By: Hardeep Singh

DERA BABA NANAK, PUNJAB Demands being raised by the Sikhs in relation to Kartarpur Sahib corridor were totally ignored as India and Pakistan renewed their agreement for another five years to operate the corridor, a visa-free access to the final resting place of Sikhi’s founder Guru Nanak Sahib in Pakistan-administered Punjab for devotees of India-administered states. 

 “The Agreement, signed on 24 October 2019 to facilitate the visit of pilgrims from India to Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur, Narowal, Pakistan through the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor, was valid for a period of five years,” said the Ministry of External Affairs in a statement issued on Tuesday, adding that the extension until 2029 would ensure “uninterrupted operation of the Corridor for use by the pilgrims from India to visit the holy Gurdwara in Pakistan”.

The renewal comes a week after Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar visited Pakistan for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation meet, the first such visit by a Foreign Minister in nine years, and met briefly with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar.

The Sikhs were left disappointed as both the countries did not convene any bilateral meeting before renewing the pact and discussed demands of the community. 

The Sikhs have been demanding that the condition of carrying passport should not be imposed on the pilgrims while using this corridor. If no visa is required for the pilgrimage, there is no need for the passport. The corridor becomes easy access only if this condition is not applied, since the majority of the people don’t have passports.

However, the demand was ignored. 

Inclusion of passport condition in the bilateral agreement hurts the soul of this corridor. Responding to a query of a newsmen during a press conference held at Dera Baba Nanak after signing of the agreement in 2019, India’s secretary level officials had said, “After all this is an international travel, passport condition must be there”.

Thus, instead of endorsing the demand of the Sikhs and giving respect to their sentiments, New Delhi worked against this demand.

On the other hand, the Pakistan government has maintained that they have no problem if the condition is removed.

The then Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan formally announced to exempt Sikh pilgrims from carrying the passport to travel to Kartarpur on the opening day of the corridor on November 9, 2019.

On October 28, general house of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) which is known as mini Sikh parliament, passed a resolution in this regard. 

Though this resolution thanked both the governments for extension of the pact but asked for removal of the condition of the passport. 

Takht Damdama Sahib jathedar and former Akal Takht acting jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh once said, “It was long pending demand of the Sikhs that majority of the people don’t have the passport, so this document should not be made mandatory for the pilgrimage through the corridor”.

The SGPC resolution demanded permission be given on the spot through Adhaar card instead of online registration.

The Indian government did not demand bilateral talk be held to revise the agreement. Instead, it raised a demand that is not a common demand of the community. “In view of the continued requests of pilgrims regarding the removal of $20 service charge levied by Pakistan per pilgrim per visit, India has once again urged Pakistan to not levy any fee or charges on the pilgrims,” said New Delhi in the statement. 

In reply, Pakistan maintained that it needs to levy the charges as it has spent the bulk of the estimated $17 million cost of refurbishing the Gurudwara, where Sikh founder Guru Nanak spent his last days, building a road and bridge, and providing transport for the pilgrims to travel by from the border with India, reported The Hindu newspaper.

Officials in Pakistan told The Hindu that they are disappointed by the dwindling numbers of pilgrims being “allowed” to visit, as the quota given by Pakistan is for 5,000 pilgrims daily, but the numbers are down to only a few hundred a day at present.

Giani Harpreet Singh once made it clear that fee is non-issue for the Sikh community, but the Indian government has been trying to raise this demand just to corner Pakistan and instigate Sikh community against this country.  

Ha had said, “It will be good if Pakistan does it, but the darshan of Kartarpur Sahib is most important for Sikhs. Nothing is more important for us than the darshan of Kartarpur Sahib”.

In netshell, Government of India is leaving no stone unturned to prevent high footfall of the pilgrims at the corridor, that starts from the zero point on India-Pakistan international border at historic place of Dera Baba Nanak falling in Gurdaspur district of India-administered Punjab to historic Sikh shrine Gurdwara Darbar Sahib, Kartarpur Sahib on the side of Pakistan-administered Punjab. 

New Delhi has developed good infrastructure at the zero point to give an impression that it is serious about promoting the pilgrimage through the trans-border corridor. However, its hidden agenda is to ensure that the pilgrims visit the gurdwara in lesser numbers.

Process of applying for the pilgrimage is very complicated. Indian agencies personnel first visit the house of the pilgrim for verification that leaves a negative impact on him or her. Many pilgrims are denied permission. Permission is granted just two or three before the date of pilgrimage.