BATS FOR "PERMANENT PEACE CORRIDOR" TO LINK ALL PAK SHRINES WITH BORDER WITH ACCESS TO DEVOTEES
SEEKS PM'S INTERVENTION FOR "IMMEDIATE RE-OPENING OF KARTARPUR SAHIB CORRIDOR" Chandigarh (Gurpreet) – Calling for “ immediate re-opening of the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor with Pakistan, former Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal today urged the Prime Minister Narendra Modi also to intervene personally to “open the proposal for a land swap between India and Pakistan for merger of the holy shrine at Kartarpur Sahib with India in exchange for a suitable chunk of land elsewhere on the lines of the Hussainiwala village exchange. Ms Badal also urged the PM to take the diplomatic initiative for the creation of a “Permanent Peace Corridor” to link all multi-faith sacred shrines left in Pakistan with the Indo Pak border. Among other things, she said, this would be “the first step towards the eventual fulfillment of the sacred Sikh prayer for “khulle darshan deedare te seva sambhal (unhindered access and the right to perform service of the Guru) of all the sacred shrine which were weaned away from the devout Sikh masses in 1947.”
In her two-page letter to the PM, Ms Badal recalled that the proposal for the land swap to merge Kartarpur Sahib with India was first mooted “by SAD in1948. In fact, in 1969, the then Prime Minister of India agreed to formally approach the Government of Pakistan for this exchange of land on the pattern that the two countries had earlier followed in the Ferozepur sector with regard to the martyrdom place of Shaheed-e -Azam Sardar Bhagat Singh ji as well as between India and Bangladesh with regard to the Farakka Dam.” Ms Badal said that the proposal had sadly been shot down by both the Pakistan government and, strangely, by the then Congress government in Punjab. She said the issue came up for discussion again during Shri Atal behari Vajpayee’s famous Lahore Bus trip and his meetings with his Pak counterpart, Nawaz Sharif. “This was at the behest of the then Punjab CM Sardar Parkash Singh Badal”. Ms Badal lauded the sacrifices and contribution made by Akali stalwart, late Jathedar Kuldip Singh Wadala “who for decades organised “Protest and Awareness Candle Marches on Indo Pak border near Shri Kartarpur Sahib. Sardar Wadala highlighted the utter neglect of Kartarpur Sahib area by the Pak authorities as a result of which the sacred shrine lay abandoned with its lands being taken over by real estate sharks and others. It was only after the persistent efforts of the former Chief Minister Sardar Parkash Singh Badal that the Governments of India and Pakistan finally agreed in 1998 to consider the Sikh demand in this regard when the then Punjab (India) Chief Minister Sardar Parkash Singh Badal successfully persuaded the then Prime Minister Shri Atal Behari Vajpayee ji to raise this issue with his Pakistani counterpart, Shri Nawaz Sharif during the famous Lahore Bus trip. Sardar Badal’s efforts bore fruit as Vajpayee- Sharif understanding led to a mutual consent for the opening of the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor”.
Reminding the Prime Minister Mr Modi of how it finally fell to his share and initiative to expedite the completion and the opening of the historic Kartarpur Sahib corridor, Ms Badal said that this would “go down as one of your most iconic contributions to peace and understanding in the world.” She also referred to Mr Modi’s comparison of opening of the Kartarpur Corridor with the pulling down of the Berlin Wall, but added,” While the Berlin Wall in Germany stays demolished, the Berlin Wall for the Sikhs still persists on the Indo Pak border.” She urged the Prime Minister, therefore, to personally intervene to get Kartarpur Sahib Corridor re-opened, pursue with Pak government the proposal for the inclusion of this holy land into India through a land swap and to take up with the Pakistan the issue of a “Peace Corridor Linking all the historical religious places in Pakistan with access provided to devotees from all across the world, especially from India.