Chandigarh
The design is perfect.
Cross the zero line at Kartarpur Sahib Corridor to enter
Pakistan and the welcome is with a broad smile and in flawless Punjabi.
The difference between India and Pakistan is too glaring.
At the entrance itself on the Indian side, the visitor,
devotee in this case, is thoroughly frisked as if boarding a flight. This
exercise is carried out at two places.
The immigration officials talk in Hindi with no smile on the
face.
As the devotees cross the Zero line that separates Indian
side of the Corridor from the Pakistan territory, the security people extend a
warm welcome and speak in unadulterated Punjabi. And they don’t frisk you.
This writer asked Pakistanis at two points, “At which point
would you search me?”
The answer, “You are in Pakistan. We don’t search the
devotees”.
The security exercise is repeated on the Indian side on
return.
When asked, a police official on the Indian side from Punjab
said this was being done to check smuggling of drugs from Pakistan. But then
why frisk people while going to Pakistan? This exercise makes the devotees
suspicious.
Construction work is still going on on the Indian side while
it is complete on the Pakistani side barring some small parches. The main part
of the corridor including bridge over river Ravi is in Pakistan.
Is Pakistan more efficient than India?
The main structure at the Kartarpur Sahib shrine has been
well designed but for one flaw that seems to have been copied from gurdwaras in
Indian Punjab. The entire floor has been tiled and it might heat up during
summer. One positive aspect is that Pakistan has not created a marble monster. It
may be mentioned that the original gurdwara architecture has been destroyed in
Indian Punjab with marble structures having replaced even the historical
buildings, except the sanctum sanctorum of the Golden Temple. But the
originality of the Golden Temple too has been damaged.
The original shrine has been preserved as it is.
It is a different experience once you enter the shrine
complex.
Pakistanis- men and women- in large numbers from Sialkot and
Lahore visit the shrine and they just mob you. The kids surround you as they
want to know as to how the Indians look like. The people talk of love and not
hate or politics. The shrine reflects the philosophy of universal brotherhood
preached by Baba Nanak.
Kartarpur Sahib is the place where Baba Nanak, the founder
of the Sikh Faith, spent his last more than 17 years and gave practical shape
to his model of ideal society and ideal human being. It is this spirit that
prevails.
Pakistan is developing Kartarpur Sahib as the biggest
gurdwara complex in the world while maintaining its ambience.
The shrine needs trained Sikh staff but then it is a problem
there. It is for the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee to extend help by
working out some arrangement with Pakistan.
It may be mentioned that the Sikh families in Nankana Sahib,
the birth place of Baba Nanak, had shifted to India in 1947. When the Nankana
Sahib shrine was reopened years later, SGPC chief Gurcharan Singh Tohra
suggested to Pakistan to settle some Sikh families from Peshawar side there to
carry out religious duties and make the shrine functional.
The maintenance cost is huge going by the manpower deployed
by Pakistan. The $20 fee that Pakistan charges meets only a fraction of the
maintenance and running cost.
Indian leaders like Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh and
Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal had been attacking the fee as Jajiya, a
sort of penal tax. Chinese buses ferry devotees from entry point to the shrine.
It is not the fee that is the issue but passport. India should take up with
Pakistan to allow entry without passport.
As the vehicle starts on Pakaistani side, the devotees raise
the Jaikara- Bole So Nihal.
It is a different experience altogether. Of course, the Sikhs experience similar hospitality in
Lahore but here what makes the difference is the ambience that emits
positivity, love and brotherhood.
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The application has some flaws. The status mentioned is
married or unmarried. What about those who are divorced. Single needs to be
added.
The confirmation for December 8 visit was received just
three days in advance, not even four that was specified. This should be
increased to six days.
The passport is issued is issued after police verification. Why
verification against for visiting Kartarpur Sahib Corridor?
Lastly, the devotees of all ages are administered polio
drops by India. This is not done while crossing over to Pakistan from Attari-Wagha
border. This should stop.
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