Pakistan giving real religious freedom to all minorities in contrast to India: Amir Khan

Star boxer urges Modi government to allow Sikh community to visit Kartarpur

Calling it an "amazing experience", Amir Khan — the internationally renowned British-Pakistani boxer — on Wednesday visited Guru Nanak’s shrine in Kartarpur, urging the Indian government to allow the Sikh community to visit the holy site.

Sharing a short video clip on his Twitter handle about the visit, he said that Pakistan is giving real religious freedom to all minorities, in contrast, India is taking measures against its minorities.

Amazing experience visiting Kartarpur today at Guru Nanak’s shrine. Thank you for the hospitality ❤️. I request the Indian government to allow the Sikh community to visit pakistan kartarpur @PakistanFauj @OfficialDGISPR pic.twitter.com/L5gHri55CA

— Amir Khan (@amirkingkhan) December 16, 2020

 

"Be it Babri mosque, Occupied Kashmir or the Sikh community.... India is taking steps against minorities every now and then." 

The star boxer urged the Indian government to allow the Sikh community to visit the Kartarpur Gurdwara, terming it a "true centre of interfaith harmony".

In a notification issued in March, the Indian government had ordered the closure of the passage, stoking concerns in the community about New Delhi’s ‘ulterior motive’ behind the move.

While preventing the spread of Covid-19 appears to be the reason for the closure, the Sikh community believes, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Hindu nationalist government was looking for an excuse to shut the corridor ever since its inaugurating last November.

“India opened the Kartarpur corridor unwillingly and perhaps forced reciprocate by Pakistan’s move to inaugurate the passage,” said Sardar Mahindar Pal Singh, member of the Punjab legislature and parliamentary secretary for human rights. “Modi was under pressure from Sikhs all over the world,” he added.

Since the passage’s inauguration by Prime Minister Imran Khan, thousands of Sikhs from India have visited Kartarpur. A significant number of these pilgrims coming from India accuse the government of creating procedural hurdles to prevent them from visiting Pakistan.

Tantalisingly close from the Indian border but out-of-reach for decades due to the perennial state of enmity between India and Pakistan, the shrine, a white-domed building, has remained on the wish list of millions of Sikhs for decades.