Darbar Sahib Kartarpur: Will the Pak Gurdwara Herald Better Ties?

The gurdwara, significant as the final resting place of Guru Nanak, is politically significant for Indo-Pak ties.

The prayers of Sikh pilgrims seem to have been answered ahead of the 550th birth anniversary of Baba Guru Nanak, as the the Narendra Modi government on Thursday, 22 November, approved the opening of Kartarpur corridor across the LoC between India and Pakistan. The corridor will pave the way for Indian pilgrims to visit the Darbar Sahib Kartarpur Gurudwara in Pakistan – the final resting place of Guru Nanak.

Located just 3 kilometres away from the Indo-Pak border in Pakistan’s Punjab, devotees can see the gurdwara from the Indian side.

The latest trigger for the corridor had been Punjab Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu’s hug to Pakistan’s Army Chief Qamar Javed Bajwa, which not only gave the two nations political fodder to subsist on for days, butalso gave lakhs of Sikh pilgrims in India hope that they might visit the Darbar Sahib Kartarpur Gurdwara in Pakistan by foot.

After his return from Imran Khan’s oath-taking ceremony, Sidhu announced that Bajwa had assured him of opening the much-awaited Kartarpur corridor from Gurdaspur in India to Kartarpur in Pakistan, so that Indian Sikh pilgrims could walk across the border to pay obeisance at Darbar Sahib Kartarpur.

Here are some reasons the religiously crucial gurdwara is also politically significant for Indo-Pak ties.

Religious Significance and Legends

Darbar Sahib Kartarpur is one of the most religiously significant gurdwaras, as Guru Nanak is said to have spent the last 18 years of his life there until his death on 22 September, 1539 (AD).

According to legend, after Guru Nanak’s death, there was a conflict between his Hindu and Muslim devotees over the way he should be laid to rest. While the Muslim devotees wanted him buried, Hindu followers wanted him cremated.

Nanak miraculously appeared as an old man before his devotees and suggested they postpone the decision till morning. The following morning, his body had disappeared and a pile of flowers were found instead. The Hindus then took half of the flowers to cremate and the remaining half were buried by Muslims.

Sikh jathas are known to visit Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib on four occasions every year – Guru Nanak's birth anniversary, Baisakhi, Guru Arjan Dev's martyrdom day and Maharaja Ranjit Singh's death anniversary.

“This has been a long-standing demand of the Sikhs in India to pay obeisance to the final resting place of Guru Nanak.” 

Amandeep Sandhu, Senior Journalist to The Quint

Geography and Border Significance

Situated in the Narowal district of Pakistan’s Punjab, the Gurdwara stands just 3 kilometres from the India-Pakistan border, adjacent to the river Ravi. It is 120 kilometres from Lahore.

It can be seen from a gurdwara on the Indian side, Dera Baba Nanak in Gurdaspur district of Punjab. The Pakistan authorities have to trim the elephant grass to clear the view for the Indian side.

It is located 4 kilometres away from the Dera Nawab Sahib railway station on the Indian side.

Architecture, Destruction and Reconstruction

The original building of the gurdwara was washed away due to floods in 1920. Sardar Bhupinder Singh, the then Maharaja of Patiala, donated Rs 1,35,600 for the construction of a new building.

It was subsequently repaired by the Pakistan government in 1995, incurring lakhs of rupees in expenditure.

The ground floor of the gurdwara houses the samadhi where Hindus and Sikhs pray and it serves as the main congregation hall of the shrine. The grave created by Muslims lies in the courtyard.

There is also an old well in the gurdwara complex from which Guru Nanak used to draw water.

Abandoned by Sikhs and Hindus for 50 Years

Following the Partition of India and Pakistan in 1947, the gurdwara came under the control of smugglers who frequently traveled between the two countries due to its proximity to the border, according to Scroll.

With the influx of drugs in Pakistan during Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq’s rule from 1978-88, many drug addicts too found refuge there.

Thus, for 50 years following the Partition, the gurdwara remained largely abandoned by Hindus and Sikhs till the end of Haq’s rule. The Muslim followers of Guru Nanak, however, kept visiting the grave in the courtyard, keeping the sanctity of the shrine alive.

The Proposed Corridor

While Indian pilgrims could visit Darbar Sahib Kartarpur in Pakistan following proper international visa procedures, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) and political leaders had been demanding the construction of a corridor flanked by barbed wire to allow pilgrims from India to cross over into Pakistan to visit the shrine on foot without passports and visas, The Times of India reported.

The pilgrims would need to return the same day, for which a bridge will need to be constructed over the river Ravi.

According to India Today, there are fears that the corridor may be used by Pakistan to promote a separatist agenda in India, as it would bring Pakistani infrastructure right up to the Indian border.

Several gurdwaras in Pakistan are reportedly still being used to promote a pro-Khalistan campaign, India Today reported. Some pamphlets were found at some of the gurdwaras in Pakistan that talked about "Sikh Referendum 2020".

History of Corridor Talks and Indo-Pak Relations

After late former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s bus visit to Lahore in 1999, then Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf had offered pilgrims from India the opportunity to visit Darbar Sahib Kartarpur from Dera Baba Nanak without needing a passport and visa.

No subsequent developments took place, but the demands continued.

“Pakistan, even in the 90s, said that ‘we have built a mud path after negotiations with the Indian government’. They said that ‘from our side it is open, but the Indian government did nothing’,” said Sandhu.

In 2010, Chairperson of the Pakistan Evacuee Trust Property Board (PETPB), Sayed Asif Hashmi, offered to complete the required modalities for the construction of the corridor, The Times of India reported.

In 2016, following the Indian Army’s surgical strikes along the LoC, Pakistan stopped pruning the tall elephant grass along the border, obstructing the view of Darbar Sahib Kartarpur from the Indian side. According to TOI, the grass along the border served as natural fencing for Pakistan.

As Indo-Pak ties worsened after several instances of mutilation of Indian soldiers by the Pakistan Army along the LoC, a parliamentary standing committee on external affairs in May 2017 ruled out construction of the corridor, according to Tribune.

The committee Chairperson Shashi Tharoor, former Minister of State for External Affairs, had said the then-political climate was not at all conducive to constructing such a passage.

Corridor Talks Revived

Punjab Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu stirred a political storm in India after he returned from newly elected Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan’s swearing-in ceremony in Islamabad on 18 August, where he was seen hugging Pakistan Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa.

Sidhu later defended his action by saying that Bajwa had assured him that Pakistan was making efforts to allow Indians access to Darbar Sahib Kartarpur.

On 21 August, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh’s cabinet had decided to call on the Centre to prevail upon Pakistani authorities to open the corridor on the 550th birth anniversary celebrations of Guru Nanak, beginning next year.

Two weeks later on 7 September, Pakistan’s Minister of Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry had said in an interview to BBC Urdu that the Imran Khan government was planning to give visa-free access to Darbar Sahib Kartarpur to pilgrims from India.

Thanking the Imran Khan government, Sidhu had written to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on 9 September, urging her to "make every possible effort" on the issue.

On 20 September, Raveesh Kumar, Indian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson announced that India had agreed to a meeting between Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj and her Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Pakistan’s request. The news had rekindled hope for talks on the Kartarpur corridor.

However, a day after India accepted Pakistan’s proposal for talks, it turned the offer down.

On 21 September, India announced its decision to call off the meeting citing the latest brutal killings of Indian security personnel by Pakistan entities, and the recent release of series of 20 postal stamps by Pakistan glorifying terrorists.

On 22 November, the Union Cabinet approved the building and development of Kartarpur corridor between India and Pakistan for pilgrims visiting the Gurdwara in Pakistan where Guru Nanak Dev is believed to have spent 18 years of his life.

“The Kartarpur corridor will provide smooth and easy passage to pilgrims to visit Gurdwara Darbar Sahib throughout the year. Government of Pakistan will be urged to reciprocate and develop a corridor with suitable facilities in their territory,” said Home Minister Rajnath Singh.

In a series of tweets, Singh said that the decision was taken at a meeting of the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to commemorate the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Devji.