Muslims Extend Hand of True Friendship
Yesterday was a historical moment in the history of the world. It was a day where love and brotherhood, understanding and broad-mindedness, determination and will-power triumphed over hatred and enmity, narrow-mindedness and bigotry, venom and virulence. For over 70 years there was a man-made division -- a border that kept a large community of Sikhs in India from visiting their most sacred place –Kartarpur in Pakistan.
Kartarpur is a small town in the district of Narowal, Punjab (Pakistani Punjab). It lies on the right bank of the on the right bank of the Ravi river. Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism settled here and established the first commune of Sikhism. He also died here. The Gurdwara (Sikh place of worship) in Kartarpur was built at the site where he died. It is known as Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur. It is the holiest place to the Sikh community. The Sikhs number around 27 million people worldwide with the majority living in the Indian provinces of Punjab and Haryana.
Kartarpur is to Sikhs what Madinah is to Muslims.
When Pakistan came into existence in 1947, Kartarpur fell on the Pakistani side of the border. The place lies just 4.7 (2.9 miles) from the Pakistan-India border. But this man-made border prevented millions of Sikhs in India from visiting their most holy site. Currently, to have a glimpse of their Gurdwara in Kartarpur, high-powered binoculars were being used by the Sikhs in India.
All that is now a thing of the past. After over 70 years, a man of broad vision now at the helm of affairs in Pakistan, Imran Khan took the bold step of bringing people of India and Pakistan a step closer. He took the initiative of constructing a corridor on the Pakistani side of the border to open the gateway for Sikh pilgrims to visit their most holy place without legal or diplomatic hassle. All Sikh pilgrims can now visit Pakistan without a visa requirement on the payment of a meagre $20. A quota of 5000 pilgrims from India would be allowed to visit their holy site on a daily basis.
The Kartarpur corridor was inaugurated yesterday by the Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on the Pakistan side and the Indian Prime Minister Narindra Modi on the Indian side of the border. Former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was also present at the inauguration ceremony. It was a rare example of cooperation between the nuclear-armed countries divided by decades of enmity. The Kartarpur corridor project was dubbed as a milestone of peace between India and Pakistan.
The opening of the corridor comes just days ahead of Guru Nanak’s 550th birthday on November 12 - - an anniversary of huge significance for the global Sikh community.
Muslims have shown their true respect for another religion. They have shown to the world that peaceful co-existence is possible among all communities, all religions, and all humans. It can be achieved by people with broad vision and with sincere effort.
With a world that has now gone on an overdrive to bash Muslims and Islam on the simplest pretext or opportunity, let this one single act of sowing seeds of love and brotherhood be an eye-opener. Possibly, it may usher in an era of peace and prosperity to people of this region in particular, and the world in general.
The world can still become a place of love and friendship and peace and co-existence. The Kartarpur Corridor is clear proof of that.
