E-Paper
Kartarpur corridor: Over 59,000 visited Kartarpur gurdwara since Nov last year
As many as 59,318 pilgrims visited the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib, Kartarpur, Pakistan, since the opening of the Kartarpur Corridor in November last year. The data was
As many as 59,318 pilgrims visited the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib, Kartarpur, Pakistan, since the opening of the Kartarpur Corridor in November last year. The data was compiled from integrated check post (ICP) set up at Dera Baba Nanak, Gurdaspur.
No considerable surge was witnessed in the footfall of the pilgrims using the corridor, even though India had raised the demand before Pakistan to allow 5,000 pilgrims per day and 10,000 on special occasions.
A long-pending demand of the Sikh community in India, the corridor was opened on November 9 last year amid much fanfare. Using the corridor, which is around 4-km-long, the pilgrims are able to visit Kartarpur gurdwara, the last resting place of Sikhism’s founder Guru Nanak, from Dera Baba Nanak, last Indian town along the border.
As per data assessed by HT from an official of department concerned, 59,318 pilgrims have visited the shrine from November 9 last year to March 8. In the opening month, the footfall was 11,192, which increased to 23,383 in December last year. Daily average pilgrims in these months remained 508 and 754, respectively.
In January, the number dipped to 10,529 and daily average for the month came down to 339. In February, the number remained almost same. In the first eight days of March, total number was 4,020, which makes daily average of 502. The data reflects a slight surge in the visitors’ footfall in March.
On Sunday, as many as 1,111 pilgrims took the corridor, one of the highest daily footfall seen so far since the opening.
Major hurdles in achieving sizeable footfall
Those who carried out campaign for the opening of the corridor are considering condition of passport, complicated application procedure and service fee as three major factors behind the low footfall.
“Apart from Sikh organisations, Punjab assembly has also passed a resolution seeking waiver of the passport condition, which is the main hurdle in the way of pilgrimage. The governments of both the countries should sit together to waive the condition,” said BS Goraya, who is among the activists who worked for opening the corridor.
Baba Sukhdeep Singh Bedi, Dera Baba Nanak-based social worker and one of the decedents of Guru Nanak, said, “The government should simplify the procedure of application besides passport waiver to achieve the sizeable footfall.”
MP Preneet Kaur-led women jatha visits Kartarpur gurdwara
GURDASPUR On the occasion of International Women’s Day, Patiala MP Preneet Kaur led a jatha of 125 women to Gurdwara Darbar Sahib at Kartarpur in Pakistan on Sunday.
The jatha was received by Amritsar MP Gurjit Singh Aujla, Punjab minister for cooperation and jails Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa and cabinet minister Charanjit Singh Channi at Dera Baba Nanak, before it left for Pakistan.
Preneet Kaur said that Guru Nanak gave great status to women in the society which resulted in their empowerment and high respect for them today. This is why i chose this day to pay obeisance at Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib, she said. Expressing joy over opening of the Kartarpur Corridor, she said she will thank the Guru for making the opening of the corridor a success. She said that Punjab chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh has done a great service to the women by offering them 50 per cent reservation in the panchayats and local bodies in the state.
Gurdaspur deputy commissioner Mohammad Ishfaq and several other leaders were also present.
