India above religion
Religion and sentiment though important will never override national interest and for Indians, the country is above religion
Kumkum Chadha
When Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said that Pakistan must mend its ways; turn a new leaf and do some introspection he was merely articulating the sentiment of millions of Indians on this side of the border. When Prime Minister Narendra Modi had likened the Kartarpur corridor project to the fall of the Berlin wall he was only pumping in optimism and underlining the strong possibility of peace between India and Pakistan.
When External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj spurned Pakistans invitation to take part in the ground breaking ceremony and sent two ministers instead she was only reiterating Indias stated position of no talks till the guns blaze.
And finally when Pakistan President Imran Khan, who has done barely 100 days in office said that if India takes one step we will take two he was only using rhetoric to push the reality under the carpet.
Irrespective of all the bonhomie that Pakistan may show towards India and publicly extend an olive branch the fact remains that it did have pro Khalistani separatist leader Gopal Singh Chawla present at the groundbreaking ceremony of the Kartarpur corridor when two Union Ministers Hardeep Singh Puri and Harsimrat Kaur Badal and Punjab minister Congress Navjot Singh Sidhu were participating. In fact, Sidhu was severely criticized for getting himself photographed with Chawla: an incident he tried to play down once back home by saying that he does not know who is Gopal Chawla.
Between the Union Ministers and Sidhu, Modis team conducted itself much better clearly placing Indias interests above religion. Sidhu on the other hand played to the gallery and warmed up to the Pakistanis to the extent that its Prime Minister Imran Khan said that Sidhu had such a large fan following in Pakistan that if he were to elections from Pakistan he would win. Sidhu reciprocated by saying that he is a fan of Khan. The bonhomie notwithstanding the message has not gone down well back home. In fact, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh had declined Pakistans invite for the Kartarpur corridor citing continued attacks in Punjab and killing of Indian soldiers by Pakistans forces. Sidhu is a minister in Singhs government in Punjab.
Darbar Sahib in Pakistan the first gurudwara was established by Guru Nanak Dev in 1522 and is said to be the final resting place of the Sikh faiths founder. It is located across the river Ravi, about four kilometres from the Dera Baba Nanak shrine on the Indian side of the border.
The Kartarpur corridor will facilitate visa-free travel for Sikh pilgrims to Gurudwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur and is expected to be completed within six months. The proposal is for round-the-clock, 365 days cross-border passage for pilgrims, with free and readily available consular service for Indian citizens on the Pakistani side.
Even while Pakistan was claiming credit for the initiative, the Modi government in New Delhi announced several initiatives to mark the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev in 2019, the development of a visa-free Kartarpur Sahib pilgrimage corridor across the border being one such. The Union cabinet claimed the resolution was preceded by weeks of internal consultations and also rejected claims that the Kartarpur project was Pakistans initiative.
The BJP can also claim credit because it was Atal Bihari Vajpayee, in 1999, who had proposed a visa-free corridor for pilgrims to travel from Dera Baba Nanak in India to Darbar Sahib in Pakistan during his visit to Lahore.
The UPA government had also raised it in the last ten years at several levels.
In 2004, Manmohan Singh announced the provision of a corridor between the two holy shrines on the occasion of the 400th anniversary of Prakash Utsav the day marking the installation of the Guru Granth Sahib at the Golden Temple.
In August 2018 after Sidhu returned from Islamabad after attending Imran Khans swearing in he said that Pakistans Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa informed him that the Pakistan government would open the Dera Baba Nanak (Kartarpur) corridor on Guru Nanaks 550th birth anniversary.
In November this year, Modi government approved the Kartarpur corridor from Dera Baba Nanak to the Pakistan border and Vice President Venkaiah Naidu laid the foundation stone of the Dera Baba Nanak - Kartarpur Sahib Corridor up to the International Border. This was done by organizing an event at in Gurdaspur district of Punjab.
In Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan laid the foundation stone of the 4-km corridor and invited Indias Foreign minister Sushma Swaraj for the groundbreaking ceremony but she declined the invitation. Given that the issue is a sentimental one with Sikhs, the Modi government decided to send two of its ministers making it clear that while it would not disrespect Sikh sentiment it would also not compromise national interest by engaging with a country that kills its soldiers on a daily basis.
That Pakistan is playing politics is clear. Many see the proposal as a ploy to make India soften its tough stance on the resumption of dialogue between the two countries. Back home Swaraj said that the latest developments did not herald the resumption of dialogue process. She reiterated that talks and terror cannot go together thus making it clear that India will not relent.
Pakistans double speak was clear from the way it raised the Kashmir issue even on a religious occasion like the corridor ceremony. In his speech, Khan mentioned that Kashmir was the only issue for Pakistan something that the Indian government said was regrettable that Pakistan prime minister chose to politicise a pious occasion.
Even though it was a tight rope walk India did well by a half rebuff: Foreign Minister spurned the invite; the two ministers who were sent instead made it clear that they were merely marking their presence because it involved the sentiment of Sikhs but that is where it ended. Their body language and glum faces made it clear that they were unwilling to take even one step against the backdrop of terror. With that it also sent a clear message that religion and sentiment though important will never override national interest and for Indians, the country is above religion.
The writer is a senior Indian journalist, political commentator and columnist of The Independent. She can be reached at: ([email protected])
