Ravi Dhaliwal
Tribune News Service
Shikhaar Masiahan(Gurdaspur), November 9
It could not have got any bigger than this as the two warring nations finally joined hands to ensure that the 4-km-long cross-border corridor to the Kartarpur shrine, located across the wire fencing, got operational after Prime Minister Narendra Modi formally dedicated it to the public at a rally held here, 8 km away from the passage, amid the chanting of hymns.
Later, the Prime Minister inaugurated the Integrated Check Post and flagged off the first jatha (batch) of pilgrims to Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur.
Modi said with today’s inauguration, a seven-decade-old demand of the Sikhs now stood fulfilled. The PM was fulsome in his praise of Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan.
“Mein wazir-e-azam Imran Khan Niazi ka abhaari hun jinhone hame yeh raasta diya.” (I am indebted to PM Imran Khan for having given us this passage). After the Punjab Government cancelled its part of the festivities, apparently not wanting to send the protocol for a toss, Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh joined the PM, Governor VP Singh Badnore, former CM Parkash Singh Badal, Union ministers Harsimrat Kaur Badal and Hardeep Puri, MPs Sunny Deol and Sukhbir Singh Badal on the dais. The stage was managed jointly by the SAD and the SGPC.
Badal said that for 18 long years, from Baisakhi 2001 till 2018, come rain, sunshine or sleet, late Akali leader Kuldeep Singh Wadala organised monthly prayer meetings at the Zero Line, urging the Almighty to pave a passage to the bordering country which would ensure that his Sikh brethren could pay obeisance at the very place where Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, spent the last 18 years of his life.
Badal reminded the gathering that Wadala died in June 2018 and 17 months later the corridor sprang to life.
To commemorate his memory, the Punjab Government has named one of the roads leading to the corridor as Kuldeep Singh Wadala Marg.
“This is a just tribute to the man who made all this possible,” said Akali leader Bikram Singh Majithia.
Interestingly, Capt Amarinder stuck to his stand on the corridor, which he has been viewing with scepticism, as he warned the neighbouring country against “misusing the passage to carry out its nefarious designs.”
At one point, Badal took everybody, including the PM, by surprise when he said Punjabi farmers were suffering as they were not being paid adequate MSP for wheat and paddy.
Capt warns Pakistan
Let me tell Pakistan that we, Punjabis, are not wearing bangles. The corridor should not be utilised by Pakistan for any other purpose other than what it is meant for Capt Amarinder Singh, Punjab CM
PM Modi thanks Imran for Kartarpur; Khan harps on Jammu &Kashmir
Kartarpur corridor: Over 500 devotees cross over to Pak on inauguration day
Gautam Dheer
chandigarh, DHNS
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday thanked his Pakistani counterpart Imran Khan for respecting India’s sentiments on the Kartarpur Sahib issue, only inviting a strong reaction from Khan who unsparingly raked up the Kashmir issue calling for a “free Kashmir”.
Both Modi and Khan on Saturday inaugurated the historic Kartarpur Sahib corridor link on each side of the border as the first jatha (group of devotees) of over 500 people crossed over to Pakistan through the newly inaugurated passenger bus terminal in Dera Baba Nanak in Punjab’s Gurdaspur to reach the revered Sikh shrine in Pakistan’s Kartarpur, just over three km from the Indian border.
As Modi expressed gratitude saying Khan understood and respected India’s feelings on the Kartarpur issue, Khan, during his speech before thousands of Indians in Kartarpur, asked Modi to give justice to Kashmir and its people freedom.
“I am sorry to say that today what is happening in Kashmir is beyond territorial issues. It’s a humanity issue. The human rights of 80 lakh Kashmiri people have been violated by the nine lakh Army there,” he said. Khan said the issue of Kashmir was not about land, it was about humanity. People are being kept as animals and their rights as per the UN resolution have also been taken away, he added.
Interestingly, former Punjab Cabinet minister Navjot Singh Sidhu, who spoke as a special guest in Pakistan ahead of Khan, sang paeans for his friend eloquently saying he (Khan) lives in the hearts of Sikhs.
Imbibe the preachings
Modi, addressing a gathering in Dera Baba Nanak on Saturday afternoon talked about imbibing the preaching of Guru Nanak. Modi advocated a drug-free environment and an environmentally aware society.
Khan, on the other side of the border, kept the Kashmir narrative alive. He said, “If PM Modi is listening, I say justice begets peace. Give justice to Kashmir. Give people of Kashmir freedom… France and Germany fought wars. Today, their borders are open. Once Kashmir issue is resolved and Kashmiri people are free, we will have peace. That day is not far away.”
Kartarpur Sahib Gurdwara is the place where the founder of Sikhism Guru Nanak spent the last 18 years of his life. The corridor will facilitate visa-free movement with a passport to the Kartarpur shrine. Modi flagged off the first batch of pilgrims that was led by Akal Takhat Jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh.