Corridor of promise

Pakistan and India have finally signed the historic agreement that allows visa-free travel for Sikhs living east of the Radcliff line to cross into Pakistan and over the River Ravi to Dera Baba Nanak in Narowal district — one of the holiest sites for Sikhs. The Sikh religion was founded in this region nearly five centuries ago by Baba Guru Nanak Dev. Most of the holiest sites for the 28 million Sikhs living across the world lie in Punjab. Then, in 1947, a border sprung up which not only divided the people but these holy sites as well. Suddenly, for people living on this side of the Ravi, going to Amritsar was going to another country. Similarly, for people living across the Chenab, travel to Nankana Sahib on the Pakistani side of Punjab was a journey into lands no longer as familiar.

Recognising this, both New Delhi and Islamabad came to a compromise — allowing hundreds of Sikh pilgrims to cross over every year to attend the key festivals at these sacred sites. But the process for embarking on one of these pilgrimages is long, tedious and expensive. However, Islamabad took the initiative of building a corridor in the Narowal to allow Sikh pilgrims to cross over and visit the sacred sites in Kartarpur. Visitors will no longer have to go through the tedious hoops to secure a visa.

But the process still retains some qualifiers. Pilgrims have to submit their names well before they embark for the border, which New Delhi has to communicate to Islamabad 10 days in advance. Passports of visitors will be scanned, though they will not be stamped. And lastly, visitors will be required to pay a fee of $20 or around 1,500 Indian rupees. One hopes this corridor will create a ground to remove further barriers that exist between the two countries and return to a time when people identifying themselves of different faiths and nations coexisted peacefully.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 26^th, 2019.

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