Kartarpur corridor: Pilgrims barred from carrying ration for langar

Customs officials say they have been suggesting the pilgrims not to take ration along with them as Pakistani rangers have been ‘raising objections’

The pilgrims visiting Pakistan for paying obeisance at the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur have been stopped from carrying ration for langar (community kitchen).

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According to information, the security personnel at the state-of-the-art passengers terminal at Dera Baba Nanak in Gurdaspur are asking the pilgrims to leave behind ration, mostly vegetables, at the terminal before leaving for Pakistan through the Kartarpur corridor.

The Kartarpur corridor was constructed by India and Pakistan for visa-free access to Indian pilgrims from Dera Baba Nanak to Kartarpur in Pakistan’s Narowal district where Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism had spent the last 17 years of his life.

Since the inauguration of the corridor in November, the pilgrims had been taking ration along with them to contribute in the langar.

In the early days, after the inauguration, 300 to 500 pilgrims had been visiting Kartarpur Sahib daily. Now, the daily average count of the passengers has increased from 1,000 to 1,200.

President of local municipal council Parmeet Singh Bedi said he has come to know that from the last two days, security personnel at the terminal have been barring the passengers from taking vegetables. “The security personnel have been saying tomatoes can be injected with something,” he added.

A senior customs official, who did not wish to be named, said, “We have been asking the pilgrims not to carry ration along with them as the Pakistani Rangers have been raising objections.”

Another official said a pilgrim can carry only one baggage up to 7kg, including drinking water. He said, “Pilgrims had been bringing 4-5kg ration for langar since the inauguration of the corridor.”

Sources at Dera Baba Nanak also said the Indian security personnel are also not allowing the passengers to bring anything, barring prasad (holy communion), from Kartarpur.

The granthi of Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib, Bhai Gobind Singh, while talking to HT over phone, said, “We have noticed that pilgrims from India have not brought ration for the past two days. I have come to know that the pilgrims are not allowed to carry ration now.”

Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committe (PSGPC) president Satwant Singh said he was not aware of the fact that the rangers were raising any objection. He said, “We are not asking anybody to bring ration. But, if the sangat want to do sewa of langar, they are always welcome from our side.”

Permission likely for Indian ragi jatha at Kartarpur

PSGPC chief said they will be holding a meeting on January 6 to consider SGPC’s demand of allowing Indian ragi jathas to perform kirtan at the Kartarpur Sahib gurdwara.

He said, “Earlier, the SGPC had sent a ragi jatha to perform kirtan. But the PSGPC was not informed about it. They had not followed proper protocol to send the jatha, so we did not allow them to perform. Now a meeting has been scheduled in which the demand of SGPC might be considered.”

Earlier, the SGPC had unilaterally decided to send ragi jathas every day to perform kirtan at the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib since the opening of the international corridor on December 16 last year.

The local management of Kartapur gurdwara had stopped SGPC’s ragi jathas since December 23 last.