Harsimrat seeks Modi's intervention in reopening Kartarpur Corridor
Darpan News Desk IANS, 10 Nov, 2021 12:04 PM
Chandigarh, Nov 10 (IANS) Calling for reopening of the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor in Pakistan, former Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal on Wednesday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to personally intervene to "open the proposal for a land swap between India and Pakistan for merger of the holy shrine at Kartarpur Sahib with India in exchange for a suitable chunk of land elsewhere on the lines of the Hussainiwala village exchange.
She urged the Prime Minister to take the diplomatic initiative for the creation of a "Permanent Peace Corridor" to link all multi-faith sacred shrines left in Pakistan with the Indo-Pak border.
Among other things, she said this would be "the first step towards the eventual fulfilment of the sacred Sikh prayer for 'khulle darshan deedare te seva sambhal (unhindered access and the right to perform service of the Guru)' of all the sacred shrines which were weaned away from the devout Sikh masses in 1947".
In her two-page letter to the Prime Minister, Harsimrat Kaur recalled that the proposal for the land swap to merge Kartarpur Sahib with India was first mooted by the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) in 1948.
"In fact, in 1969, the then Prime Minister of India agreed to formally approach the government of Pakistan for this exchange of land on the pattern that the two countries had earlier followed in the Ferozepur sector with regard to the martyrdom place of Shaheed-e-Azam Sardar Bhagat Singh ji as well as between India and Bangladesh with regard to the Farakka dam," she said.
Harsimrat Kaur said the proposal had sadly been shot down by both the Pakistan government and, strangely, by the then Congress government in Punjab.
She said the issue came up for discussion again during former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's famous Lahore bus trip and his meetings with his Pakistan counterpart, Nawaz Sharif.
"This was at the behest of the then Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal," she said.
Harsimrat Kaur also lauded the sacrifices and contributions made by Akali stalwart late Jathedar Kuldip Singh Wadala, "who for decades organised protest and awareness candle marches on Indo-Pak border near Kartarpur Sahib".
Reminding Modi of how it finally fell to his initiative to expedite the completion and the opening of the historic Kartarpur Sahib Corridor, she said this would "go down as one of your most iconic contributions to peace and understanding in the world".
She also referred to Modi's comparison of opening of the Kartarpur Corridor with the pulling down of the Berlin Wall, but added, "While the Berlin Wall in Germany stays demolished, the Berlin Wall for the Sikhs still persists on the Indo-Pak border."
She urged the Prime Minister to personally intervene to get the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor reopened.
This is the first time that women officers serving with the Corps of Signals, Corps of Electronic and Mechanical Engineers (EME) and the Corps of Engineers have been approved to the rank of Colonel.
The study titled "Third Wave Preparedness: Children Vulnerability and Recovery" has details about the possibility of Covid-affecting children and the required strategies to deal with the pandemic.
Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management committee and SAD leader Manjinder S. Sirsa said, "3 Sri Guru Granth Sahib and 46 Indian passport holders will arrive in India today. We thank GoI & PM Modi for helping Hindus-Sikhs in Afghanistan. We're in touch with minorities in Kabul who wish to be evacuated."
The smog tower is a structure designed to work as a large-scale air purifier in order to reduce air pollution particles. It is an essential equipment for Delhi, which is one of the most polluted cities across the country and the world and has seen a major fall in its air quality for the past few years.
Another saffron party leader pointed out that the BJP has leaders with experience of contesting elections at national and state level or managing polls and there is nothing wrong in using their experience.
The farmers have been on agitation since August 20 by blocking the Delhi-Amritsar national highway near Jalandhar, along with the rail tracks, over their demand for raising the SAP of sugarcane. They have already rejected the hike of Rs 15 per quintal announced by the government last week.
