SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal on Friday requested the Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene and direct the Lands Port Authority of India (LPAI) to reopen the Kartarpur Corridor to facilitate Sikh pilgrims wishing to visit Sri Kartarpur Sahib in Pakistan on the 551st parkash purb of Guru Nanak Dev.
Sukhbir, in a letter to the Prime Minister, also urged Modi to allow visa-free pilgrimage to ensure those who do not possess passports could also access the Corridor. Easy access should be given to the pilgrims while enforcing health protocols keeping in view the 551st birth anniversary of Guru Sahab on November 30, he added.
In his letter, Sukhbir said that there was an overwhelming sentiment in the Sikh community that the Kartarpur Corridor should be reopened at the earliest so that devotees could pay obeisance at Gurdwara Darbar Sahib as well as visit the hallowed area where Guru Sahib made a living practicing agriculture for 18 years.He also informed that the Pakistan Government had opened at Corridor for travel and permission for the same was only awaited from the Indian Government. The Corridor was temporarily closed by the Indian Government on March 16 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.SAD president said that prominent pilgrimage sites across the world as well as in the country, which had been partially or fully closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, had been reopened.
