The Kartarpur Corridor is a visa-free border crossing and religious corridor that connects Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur, also called Kartarpur Sahib, in Pakistan and Gurdwara Dera Baba Nanak in India.
The corridor was constructed so that the devotees from India can visit the gurdwara in Kartarpur, which is nearly 4.7 km (2.9 miles) from the India - Pakistan border on the Pakistan side without a visa.
Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan
Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur, popularly known as Kartarpur Sahib, is a gurdwara in Kartarpur, Punjab, Pakistan. It is located in Shakargarh, Narowal District. It is one of the holiest sites in Sikhism, alongside the Golden Temple in Amritsar and Gurdwara Janam Asthan in Nankana Sahib. It is at Kartarpur Sahib, where the founder of Sikhism, Guru Nanak, settled and assembled the Sikh community after his missionary travels (udasis to Haridwar, Mecca-Medina, Lanka, Baghdad, Kashmir, and Nepal) and lived for 18 years until his death in 1539.
The gurdwara is especially noteworthy for its proximity to the Pakistan-India border. The shrine can be seen from the Indian side of the border on any clear day. Earlier thousands of Sikhs would gather on the Indian side of the border to perform darshan or sacred viewing of the site.
About 4.5km away from Kartarpur on the Indian border, the Border Security Force allowed pilgrims by the bus-fulls to step onto a 10-feet-tall platform and catch a quick glimpse of Guru Nanak Dev's resting place. In summer, the devout could line up at the border for a peek through binoculars.
Sikh pilgrims and political leaders had been demanding access to this historically and religiously significant place since Partition.
On 9 November 2019, just days before Guru Nanak's 550th birthday, Prime Minister Imran Khan opened the Kartarpur Corridor. During this historic moment, Indian Sikh pilgrims were granted visa-free access to the gurdwara in Pakistan.
An overview of Gurdwara Darbar Sahib's significance and history
Guru Nanak Dev, the founder of Sikhism, is believed to have spent his last days in the gurudwara from 1521 to 1539. He had traveled through several nations, preaching the message of peace, harmony, and love among all people, before finally arriving in Kartarpur in 1521. Duni Chand, the area's then-governor, gave him 100 acres of property on the Ravi River's bank. Guru Nanak founded the Kartarpur town by the Ravi River in 1504, plowing the fields and setting up a community kitchen, or Langar. Guru Nanak is believed to have composed many hymns of the Guru Granth Sahib, the holy book of the Sikhs, in Kartarpur, including the japji sahib. He assembled a Sikh commune there and resided for 18 years until his death on 22 September 1539.
The Gurdwara was constructed on the site where Guru Nanak is claimed to have died. It is thus the Sikh religion's second holiest shrine, after Gurdwara Janam Asthan in Nankana Sahib, Pakistan, which is the birthplace of Guru Nanak.
As a teacher, Guru Nanak preached peace, harmony, and universal brotherhood. He pointed out that there is only one God, regardless of caste, religion, or gender, and gave the word ‘Ik Onkar’, meaning there is only one God.
According to Fakr Syed Aijazuddin, a Lahore-based art historian, the shrine has the last copies of the original Guru Granth Sahib. "Every step here reminds us of the Guru's life," one Sikh pilgrim observed.
According to legend, when Guru Nanak died, his Muslim and Hindu followers debated whether he should be buried or burnt. Guru Nanak is said to have appeared as an old man to settle this dispute the next day. When they returned the next day, instead of the Guru's body, they were said to have found a huge pile of flowers, which his devotees split equally and cremated or buried accordingly.
Inside the Shrine
The present Kartarpur shrine was rebuilt in 1925 after the original was destroyed by floods on two occasions. Raja Bhupinder Singh, Maharaja of Patiala, gave Rs. 1,35,600 to build the main shrine building in Kartarpur in 1925. Some claim that during the renovation, books and other items were taken from the original gurudwara and stored elsewhere. The little that is known about the gurudwara's possessions come from Charlotte Canning, the wife of British Viceroy Lord Canning. Sketches and details regarding the Granth Sahib, the holy book of Sikhs that rested in the Gurudwara, can be found in her travelogue chronicling her trip to "Khurtarpore" in February 1860. Lady Canning's designs were supposedly enclosed in letters to Queen Victoria back in the day, the papers of which are housed at Harewood House in West Yorkshire, England.
The Pakistani government renovated it in 1995 and restored it in 2004, at a substantial expense. The US-based NGO "EcoSikh" suggested establishing a 100-acre "sacred forest" surrounding the shrine in May 2017. The Gurdwara was further expanded in November 2018 with the construction of a new 42-acre courtyard, museum, library, dorms, and locker facilities (17 hectares). There is a 20-foot well made of little red bricks that is 500 years old and is believed to have been created during Guru Nanak Dev's lifetime.
How was the foundation of the Kartarpur Sahib Laid?
On 26 November 2018, Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone on the Indian side; two days later, Prime Minister Imran Khan laid the foundation stone on the Pakistani side. The corridor was completed as part of the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak, on 12 November 2019.
Khan said "Pakistan believes that the road to the prosperity of region [sic] and bright future of our coming generation lies in peace", adding that "Pakistan is not only opening the border but also their hearts for the Sikh community". According to PM Modi, the decision to proceed with the corridor could help ease tension between the two countries, akin to the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989.
Kartarpur Corridor Background
Kartarpur was founded by Guru Nanak in 1504 CE on the right bank of the Ravi River and established the first Sikh commune there. After he died in 1539, Hindus and Muslims both built mausoleums in his memory with a common wall between them. As the Ravi River changed course, the mausoleums were eventually washed away. A new habitation was formed, representing the present-day Dera Baba Nanak on the left bank of the Ravi river.
Following India's partition in 1947, the territory was divided between India and Pakistan. The Radcliffe Line awarded Pakistan, the Shakargarh tehsil on the right side of the Ravi River, including Kartarpur, and to India, the Gurdaspur tehsil on the left bank of the Ravi. The Akali Dal demanded that India should acquire the land of the gurdwaras in Nankana Sahib and Kartarpur in 1948. The requests persisted until 1959, but the Punjab state administration, which was controlled by the Indian National Congress, advised against modifying the boundary fixed by the Radcliffe Award.
As border controls between India and Pakistan were not strictly enforced until 1965, Indian Sikhs were able to visit Kartarpur informally for many years following the partition by crossing the Jassar bridge (32.04923°N 74.99242°E) across the Ravi river. During the Indo-Pakistan war of 1965, Pakistani forces destroyed the bridge to prevent Indian advances, and border controls were tightened.
On the occasion of the 500th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi promised to approach the Pakistani government for a land-swap, to make Kartarpur a part of India but nothing materialized. India and Pakistan agreed on a protocol for visiting religious shrines in September 1974. Around 2005, the protocol was updated to include more visits and more sites. Kartarpur, however, was not included in the 1974 protocol. India requested inclusion, but Pakistan refused, according to the Indian Ministry of External Affairs.
Gobind Singh, the caretaker of the gurdwara at Kartarpur, said the gurdwara remained closed from 1947 to 2000. Despite receiving pilgrims, the gurdwara had no staff and had restricted access. The Pakistani government began restoring the shrine in September 2000, ahead of Guru Nanak's death anniversary and reopened it publicly in September 2004. The Kartarpur Corridor mission was initially started by Bhabishan Singh Goraya, who pursued the cause for 24 years.
According to Akali leader Kuldeep Singh Wadala, the gurdwara had been abandoned until 2003. The villagers used it as a cattle shed, and sharecroppers took over the lands. Since 2003, the Pakistani Government has been taking important initiatives for the upkeep of Sikh religious shrines.
Initiatives recently undertaken
During the tenure of Nawaz Sharif and Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the opening of the Kartarpur border crossing was first discussed in 1998. In 1999, Pakistan renovated the Kartarpur Sahib gurdwara and made it visible from the Indian border. The Kargil War had effectively destroyed India-Pakistan relations. Despite this, General Pervez Musharraf was reported to have given the 'green light to the project, according to the chairman of the Pakistan Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee, Lieutenant General Javed Nasir.
The issue was also raised by Manmohan Singh during his first term as prime minister of India in Punjab in 2004. The 'composite dialogue process' between India and Pakistan initiated in 2004 also discussed access to Kartarpur via the Amritsar-Lahore-Kartarpur road.
In 2008, Indian foreign minister Pranab Mukherjee discussed "visa-free travel" to Kartarpur with his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi. While there was no official response, Pakistan began to express its openness to the Sikh community privately.
At a press conference organized by Akali leader Kuldeep Singh Wadala in Dera Baba Nanak on June 20, 2008, John W. McDonald, a former American ambassador and founder of the Institute for Multi-Track Diplomacy, called for "a peace corridor, a peace zone" connecting shrines on both sides of the border. The Indian foreign minister at the time, Pranab Mukherjee, announced on 28 June 2008 that a feasibility study would be conducted on the peace corridor. Since the 2008 Mumbai attacks, India-Pakistan relations deteriorated, and the initiative failed.
An independent feasibility study was conducted by members of the Sikh community in Washington DC in cooperation with the Institute for Multi-Track Diplomacy. Surinder Singh and the Institute released their "Kartarpur Marg" report in August 2010. The Sikh diaspora agreed to raise 17 million US dollars for the corridor, according to the report. Pakistan would spend $14.8 million and India $2.2 million on the project, according to the report. In November 2010, the Punjab state legislative assembly unanimously passed a resolution supporting an international passage between the two sites, which was forwarded to the Indian Union government on 1 October 2010.
The Inaugration of Kartarpur Sahib
On 9 November 2019, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan inaugurated the Kartarpur corridor at a ceremony that was held in the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib complex, Kartarpur. Around 12,000 pilgrims attended the ceremony. In his speech, Prime Minister Khan said: "Pakistan believes that the road to the prosperity of region [sic] and bright future of our coming generation lies in peace, saying that today (9 November 2019) Pakistan is not only opening the border but also their hearts for the Sikh community.”
More than 550 pilgrims were able to travel to Guru Nanak's final resting place on 9 November 2019, ahead of Guru Nanak's 550th Prakash Purab celebrations. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi applauded the move and likened it to the fall of the Berlin Wall, noting that it may help to reduce tensions between the two nations. PM Modi flagged off the pilgrimage and handed over the flag of the Jatha to the Jathedar of Akal Takht Giani Harpreet Singh.
Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh led the Jatha through the corridor into Pakistan to pay obeisance at Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur. The Indian Sikh delegation that included former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the then Indian Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, the then Tourism Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu, and actor-turned-politician Sunny Deol arrived through Kartarpur Corridor to celebrate the 550th anniversary of the birth of Guru Nanak and attended the inauguration ceremony on the special invitation from the then Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan. Jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh thanked both governments for the corridor on the occasion.
Just four months after it had been opened to pilgrims, the corridor was closed in March 2020 in light of the Covid-19 pandemic. The pilgrimage was revived after a gap of over a year and a half.
The Kartarpur Corridor is indeed the corridor of ‘international peace and harmony. It has given access to the entire Sikh community to pay respect at their revered shrine, Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib, where the visitor is no Pakistani or Indian, but a devotee of Nanak, a place where Guru Nanak preached the unity of the cosmos and all that made it up was his guiding philosophical principle.