Punjab News Teri Sikhi backs Pak offer on corridor to Kartarpur Sahib

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Ferozepur, June 28

Teri Sikhi, an organisation of Sikhs settled abroad, has urged the Government of India to give due consideration to the offer made by the Government of Pakistan in connection with the setting up of a corridor to Kartarpur Sahib from the international border.

Kartarpur Sahib, located in Shakargarh tehsil of Narowal district of Pakistan, was the place where Guru Nanak Dev spent about 17 years of his life and outlined the basic principles of his religious philosophy, which later became the fundamentals of Sikh religion. The place is an abode of ultimate faith for the Sikhs.

Jaspal Singh Sandhu, Chairman, TeriSikhi, said as the Pakistan Government had offered to set up a corridor from the international border to Kartarpur Sahib, the Government of India must make arrangements to set up the corridor from Dera Baba Nanak to the international border.

He said Teri Sikhi had already urged the Governments of India and Pakistan to include the issue connected with the opening of the Kartarpur Sahib corridor into the agenda of talks that would be held between their Foreign Ministers in July 2010.

“Now Syed Asif Hashmi, chief, Evacuee Trust Property Board, Pakistan, has made an offer that Pakistan is ready for talks with India to create such a special corridor for the safe passage of pilgrims between Dera Baba Nanak and Kartarpur Sahib, both situated on each bank of the Ravi. The Government of India should use this opportunity to fulfil the long-cherished demand of the Sikhs,” he said.

Sarbjit Singh Mann and Rabinder Singh, senior executive directors, TeriSikhi, said a memorandum in connection with the opening of Dera Baba Nanak-Kartarpur Sahib corridor signed by 20,000 Sikhs living all over the globe, has already been given to both Governments of Pakistan and India.

“We are hoping that the countdown has begun for this corridor, which will prove a ‘passage of peace’ between India and Pakistan and will play a great role in stabilising peace in this region,” they claimed.

“Teri Sikhi organised a function at Dera Baba Nanak a few months ago to mobilise support for its mission from all over the globe. It received an encouraging response from about 35,000 Sikhs, who came from all over the world and assembled there to press the authorities concerned to open the Kartarpur Sahib corridor without any delay.

As of now, one has to cover a distance of 237 km to reach Kartarpur Sahib from Dera Baba Nanak through the Wagah border. With the opening of the corridor, the journey will be cut down to a few minutes only.
 
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