Gurdaspur MP Pratap Singh Bajwa suggested a land swap with Pakistan to take back the historic shrine to enable Sikh pilgrims from the country to have a hassle-free pilgrimage to the historic place.
The Gurdwara is said to be the place where the first Sikh Guru Nanak Dev had last lived. Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib is located along Ravi river in Narowal of Pakistan and is located about 3 kms from the Indo-Pakistan border, with the nearest town on the Indian side being Dera Baba Nanak in Gurdaspur.
There has been lobbying to open the corridor for Sikhs from India to visit the shrine without any hindrance or visa.
Bajwa was accompanied by Punjab MPs Ravneet Singh and Manish Tiwari when they raised the issue with Prime Minister Singh requesting him to take up this matter at the highest level to arrive at a mutually acceptable arrangement.
Bajwa said though Indian and Pakistani governments had reached an agreement to build the corridor sometime in 1998 in order to enable Sikh pilgrims to visit Kartarpur Sahib Gurudwara in Pakistan without a visa or passport, there has been no progress on this issue by the Indian side so far.
"Being a devout Sikh, you do understand the sentiments of the Sikhs the world over who hold Kartarpur Sahib Gurudwara in high reverence where our first Guru, Guru Nanak Dev Ji, spent the last 18 years of his life. In the absence of a hassle-free pilgrimage, the devotees are forced to perform a strenuous journey taking the circuitous route via Wagah-Lahore to reach Narowal," Bajwa said in his letter.
Bajwa said that post-partition when land, on which famous martyrs' memorial where Bhagat Singh and others were cremated, went to Pakistan, India swapped 12 villages near Sulemanki Headworks, Fazilka, for securing back this land and suggested doing the same here.
"We can propose to Pakistan that if it is willing to hand over to India the area where Darbar Sahib Kartarpur is located, then we will be glad to swap with Pakistan the equivalent potion of land which is available across Ravi," he said.
