Former Jathedar of Akal Takht leads Sikh outfits to celebrate Gurdwara Kartarpur corridor anniversary

GS Paul
Tribune News Service
Amritsar, November 9

Exactly one year down the line, the dedicated corridor to Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib wore a deserted look on its maiden anniversary, except some Sikh outfits led by former Akal Takht jathedar Giani Joginder Singh Vedanti, commemorated the occasion on the Indian side of the corridor at Dera Baba Nanak on Monday.

In a one-sided affair, the occasion was ‘officially’ commemorated by the Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (PSGPC) across the border in Narowal district.

Terming the Kartarpur corridor as symbol of faith and bonds, PSGPC president Satwant Singh showed gratitude towards the Sikh outfits which assembled on Indian side to mark the occasion.

“PSGPC has organised the programme dedicated to the occasion with local Sikh and Muslim brethren, but we missed the pilgrims from Indian side. We wish that Indian government too should reopen the corridor at the earliest,” he said.

For SGPC, this day passed like any other day. No plan was scheduled to observe the occasion while owing to Union Government’s denial to open the visa free passage on ‘health grounds’ from its side.

Nonetheless, at Dera Baba Nanak, there was a clamour of voices to reopen the corridor by the Sikh outfits, including the Dal Khalsa along with Akal Federation, United Akali Dal, former Jathedar Damdama Sahib Giani Kewal Singh and Akal Purakh ki Fauj convener Advocate Jaswinder Singh.

The corridor was closed by India on March 15 as part of measures to curb the COVID-19 spread. In June, it was briefly opened on the occasion of Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s death anniversary, but India had declined to open the corridor on its side.

On October 2, the Pakistan government had officially announced the re-opening of the 4.7-kilometre-long passage on its side, but the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) was still hesitated to re-open the corridor and kept the decision reserved to observe the coronavirus protocol.

“Now when life was going normally, COVID-19 can’t be an excuse to keep the corridor operation suspended anymore. Guru Nanak’s 551st Parkash Purab is slated to be on November 30, so the government must re-open the pathway before the gurpurab respecting the religious sentiments of the Nanak Naam leva sangat from across the globe,” said Kanwar Pal Singh, spokesperson of the Dal Khalsa.

Akal Takht officiating Jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh observed that Kartarpur corridor has been the epitome of peace and tranquillity in entire Asia and could play a vital role in mending the sour relationship between the two neighbouring nations.

“Though it was closed due to COVID-19 crisis, but when the religious places across India have officially been opened, there was no point in keeping the operations at Kartarpur corridor suspended. India too should review its decision and reopen the access from Indian side too,” he said.