India-Pak tension: Kartarpur Corridor sees 50% dip in Sikh pilgrim footfall
After Attari-Wagah checkpost closed post-Pahalgam attack, corridor is only land route open from India to Pakistan. In 2024, both nations renewed agreement to keep corridor of faith to Guru Nanak shrine open for five more years.
The escalating tension on the border since the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22 has led to a 50% dip in the number of Indian Sikh pilgrims taking the Kartarpur Corridor to Sri Darbar Sahib, the final resting place of Sikhism founder Guru Nanak, in Narowal district of Pakistan.
On April 23, the Government of India decided to downgrade diplomatic ties with Pakistan in view of cross-border links to the terror attack that claimed the lives of 26 people, most of them tourists. While trade through the integrated checkpost at the Attari-Wagah border in Amritsar district was suspended as an immediate measure, India and Pakistan have kept the Kartarpur Corridor open to allow Indian Sikh pilgrims to visit the historic gurdwara, 4.5km from Dera Baba Nanak town in Gurdaspur district.
A day after the terror attack, the number of pilgrims who crossed the border was 408, close to the daily average of 425. The count started declining from April 24 when 493 pilgrims were granted the official nod, but only 333 took the corridor.
The next day, the number of those granted permission was the same, but only 308 pilgrims arrived to avail the trans-border visa-free access for Indian citizens. The number fell to 208 on April 26, 239 on April 27, 133 on April 28, 223 on April 29 and 152 on April 30.
{{/usCountry}}The next day, the number of those granted permission was the same, but only 308 pilgrims arrived to avail the trans-border visa-free access for Indian citizens. The number fell to 208 on April 26, 239 on April 27, 133 on April 28, 223 on April 29 and 152 on April 30.
{{/usCountry}}Dera Baba Nanak-based Baba Sukhdeep Singh Bedi, a descendant of Guru Nanak, terms the dip in footfall natural. “It reflects the overall panic. The pilgrimage is, however, going on smoothly irrespective of the tension. The corridor has its own protocols, according to the bilateral agreement, and is being followed by both the countries.”
{{/usCountry}}Dera Baba Nanak-based Baba Sukhdeep Singh Bedi, a descendant of Guru Nanak, terms the dip in footfall natural. “It reflects the overall panic. The pilgrimage is, however, going on smoothly irrespective of the tension. The corridor has its own protocols, according to the bilateral agreement, and is being followed by both the countries.”
{{/usCountry}}Encouraging pilgrims to keep the faith, Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) secretary Partap Singh says, “Sikhs should not be scared. There is nothing to worry. There are adequate security arrangements in place at the corridor on both sides of the border.”
{{/usCountry}}Encouraging pilgrims to keep the faith, Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) secretary Partap Singh says, “Sikhs should not be scared. There is nothing to worry. There are adequate security arrangements in place at the corridor on both sides of the border.”
{{/usCountry}}The corridor was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and then Pakistan PM Imran Khan on November 9, 2019, on the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak, fulfilling a long-pending demand of the Indian Sikh community to have khuley darshan-didar (opportunity to visit) of the historic gurdwara.
Under the bilateral agreement, Indian devotees have visa-free access to the shrine, which has turned out be a meeting point of people from Indian and Pakistan Punjab after they were divided by the Partition of 1947. The corridor is open from dawn to dusk and pilgrims have to return the same day. Last year, both countries renewed the agreement for five more years.
Initially, the corridor was operational for four months before the governments of both countries closed it in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. It was reopened on November 17, 2021, and has since been hailed globally as the corridor of peace and faith between the two countries.
