Sikh Pilgrims Free To Visit Pakistan As India Opens Kartarpur Corridor After 20 Months

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2021-11-16T22:56:10+05:00 News Desk
The Indian government has announced that it will reopen the Kartapur Corridor with Pakistan for the upcoming Gurpurab (day of the Guru), the 552nd birth anniversary of Guru Nanak to allow Sikh pilgrims to visit Pakistan. The pilgrims coming from India will travel via the Attari-Wagah border.

https://twitter.com/AmitShah/status/1460520007650086914

The Pakistani government had, last week, requested India to reopen the corridor considered to be one of the few functional avenues of diplomacy between the hostile neighbours. The corridor was closed in March last year following the outbreak of the Covid pandemic.

The upcoming elections in the Indian Punjab may be an important reason as to why the Indian government has gone ahead with this decision. India’s Ministry of External Affairs had last week decided to allow pilgrims to visit Pakistan for Gurupurab, a much-revered event among the Sikh community.

It is estimated that around 3000 Sikhs will cross the border into Pakistan. The visitors will pay homage to Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur and Gurdwara Janam Asthan in Nankana Sahib. Leaders of the Sikh community along with some government officials will welcome the pilgrim for the commemorations beginning on November 19. Authorities in Pakistan have assured that the devotees will be provided security, transport, and other facilities to ensure that there is stay remains unhampered by any difficulties.

Gurpurab is the most important festival for the followers of Sikhism. It is celebrated to commemorate the birth anniversary of the first Sikh Guru, Guru Nanak Dev. The festival is celebrated on the day of Kartik Poornima, which is the fifteenth lunar day in the month of Kartik according to the Hindu calendar, and usually falls in November by the Gregorian calendar.
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