Pakistan and India on Wednesday resumed dialogue to open the border crossing at Kartarpur, located in tehsil Shakargarh of Narowal district, as Indian High Commissioner Ajay Bisaria toured the area.
On Monday, the Legislative Assembly of India’s Punjab passed a unanimous resolution to take up the issue of opening the border crossing for the 550th birthday celebrations of Baba Guru Nanak (April 15 1469 – Sept 22 1539), the founder of Sikhism and the first of the 10 Sikh Gurus.
The Indian envoy was briefed regarding the Sikh holy place in Kartarpur, located about 13 kilometres east of Narowal and less than five kilometres from the border with India. It is pertinent to mention here that Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa shared the idea to open the border crossing from Kartarpur with former Indian cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu at Prime Minister Imran Khan’s oath taking ceremony.
In April, the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) and the Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee decided to grant visas to 10,000 Sikhs from India to participate in the 550th birthday celebrations of Baba Guru Nanak. Pakistani officials have given a green signal to Shiromani Committee, the largest representatives of Sikhs, and other small groups to take part in the celebrations.
After mutual consultation, the two bodies decided that the number of pilgrims, in accordance with the 1974 Pakistan-India Protocol on Visits to Religious Shrines, will be increased from 3,000 to 10,000. Further, there will be no restrictions on the number of Sikhs coming to Pakistan from other countries. Pakistan will issue visas to the Shiromani community and other groups, according to the quota.
All such groups will provide a list of pilgrims to EPTB; no other individual apart from these will be granted a visa. Approximately 0.1 million Sikhs want to visit Pakistan from India, Canada, the United States, Malaysia and several other countries. However, ETPB officials said that making preparations for and ensuring security of all attendees was not possible.
They said that the final decision on the matter rests with the government and the Ministry of Interior Affairs. The Sikh community will celebrate Baba Guru Nanak’s birthday in November 2019, according to the Nanak Shahi calendar. The outgoing government has already announced plans to issue a memorable coin commemorating the birth anniversary of Baba Guru Nanak.