Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan along with Chief of
Army Staff Qamar Javed Bajwa inaugurated a new visa-free corridor between the
Gurdwara at Kartarpur and the Indian town of Dera Baba Nanak. Due to the
opening of Kartarpur Corridor Sikh pilgrims will be able to travel freely
between the two holy sites without visas for the first time since the border
was established here in 1947 when India and Pakistan gained independence from
Britain.
It is said that centuries ago, Guru Nanak, the founder of
Sikhism, spent his last days in this small village. When he died in 1539, he
was so revered by both Hindus and Muslims and there was a dispute over how his
remains should be treated: Should he be buried, as per the Islamic traditions,
or cremated, as Hindus wished. Today, at the Sikh Gurdwara, or place of
worship, built over his final resting place, there are both a Muslim grave and
a Hindu samadhi (shrine).
A few kilometers away, Sikhs in Indian side gather at a
podium to view one of the most sacred sites in their religion, lining up to pay
tribute to Guru Nanak by seeing the Gurdwara through a set of binoculars. They
are unable to access the site, just four kilometers away, because between the
two Gurdwaras lies an obstacle that is the international border between India
and Pakistan. Since the partition, Pakistan has been making all-out
arrangements including preservation/renovation of Sikh sacred sites and
extending facilities to the Sikh pilgrims coming from all over the world.
As per estimates, approximately 0.1 million Sikhs want to
visit Pakistan from India, Canada, the United States, Malaysia and several
other countries. To make the Guru Nanak’s 550th birthday celebrations a
memorable event, the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) and the Pakistan Sikh
Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (PSGPC) in April this year, agreed/suggested to
increase the number of Indian Sikh pilgrims from 3,000 to 10,000.
As a usual tactic, Pakistan’s goodwill gesture again came
to the intentional scrutiny of Indian government as initially a controversy was
generated to dispel the impression that it was Pakistan’s offer or initiative.
Later, Indian External Affairs Minister Ms SushmaSwaraj declined to attend the
ceremony; however, two Indian Ministers Harsimrat Kaur Badal (Food Processing
Industries) and Hardeep Singh Puri (Minister for Housing and Urban Areas) along
with Navjot Singh Sidhu came to Pakistan.
Indian Punjab CM Capt Amarinder Singh not only declined
the offer but also used whimsical allegations of Pakistan’s involvement in
terror incidents in Punjab and border skirmishes. Nevertheless, the move has
been welcomed enthusiastically by the Sikh community and also represents a rare
instance of co-operation between the two countries. which have fought three
wars against each other. Since independence. Relations between India and
Pakistan remain strained, but at a ceremony formally starting construction work
on the pathway on the Pakistani side of the border, the country’s Prime
Minister Imran Khan said: “We will only progress when we free ourselves from
the chains of the past”.
Earlier, India’s Vice-president M Venkaiah Naidu on 26
November 2018 laid the foundation stone for the construction of the four-km-long
corridor connecting Dera Baba Nanak in India’s Gurdaspur district with Gurdwara
Kartarpur Sahib in Pakistan. “The corridor will become a symbol of love and
peace between both countries,” Naidu was quoted as saying in Gurdaspur.”This is
a momentous and historic day, we are fulfilling the wish of thousands of Sikh
devotees,” he said. It is to mention that Indian Punjab minister Sukhjinder
Singh Randhawa used tape to black out his own and other Punjab ministers’ names
on the foundation stone.”I did this in protest against Parkash and Sukhbir
Badal’s names on stone. Why is their name here? They are not part of the
executive, it is not BJP-Akali event,” the minister was quoted as saying.
According to India Today, a controversy erupted right
before the foundation stone laying ceremony as cabinet minister of the Punjab
government, Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa, termed the ceremony a “step taken in a
hurry”.
It is notable that in India, like other minority
communities, the Sikh population has also been consistently exploited,
demoralized and victimised by the Hindus. Sikhism was relegated to a status of
sub-sect of Hinduism. The claim is ridiculous as Sikh ideology denounces the
caste system, Brahmanism and idol worship; the very foundations of Hinduism.
Also, Sikhism is a monotheistic faith whereas Hinduism is polytheistic. Despite
decades of continued protests, Sikhs are still labelled Hindus in the Indian
constitution. To further demoralize them and remind them of their subjugation,
the Sikhs in the Indian state are forced to get married under the Hindu
marriage act. In 1984 the Indian state unleashed a reign of terror in the
northern Indian state of Punjab to suppress political aspirations. Their
holiest shrine “Golden Temple” was attacked/ransacked by Indian Army through
infamous “Operation Blue Star”. The backlash of desecration of the holy shrine
was unexpected as then Indian PM MsIndra Gandhi was killed by her two Sikh
bodyguards.
The incident unleashed widespread anti-Sikh riots with
tens of thousands of innocent Sikh men, women and children killed in relentless
attacks. Many affected/displaced Sikh families are still suffering/ languishing
in poverty. Initially, Indian Supreme Court termed the killings as “worse than
genocide” however, after the lapse of four decades, the court is yet to come
out with the concrete measure as the Sikh community is still demanding for a
probe of 1984 pogrom and pleading for justice.
Moreover, the active persons of the Sikh community are
labelled as “Khalistan activists”, and they are either killed in cold blood or
arrested in fabricated cases of treason, terrorism etc. In this context, even
the non-Indian resident Sikh youth are not spared. Jagtar Singh Johal alias
Jaggi (UK National /resident of Dumbarton Glasgow-Scotland) is one of such Sikh
persons who was arrested by Indian LEAs in Nov 2017 in Ludhiana (Punjab) and
alleged as an activist of “Khalistan Liberation Force”. The discovery of mass
graves of remains of those burnt alive in 2011 by an engineer namely Manwinder Singh
Giaspur, raised another storm in Sikh community and is still being pursued by
Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) led by Gurpatwant Singh Pannu. SFJ maintains that 1984
anti-Sikh pogroms were an orchestrated and organised the campaign of genocide
and successive Indian governments have never investigated these gruesome
incidents to cover up the dark chapter of Sikh genocide at the hands of the
Indian state.
With Khalistan 2020 campaign kicking up in North America,
Europe and Australia; nervousness amongst deep Indian state is getting visible.
Sikh demand for Khalistan is touching a new high. To counter Sikh activism, the
deep Indian state has been killing Hindu leaders through professional criminals
to blame Sikh youth and ISI. Target killings of Hindus in a row (since the year
2016) are at the increase and followed by blame game against KLF and Pakistan.
Moreover, the arrest episode also exposes the sinister scheming of the deep
Indian state to label every active Sikh as KLF activist to blame and accuse
ISI/Pakistan. Interestingly, a Hindu MPA from Patiala namely Dharmvira Gandhi
has asked Punjab police to show substantiating evidence about the linkage of
arrested Sikh youth with KLF/ISI.
Contrary to India, Pakistan has ensured constitutional
rights to each minority group and the Sikh community not only enjoys social,
religious and political independence but also vibrantly contribute to the
development of the country. Sikh youth is a welcome entry in Armed Forces.
Hercharn Singh became first Sikh to join Pak Army. Further facilitating the
Sikh community, govt of Pakistan enacted the “Sikh marriage act” in Nov 2007
which not only benefitted the Sikhs in Pakistan, but Sikhs living in anywhere
in the world could also register in Pakistan with the Sikh marriage act. Reportedly,
many pilgrim Sikh couples from abroad have re-affirmed their marriage in
Pakistan under the Sikh marriage act.
Opening up of “Kartarpur corridor” is surely a
manifestation of Pakistan govt’s commitment with the minorities and sincere
endeavour to attain the prayers of the Sikh community in general and blessings
of the great saint Baba Guru Nanak in particular. Despite the queer and local
behaviour of the Indians, the broadminded Pakistani people through “Kartarpur
Spirit” are indicating the world that Pakistan is a land of peace, respect,
tolerance and acknowledgement.
