Summary:
Pakistan has not agreed on allowing foot pilgrimage through the corridor, a distance of about 4 km, but wants to allow devotees in groups of 15 that too through buses. It has made carrying passports mandatory for the pilgrims and has decided to issue special permissions. Pakistan is backtracking from its earlier announcements of doing everything for the ‘khulae darshan deedar’ of Kartarpur Sahib.”Pakistan has so far agreed to accept only 500 to 700 Indian devotees as against Indian proposal of 5,000 devotees each day and additional 10,000 devotees on religious occasions. AMRITSAR: Sikhs’ single largest representative body Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) has taken strong exception to Pakistan government narrowing down the scope of pilgrimage to Kartarpur Sahib by imposing various restrictions even though the corridor was supposed to make it hassle free devotees to go where Guru Nanak Dev spent about 18 years of his life.While censuring the Pakistan government, SGPC president Gonind Singh Longowal told TOI on Saturday, “These restrictions are not acceptable to any follower of Guru Nanak Dev. The neighbouring country has also not clarified about allowing non-Sikhs or Sehajdharis or persons of other faith to travel through the corridor.Longowal said that majority of people didn’t have passports so they would be deprived of visiting the holy shrine..