Good initiative for India and Pakistan
India and Pakistan have announced their plans to operationalise a
visa-free corridor between Dera Baba Nanak in Indian Punjab and Kartarpur Sahib
in Pakistan’s Punjab. That demand had gathered pace in 1995. The Kartarpur gurdwara is situated on the
site on the bank of the Ravi where the founder of Sikhism, Guru Nanak, spent
his last 18 years. Prime Ministers
Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Benazir Bhutto, had pushed for it. They were alert to the potential of such a move to
heal ties amongst their people, and promote dialogue between the two
governments.
Kashmiri Pandits have also for long been asking for access to visit the
Sharda Peeth in the Neelum Valley in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir; Sufis in
Pakistan wish to visit the dargah of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti in Ajmer,
Rajasthan; and Sikhs in India and Pakistan want to visit important shrines on
both sides of the border.
Much will depend on how quickly India and Pakistan act on their
commitment. Recently, Pakistan Army
Chief Qamar Javed Bajwa revived the Kartarpur proposal in a conversation with
Navjot Singh Sidhu, a Minister in the Congress government in Punjab, at Mr.
Khan’s swearing-in ceremony in August. The Kartarpur project will compel India
and Pakistan to engage in a positive and purposeful manner. Can this project
ensure that peace and tranquility will prevail on borders.
India, as a nation, has suffered for 17 years at the hands of Jinnah
before Partition (1930-1947) and another 71 years at the hands of his
successors after Partition. We have only experienced mendacity, duplicity,
enduring hostility, skirmishes, wars and above all unrelenting jihadi terrorism
from Pakistan. Should we still treat Pakistan as a long-lost brother or a
prodigal son deserving sympathy? The cross border Punjabi affection cannot be
the basis for diplomacy because the sinister agenda of Pakistan is based on
manufactured grievances and conspiracy theories. Let us remember that Pakistan
hosts all Khalistani terrorists. All these need reiteration, don't they?
Yes, allowing cross border piligrimage is good and it is a good opening
for a game changer and a step ahead in changing the bitterness that had stopped
the diplomatic talks between the two. All those who worked to make this possible
deserve praise. People wishing to cross the border for medical treatment should
face no difficulties at all. Personal visits to relatives should be insulated
from the periodic chills the relationship is prone to.
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