and library. The project also incorporates an irrigation centre and protection against flooding. The Gurdwara’s Courtyard is even larger than that of the legendary Badshahi Mosque in Lahore.

Facing the Gurdwara on the Indian side, a pavilion has been erected in the city of Dera Guru Nanak that provides an excellent vantage point for pilgrims to pay their respects to the Gurdwara from a distance. It should be kept in mind that many years ago, in 1999, Pakistan had made India a similar offer to create a fenced corridor which would allow Sikh pilgrims to visit the Gurdwara till the evening, after which they would go back to Pakistan. However, at the time, India had not responded positively to the offer. Even now, it seems as if India has only been forced into accepting this arrangement, less out of its own volition, and more as a consequence of Pakistan’s successful diplomacy.

India had no other option but to accept this courteous offer from the Pakistani side and as large as India is, it embodies a diversication of cultures and sects within it. With such diversity placed under one banner, the fluidity in governance always seems to be on thin ice that could shatter any moment even if the government commits the slightest of diplomatic fallacies. In essence, India is affraid if a commotion breaks of with hues and cries for the creation of ‘Khalistan’ once again. The situation of Kashmir is already on a brink of utter disaster as of now and they cannot allow the same situation to commence in Punjab which is literally an economic hub for India.

Here the army should be given the utmost credit for making this dream to come true. Who could have thought that the country would open up borders for a country that have such an elaborate history of feuds and beefs as we unfold all the history books

It is a very thought after idea but its effective implementation requires the cooperation of both India and Pakistan. No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent and this goes for the government of both countries however the Indian government has shown its concerns that the corridor might be used by Pakistan to undermine India’s security, in the interest of the Sikhs’ desire for access to the site. According to a recent report, the cost of the corridor would be 17 million US dollars. The report had said that it would cost India $2.2 million and Pakistan $14.8 million. This just comes to show the difference in the level of willingness between India and Pakistan. India despite seeing the fact that Pakistan is paying majority of the money for the corridor- are still skeptical of Pakistan’s motive behind this and even after agreeing to nearly spend 15 million dollars by themselves, India is still judging the integrity of Pakistan. Pakistan is only doing this with a gesture of goodwill by complying with the wish of the former Indian tourism minister, Navjot Singh Sidhu.

Here the army should be given the utmost credit for making this dream to come true. Who could have thought that the country would open up borders for a country that have such an elaborate history of feuds and beefs as we unfold all the history books. This corridor is one of a kind and we can truly see how good the diplomatic policies are getting over the years – first with the creation of the economical corridor with China and now a ‘social’ corridor being erected against the face of adversity from our Indian neighbors. This has been a project that has taken years in the making and one cannot soil the religious love of the Sikhs by not expecting their wishes as an Islamic Republic, Pakistan knows how to respect other religions and recognize the need for the freedom of religion unlike India that yearly has so many dispute over ethnicity and religions. In November 2010 the Punjab state legislative assembly unanimously passed a resolution in favour of an international passage between the two sites and forwarded it to the Indian Union government on 1 October 2010 and now after all these years finally the inauguration for the corridor is going to happen.

India still has a few concerns about the Kartarpur Gurdwara but with time passing by day by day and the day of inauguration quickly reaching its final climax, the countries should not be quarreling over disputes that could stain the religious freedom of the Sikhs with violence and petty feuds between India and Pakistan. Prime Minister Imran Khan will be inaugurating the project on the ninth of November, three days before the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev. Foundation stone for Baba Gurunanak University has also been laid and a Rs 50 coin and a postal stamp to commemorate the 550th birthday of Baba Gurunanak has also been issued by Pakistan.

The writer is a journalist and social media activist based in Islamabad