Ehna hi bahut ki mere khoon ne rukh sinjiya, Ki hoiya je pattiyaan te mera naam nahi hai (It is enough that my blood nurtured the tree, what happens if my name is not on the leaves)” said Punjab Cabinet Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu — the man of the moment who was not present at the moment on Monday that virtually marked the opening of a new chapter in the history of Sikhism.
Instead, Sidhu opted to bow before the Gurudwara Kartarpur Sahib in Pakistan to “thank the Almighty” from the India-Pakistan international border through binoculars, set up by the Indian armed forces.
Sidhu, who visited Dera Baba Nanak — the place where the foundation stone for constructing the corridor on Indian side was laid by the Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu and Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh — in the morning, stayed away from the function with all humility.
Neither his name was carried on the plaque, nor he was on the guest list for the function. And all that despite the fact that it was his visit to the neighbouring nation in August to attend his “friend” Imran Khan’s swearing in ceremony as the Prime Minister that renewed the talk about opening the Kartarpur corridor.
Moreover, Sidhu was the first one from India to be invited by Imran Khan or ground breaking ceremony on the other side of the border on November 28.
Sidhu had raised a dust of controversy during his visit to Pakistan after he embraced Pak Army Chief Qamar Javed Bajwa at a time when the Indian soldiers were getting killed every day on the border.
He was criticised not only by his rivals but also his party-men, who dubbed him as “traitor” and “anti-national”.
Defending his hugplomacy, Sidhu had described it as “emotional” reaction to General Bajwa’s talk regarding opening of Kartarpur corridor. He had also claimed that Pak was ready to give Indian pilgrims direct access to the gurdwara, and the ball was now in India’s court.
And now, when the Union Cabinet on November 22 cleared the proposal to develop a corridor from Dera Baba Nanak in Punjab's Gurdaspur district to the international border to facilitate Indian pilgrims to visit Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur in Pakistan, Sidhu is just happy, while staying away from the credit war game.
“The ardas of 13 crore ‘Guru Nanak naam leva sangat’, which prays since the past 70 years for a darshan of the gurudwaras on the Pakistan side, has borne fruit...It is a gift to the entire sangat on the occasion of the 550th Parkash Purb celebrations of Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji for which he (Navjot Singh Sidhu) has come to thank the almighty.
Currently campaigning for the Congress party for Madhya Pradesh assembly elections as “star campaigner”, Sidhu flew by a special plane in the morning, and flying back.