Sikhs In India Elated Over Opening of Pakistan Pilgrimage Route

By Shakir Husain NEW DELHI, Dec 5 (Bernama) -- India's Sikh community is elated over the launch of a pilgrim route that connects two important sacred sites, one in India and another about four kilometres away in Pakistan. Once India and Pakistan complete the infrastructure on their respective territories, the new border crossing point is expected to see a rush of Sikh pilgrims to the Kartarpur Sahib Gurdwara in Pakistan's Narowal district. Indian Sikhs have welcomed the visa-free route, which the Indian and Pakistani governments agreed to facilitate despite their strained relations. For the Sikh community, the concern is pilgrimage rather than politics as the current journey to Kartarpur through the Attari-Wagah border is long and possible only after obtaining a Pakistani visa. Indian federal ministers Harsimrat Kaur Badal and Hardeep Puri, both followers of the Sikh faith, participated in the grand foundation stone-laying ceremony last week at Kartarpur and offered prayers. Their remarks reflect the importance Sikhs attach to the Kartarpur Sahib Gurdwara, established in 1522 by Sikhism's founder Guru Nanak Dev, who also spent his last years there. "It is nothing short of a miracle," Harsimrat said and described her participation in the ceremony as "an emotional moment". "This is without doubt one of the most momentous journeys of my life," Hardeep said. Another high-ranking participant from India was Navjot Singh Sidhu, a minister in the Punjab government, who was invited by Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan. Navjot, a flamboyant former cricketer, was also the focus of a lot of Indian and Pakistani media attention. On the Indian side, the foundation stone was laid by Vice President Venkaiah Naidu and Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh at Dera Baba Nanak in the Gurdaspur district. The border crossing is expected to formally open next year before the 550th birth anniversary celebrations for Guru Nanak. Administrators of Sikh religious places in Delhi told Bernama they expect the route to be very popular among pilgrims from all over India. "We have waited 71 years (since the 1947 partition) for this day. I'll go to Kartarpur Sahib as soon as possible," said Gurpreet Singh, a supervisor of the Gurudwara Nanak Piao in Delhi. "People from Punjab will go there, of course, but I expect all those who visit the Golden Temple in Amritsar (Sikhism's holiest site) from other states to also take advantage of this route," Gurpreet said. Sukhjit Singh, who looks after Delhi's famous Gurdwara Sis Ganj, said the initiative can also contribute towards creating a positive environment for lasting peace between India and Pakistan. "We welcome the understanding between the two governments to open the Kartarpur route. We hope it will be a milestone of peace," he said. Pakistan attracts thousands of Indian Sikhs every year to the sacred sites, including Punja Sahib and Guru Nanak's birthplace in Nankana Sahib. There are more than 25 million Sikhs worldwide and nearly 80 per cent of them live in India. Sikhs constitute around 58 per cent of Indian Punjab's total population of 27.7 million, according to 2011 data. -- BERNAMA