New Delhi:Two days ahead of the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak, the Kartapur Corridor, the road leading to Darbar Sahib Kartarpur in Pakistan, will reopen on November 17. Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday tweeted, saying the decision will benefit a large number of Sikh pilgrims.
Talking exclusively to ETV Bharat, senior BJP leader Harjit Singh Garewal told that the reopening of the Kartapur Corridor has been confirmed during a meeting with Home Minister Amit Shah yesterday. He further said that the registration of pilgrims would start from tomorrow onwards.
This statement has come two days after a delegation led by Punjab BJP state president Ashwani Sharma met Prime Minister Narendra Modi to urge him to reopen the corridor on Gurpurab. The delegation had appealed to the Prime Minister that the followers of Guru Nanak Gurpurab should be allowed to visit his birthplace in Pakistan, ahead of the festival to be held there on November 19.
Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) has also welcomed the move by the Union Government.
Former Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh had also urged Prime Minister Modi to reopen the corridor before Guru Nanak Jayanti.
The visa-free 4.7-kilometre corridor links Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan, the final resting place of Sikh Guru Nanak Dev, to Dera Baba Nanak shrine in Punjab's Gurdaspur district. It was shut in wake of the COVID pandemic.
"I urge Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji to open the Kartarpur Corridor before November 19, the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev Ji, so that people can pay obeisance at the holy shrine on this sacred occasion," tweeted Captain Amarinder Singh.
In 2019, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan inaugurated the Kartapur Corridor. At the time, Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu's visit to Pakistan was sharply criticized. Grewal also confirmed that a separate contingent of 1,500 Sikh pilgrims would leave for Pakistan on November 17 to 26, but would go through the Wagah-Attari border instead of Kartarpur.
Shah said in his tweet that the decision reflects the Modi government's immense reverence for Shri Guru Nanak Dev Ji and the Sikh community. Earlier, Navjot Singh Sidhu had also appealed to the Center to open the corridor, and Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi had also raised the issue in a meeting with Amit Shah.
