Kartarpur Corridor | 25 Oct 2019
India and Pakistan have signed an agreement to operationalise the Kartarpur corridor. The agreement is valid initially for five years.
- Either party can terminate the agreement at any time by giving notice of one month to the other party of its intention to terminate this agreement.
- Also, the pact could be suspended in case of exigency or persistent violation of its provisions.
- The Pakistan side has agreed to make sufficient provision for langar and distribution of prasad in the Gurdwara premises.
- On Indian side, all the required infrastructure, including the highway and the passenger terminal building are near completion for timely inauguration of the corridor.
- The corridor is expected to be inaugurated on 9th November 2019.
- It would remain open throughout the year.
Kartarpur Corridor
- The Kartarpur corridor connects the Darbar Sahib Gurdwara in Narowal district of Pakistan with the Dera Baba Nanak shrine in Gurdaspur district in India’s Punjab province.
- The agreement will facilitate visa-free movement of Indian pilgrims who would just need a permit to cross over to Pakistan.
- The corridor was built to commemorate 550th birth anniversary celebrations of Guru Nanak Dev, founder of Sikhism on 12th November 2019.
Guru Nanak
- Guru Nanak Dev Jayanti is observed on the full-moon day in the month of Katak to celebrate the birth of Guru Nanak Dev (1469-1539).
- He advocated the 'Nirguna' form of bhakti. He rejected sacrifices, ritual baths, image worship, austerities and the scriptures of both Hindus and Muslims.
- He set up rules for congregational worship (sangat) involving collective recitation.
- He appointed one of his disciples, Angad, to succeed him as the preceptor (guru), and this practice was followed for nearly 200 years.
- The fifth preceptor, Guru Arjan, compiled Baba Guru Nanak’s hymns along with those of his four successors and also other religious poets, like Baba Farid, Ravidas (also known as Raidas) and Kabir, in the Adi Granth Sahib.
- These hymns, called 'Gurbani', are composed in many languages.
- Kartarpur gurudwara is the revered shrine about 4km across the border where Guru Nanak Dev spent the last 18 years of his life.