Former PM Manmohan Singh Accepts Punjab CM’s Invite to Visit Kartarpur Sahib

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Ram Nath Kovind have also accepted the Punjab government’s invitation to be a part of the celebrations for the opening of the corridor.

New Delhi: Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday accepted Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh’s invitation to join the first all-party ‘jatha’ (delegation) to the Kartapur Sahib Gurudwara along the India-Pakistan border after the opening of diplomatically-crucial corridor. 

Giving details of the first ‘jatha’, Amarinder’s media adviser Raveen Thukral tweeted to say that Manmohan Singh has accepted the chief minister’s invitation to visit Kartarpur Sahib on November 9, soon after the inauguration of the corridor. 

Earlier in the day, Amarinder also met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Ram Nath Kovind to invite them for the celebrations. 

Amarinder told the media that both have accepted the state government’s invitation to be part of the historic event. He said that he had invited them to attend the opening ceremony of the corridor at Dera Baba Nanak as well as the November 12 mega event at Sultanpur Lodhi in Kapurthala district of Punjab.

The approximately six kilometre fenced corridor – originally proposed in 1999 by the then heads of the two countries, Atal Bihari Vajapayee and Nawaz Sharif – from the Indian border city Dera Baba Nanak in Gurdaspur district to Gurudwara Kartarpur Sahib on the Pakistani side is an emotive issue for Sikhs. 

Also read: Kartarpur Corridor: Pakistan to Invite Manmohan Singh for Opening Ceremony

Kartarpur is the final resting place of Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, but has been inaccessible for Indian Sikhs since partition. Since then, pilgrims visit Dera Baba Nanak, from where Karatpur Sahib Gurudwara is faintly visible, to catch a glimpse of the holy shrine. 

The corridor, which aims to facilitate a visa-free movement of pilgrims, is expected to be completed before the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak or Prakash Purb on November 12, 2019. The Punjab government has planned week-long celebrations between November 5 and November 15 to mark the event. 

A view of the Sikh shrine in Kartarpur. Credit: PTI

Regarding the delegation’s visit to Kartarpur, the Punjab CM said the details would be finalised soon with Pakistan. He said he has also requested the prime minister to facilitate a separate all-party delegation’s visit to Sri Nankana Sahib, where Guru Nanak was born and began preaching. Nankana Sahib is located around 91 kilometres west of Lahore.  

Amarinder also requested that a group of 21 people be allowed to visit Sri Nankana Sahib “to organise a “path” (reading of religious scriptures) on the occasion of Guru Nanak’s anniversary and bring a “Nagar Kirtan” to Sultanpur Lodhi via Wagah border. He has already written to the Union external affairs minister S. Jaishankar seeking a formal clearance for the same. 

He added that the Punjab government has proposed to organise an all-party meeting on November 1 at Sultanpur Lodhi to collaborate with various stakeholders in an amicable way. 

A regular invitation by a state government, however, soon turned into a polarising issue on social media, with a few television channels raising questions over the jatha’s visit to Pakistan. 

A section of people on social media raised a communal pitch over Manmohan and Amarinder supposedly going soft on Pakistan.

The former UPA prime minister was born in Gah village, which is now on the Pakistani side of Punjab.  During his 10-year tenure, he never visited the neighbouring state as tensions between the two countries had intensified after the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai. 

Last week, Pakistan foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said that his government would invite Manmohan Singh to the Kartarpur corridor’s inauguration ceremony in Pakistan. However, the former prime minister’s office had said that he would reject any such invite from Pakistan.  

Rejecting all such campaigns on social media, Amarinder clarified that the Jatha that he would lead would use the corridor to reach Kartarpur Sahib Gurudwara, and that he was not visiting Pakistan.

(With inputs from PTI)