Can't move forward by blaming each other, scoring points, says Imran Khan
Islamabad: More than seven decades after the trauma and bloodshed of Partition, Pakistan’s 22nd Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday scripted history as he performed the ground-breaking ceremony of the four-km long Kartarpur Corridor — a pilgrims’ passage that will facilitate visa-free travel of Sikh devotees between Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan’s Kartarpur to Dera Baba Nanak shrine in India’s Gurdaspur district.
Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur, on the banks of Ravi river, is considered to be the final resting place of Guru Nanak Dev where he spent the last 18 years of his life before his death in 1539. The corridor will be completed by November next year, marking the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev.
An Indian delegation, including minister for food Harsimrat Kaur Badal, minister for housing Hardeep S. Puri, Indian Punjab minister for local government, tourism Navjot Singh Sidhu and several Indian journalists attended the event.
Addressing the cheering Sikh yatris (pilgrims), Mr Khan lauded the happiness and joy on the faces around him and said, “Happiness I saw today was like of those Muslims who are standing 4 km away from Medina on other side of the border, but are unable to visit it, but when they get chance to visit it, the happiness they get is the happiness they are relishing today.”
Pushing for good ties with India, the former cricket captain said that the only issue between Pakistan and India is Kashmir, and added that if there is strong-willed leadership on both sides of the border, it is possible to solve the Kashmir issue.
“All it needs is two capable leaderships to resolve this issue. Just imagine the potential we have if our relationship gets strong. If India takes one step forward, we will take two steps forward in friendship,” he added.
On November 22, India’s Union Cabinet approved development of the Kartarpur corridor from Dera Baba Nanak in Gurdaspur upto the international border, saying it will ask the Pakistan government to build a similar corridor on its land up to Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur.
But within minutes of the Cabinet decision being announced, Pakistan’s foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi tweeted that his government “has already conveyed to India its decision to open Kartarpur Corridor for Baba Guru Nanak’s 550th birth anniversary”, and that Prime Minister Imran Khan would perform the groundbreaking ceremony for the corridor on November 28.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr Khan said, “It is useless to live in the past. It should only be utilised to learn lessons from mistakes. Our political leaders, our Army, and all other institutions are all on one page. We wish to move forward and have a civilised relationship… Both India and Pakistan are nuclear armed countries. We cannot afford war as it would be insanity.”
He also wondered why Navjot Singh Sidhu had faced criticism when he returned to India after attending his oath-taking ceremony in August. “I don’t know why he was criticised. He was just talking about peace and brotherhood. If he contests elections here in Pakistan’s Punjab, he’ll win for sure. I hope we don’t have to wait for Sidhu to become Indian PM for everlasting friendship between our nations,” Mr Khan said and vowed to improve the facilities at the Kartarpur gurdwara.
Pakistan Army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa, foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, minister of state for interior Shehryar Afridi, Punjab chief minister Usman Buzdar, minister for religious affairs Noorul Haq Qadri and railways minister Sheikh Rashid attended the event which began with a film about the pilgrimage of members of the Sikh community to Gurdwara Darbar Sahib.
An emotionally charged Harsimrat Kaur Badal told the gathering that she had never thought of visiting Pakistan but was now here on this historic day.
“It took us over 70 years to get a chance to visit the holy Katarpur shrine… I saw the corridor becoming a reality in Indian Punjab and now I am seeing it here,” she said.
“When the wall of Berlin can be brought down, then hatred between India and Pakistan can be brought down too with the opening of Kartarpur Corridor. It can be a new beginning in the name of Baba Nanak,” she declared.
Equally emotional, former Indian cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu thanked PM Khan for the corridor.
Praising Mr Khan’s “peace” initiative, Mr Sidhu said that both India and Pakistan should pursue a path of brotherhood and live in harmony with the blessings of Guru Nanak Dev.
As is his wont, Mr Sidhu recited poetry in praise of Mr Khan and said, “India’s Constitution says there will be no discrimination on the basis of caste or creed. Baba Guru Nanak said this 549 years ago.” He added that religion should never be seen through politics and terrorism.
Mr Sidhu stressed that peace should prevail now as there has been enough bloodshed. “Both the governments should realise that we have to move forward. My father used to tell me that Punjab Mail went till Lahore, I believe that it can go further till Peshawar, till Afghanistan,” he said.
Pakistan’s foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi recalled Mohammed Ali Jinnah’s August 11, 1947, speech, and quoted him as saying: “You are free; you are free to go to your temples, you are free to go to your mosques or to any other place or worship in this state of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion or caste or creed that has nothing to do with the business of the state.”
Hundreds of Indian Sikh yatris, who are already in Pakistan, chanted slogans amid the ceremony, hinting at a possible future when Pakistan and India may become friends again.
