It is a matter of great respect and pride for Pakistan that the holy places of three big religions of the world – Buddhism, Hinduism and Sikhism – are situated in Pakistan.
Taxila in Rawalpindi district of Punjab has been a centre of Buddhism’s Gandhara civilisation.
The Katas Raj temples, also known as Qila Katas, situated near Chakwal city, is a sacred place for Hindus, with centuries-old history, while Hasanabdal, Nankana Sahib, and Kartarpur towns are well known in the world as sacred places of the Sikh community.
Kartarpur’s Gurdwara Darbar Sahib, situated at the bank of River Ravi about 10km from Narowal city, is being opened to Sikh Yatrees (pilgrims) from India through a new border crossing today.
India’s zero line (border) is just kilometres away from Kartarpur.
Before the Partition, the Narowal tehsil (district administrative area), in which Kartarpur is situated, and the Shakargarh tehsil, were part of Indian’s Punjab’s Gurdaspur district.
After the creation of Pakistan, these tehsils were made part of Sialkot district, and in 1991, Narowal and Shakargarh were upgraded as districts.
It has been a long-drawn demand of Indian Sikh Yatrees that they should be provided with the facility of visiting Kartarpur’s Gurdwara Darbar Sahib directly from Dera Baba Nanak, a city and a municipal council in Gurdaspur district of India’s Punjab state.
Pakistan has reached out to India previously in this regard, but failed to get a positive response every time.
A suggestion was made once again few months back.
As India is going to election next year, the Narendra Modi government showed willingness to accept the suggestion and open the Kartarpur border, to win the support of the Sikh community.
Prime Minister Imran Khan will perform the groundbreaking of the Kartarpur Corridor project today.
The move is aimed at facilitating the Sikh Yatrees from India on the 550th birth anniversary of Baba Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, being celebrated next year (2019).
Currently, the Sikh Yatrees intending to visit Kartarpur’s Gurdwara Darbar Sahib have to go to Lahore first through the Wagah border crossing, before proceeding toward Kartarpur through Baddomalhi.
However, after the opening of Kartarpur border crossing and construction of the corridor, the Yatrees will have to cover just 6km across the Ravi River.
Historically, the proposal for opening of Kartarpur border crossing was discussed for the first time between then-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his Indian counterpart Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 1998.
When Vajpayee came to Lahore in his Dosti (Friendship) Bus in 1999, the plan was discussed again.
The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has also always supported the initiative.
During the Pervez Musharraf era, when composite dialogue process was launched between Pakistan and India in 2004-5, the two countries agreed on launching the Khokhrapar-Munabao railway line and Amritsar-Lahore-Kartarpur road link.
However, later on relations between the two countries became tense and the plans could not be implemented.
During the term of the Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) government, then-interior minister Ahsan Iqbal also made various efforts for Indian Sikh Yatrees’ direct access to Kartarpur’s Gurdwara.
However, the final decision was reached after Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) won general election held on July 25 this year.
During Khan’s swearing-in ceremony in August, Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa told visiting former cricketer and incumbent Indian Punjab state Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu that he was in favour of construction of Kartarpur Corridor to facilitate the Yatrees.
The announcement sent a wave of joy among the Sikh community in India and Pakistan.
The initiative, launched by Pakistan, is primarily aimed at reducing tensions between the two countries.
The Pakistan government has awarded the task of constructing the Kartarpur religious corridor to the Frontier Works Organisation (FWO), which is carrying out work on it at a fast pace.
The Pakistani government is preparing a master plan for construction and completion of the corridor, and it is hoped the project would be completed by November 2019, when the Sikh community would celebrate 550th birth anniversary of Baba Guru Nanak.
It is also hoped the act of inaugurating work on the Kartarpur Corridor by Prime Minister Khan would prove to be the beginning of new relations with India.