Punjab CM also alleges ISI fuelling ‘nefarious activities’ in Punjab, Sidhu to attend the function in Pakistan.
New Delhi, Chandigarh: Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh will not attend the foundation stone laying ceremony for the Kartarpur Corridor, scheduled to be held in Pakistan on 28 November. The corridor will allow Sikh pilgrims on the Indian side to visit the Kartarpur Sahib Gurdwara on the other side of the border.
Singh has declined the Pakistan foreign minister’s invitation citing the continued terrorist attacks and killing of Indian soldiers by Pakistan armed forces, an official in the Punjab chief minister’s office (CMO) said.
In a letter to Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Singh has listed two reasons for his decision. “Firstly, not a day passes when Indian soldiers are not killed or wounded on the line of control in Jammu and Kashmir. Rather than moving towards normalcy, these incidents are escalating,” Singh has written.
The chief minister also highlighted the “nefarious activities” within Punjab, allegedly by the ISI. “The last attack was in Amritsar last Sunday, on a peaceful religious congregation in one of our villages, in which three men were killed and 19, including women and children, were wounded,” Singh further added.
“I hope the Prime Minister will understand that under these circumstances it will not be possible for me to be present in Pakistan on this historic occasion, despite the fact that paying my respects at Gurudwara Sri Kartarpursahib Sahib has always been my cherished dream that will hopefully be fulfilled once these hostilities and killings are stopped, “ the Punjab CM has stated in his letter.
Describing the historic occasion as “cherished desire of the Sikhs around the world” the Punjab CM expressed the hope that the Pakistan Prime Minister “will do all he can to bring our two countries together on the road to peace and friendship.”
Singh, however, is expected to attend the foundation stone laying ceremony on the Indian side of the corridor at Dera Baba Nanak in Punjab on 26 November. While the Indian ceremony will be helmed by Vice-President M. Venkaiah Naidu, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan will be breaking ground (akin to laying the foundation stone) on the other side of the border at Kartarpur.
Also read: Imran Khan opens up border for Indian Sikhs, journalists for Kartarpur Sahib ceremony
Sidhu to attend
Amarinder Singh cabinet colleague, cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu, has confirmed that he will attend the ceremony on the Pakistani side.
In a letter to the Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Sidhu has written, “I look forward to meeting you on this historic occasion. My application for permission to attend is now lodged with the Ministry of External Affairs.”
The Pakistani foreign minister had Saturday invited External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Amarinder and Sidhu to attend the ceremony on 28 November.
Talking to ThePrint, Sidhu, who is credited with initiating the talks with Pakistan over the Kartarpur corridor, said, “I have taken permission from the chief minister to go. I will be attending the ceremony at Dera Baba Nanak on the 26th and then leave for Pakistan.”
The Indian side will also be represented by Union ministers Hardeep Singh Puri and Harsimrat Kaur Badal, who have been deputed to attend the function in Pakistan by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on her behalf.
Swaraj has expressed her inability to go because of her prescheduled engagements in Telangana, where elections are scheduled to take place on 7 December.
The Kartarpur corridor
Once built, the corridor will connect the Dera Baba Nanak Sahib gurudwara to the Sikh holy shrine of Kartarpur Sahib on the Pakistani side.
The Kartarpur Gurudwara is one of the holiest shrines of Sikhs and is located on the banks of the river Ravi, three kilometres from the international border in Narowal district.
Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, breathed his last in the gurudwara. He is said to have spent the last 18 years of his life there, and the Darbar Sahib Kartarpur is considered to be the first gurudwara ever built.
Once the corridor, which will be constructed by the National Highways Authority of India, is built, Sikh pilgrims from India will be able to cross into Pakistani territory without a passport or visa.
The demand for the corridor cropped up again, when in August 2018, during the swearing-in ceremony of Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, the country’s Army chief Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa made an offer to Punjab cabinet minister Navjot Singh Sidhu that Pakistan would build a corridor from the international border up to Kartarpur Sahib.
The construction of the corridor, sources said, was among the main agenda in the meeting between Swaraj and Qureshi on the sidelines of UN General Assembly session in September. The meeting, however, was postponed at the eleventh hour after three Jammu and Kashmir special police officers were murdered.
Last Thursday, India accepted Bajwa’s offer to allow Indian Sikh pilgrims to travel to Kartarpur Sahib gurudwara by building facilities up to the countries’ international border.
Also read: A day after Kartarpur development, India lodges protests with Pakistan over harassment of officials
Amarindar Singh is thinking of Punjab and India. Sidhu only thinks of HIMSELF all the time.
Good gesture by Pakistan but without any ray of hope for peace, may result in more complications on our side of the border.The opening of corridor has caused heart burning among politicians for taking credit. Akali dal is sulking for failing to get any political gain out of this big event.Capt. Amrinder Singh is trying hard to become hero of this event but dont command natural force to be so.Captain is sulking over the lime light thrown on Sidhu on opening of Corridor.So the real hero of this achievement is Mr Sidhu whose name calculatedly being kept at bay by the akalis and Punjabi congress with equal animosity.
This is an unending story. When it comes to Pakistan, without getting teary eyed or sentimental, we should support each small act of goodness that comes out of that country, not link it up to the larger narrative. Or this will truly become the Thousand Year War.