Mode of Access for Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib Yet to be Decided, says HS Puri

CHANDIGARH, Punjab—On January 18, the Union State Minister Hardeep Singh Puri clarified that the access mode of Gurdwara Sri Kartarpur Sahib for the Sikh pilgrims has not been decided yet by the India and Pakistan. His statement came in response to the Captain Amarinder Singh’s demand of facilitating passport-free access of Gurdwara Sri Kartarpur Sahib to the Sikhs residing in India.

Puri has said that it is yet to be discussed bilaterally whether the Sikh pilgrims are given access of Gurdwara Sri Kartarpur Sahib merely on passport or through visa system. “We have so far decided that the access from our side, the main road which goes up there and the specific corridor, we will complete in a time-bound manner,” he added.

Puri, however, lamented that the cartographer who drew the boundary between India and Pakistan after Partition, must have been insensitive as he carved out the place belonging to Guru Nanak Dev Ji from India.

It may be recalled here that the Punjab CM Captain Amarinder Singh had written a letter to the Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on January 15 asking him to put in place a simple procedure which would facilitate “Khulle Darshan Deedar” of Gurdwara Sri Kartarpur Sahib, as per the traditional Sikh Ardas (prayer). He had demanded passport free access for the pilgrims aspirant of paying obeisance at the historic Sikh shrine via Kartarpur corridor.