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100th Ardaas for India, Pak Mile
Long Corridor for Sikhs
WSN Bureau
 Dera
Baba Nanak: Underlining their faith in Akalpurakh and the power of
Ardas, the determined band of Sikh activists fighting to get India
and Pakistan to agree to a corridor at Kartarpur Sahib held the
100th monthly Ardas on the banks of Ravi as the issue increasingly
turns into a people's movement.
The Sikh
community has long been demanding a corridor to Gurudwara Kartarpur
in Pakistan which is just across the border, a few hundred yards.
The 100th Ardaas was performed on Monday with some 6,000 devotees
participating.
There is now a
clear perception that the Pakistan government was all set to grant
the demand and any delay was because of New Delhi's slow approach
even though the then External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukerjee had
made a trip to the area and agreed in principle to have a corridor.
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TeriSikhi event on November 7
A consistent
campaigner for the Kartarpur Sahib corridor, the TeriSikhi
group, has now announced a major event 'The Bridge of Harmony -
A Passage to Peace' to press for the corridor. Scheduled for
November 7, 2009,
the event will be at International Border Dera Baba Nanak, India
and Pakistan, at the same time. A TeriSikhi statement said, "It
is non-political event. All world peace western organizations
are being invited." |
Gurudwara
Kartarpur Sahib stands at the place where Guru Nanak, the founder of
Sikhism, spent his last years. As the Gurudwara is situated just
across the river Ravi in Pakistan, the devotees have been demanding
that a corridor should be provided to facilitate the pilgrimage. The
fact that the gurdwara across the border can be seen from this side
in India has only further boosted the movement.
Kuldeep Singh
Wadala, a senior Akali leader, who has been in the forefront of the
endeavour and is heading Kartarpur Ravi Darshan Abhilakhi Sanstha,
said that they performed the first Ardaas on the Vaisakhi of 2001
and then continued it every month on New Moon day. “Initially there
were a dozen odd people who were involved in the prayer at the
border every month but now, every time on Ardaas day, around
4,000-5,000 devotees gather while daily around 400-500 persons come
to the Dera Baba Nanak border where Ardaas is performed and pay
their obeisance to the Gurudwara Kartarpur," he said.
Wadala has
managed to keep this endeavour a completely non-political affair.
Tridivesh Singh
Maini, who researches South Asian affairs, has said the corridor
would be a tribute to Guru Nanak Dev’s philosophy and the ecumenical
principles and tenets of Sikhism and could also act as the gateway
to South Asian peace and prosperity.
24
June 2009
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