ISLAMABAD: The foundation stone laying ceremony of Kartarpur Sahib Corridor at Dera Baba Nanak Sahib in Indian Punjab district Gurdaspur on Monday was marred by contentious statements, tug of war between ministers representing State and Union governments as BJP-designated Vice President Venkaiah Naidu performed the ceremony in tense atmosphere.
Indian Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, who is a former captain of Indian Army, delivered a highly obnoxious speech against Pakistan and its military leadership. Amarinder Singh was posted at Khem Karan sector on Indian side in the 1971 Pakistan-India war where Indian troops suffered heavy causalities.
According to media reports, the first controversy erupted with a Congress minister objecting to the names of former Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal and his son Sukhbir Singh Badal, belonging to Akali-BJP alliance opposition in Indian Punjab, engraved on the foundation stone to be laid for the Kartarpur Sahib corridor.
Punjab’s Jails Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa was reviewing the arrangements made for the function when he spotted the names of the Badals on the foundation stone. A furious Randhawa then enquired about it with the officials concerned. “I asked them (authorities concerned) about the status of former CM Parkash Singh Badal and former Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal in the government. “If they want to write their names, the name of Rajinder Kaur Bhattal (Congress leader and former CM) and others should also be there,” Randhawa said.
He accused the Badals of never visiting the Dera Baba Nanak for "the opening of the corridor" when they were in power. It's not a function of the BJP or the Akalis, he said. The local MLA said: "It is not a political function. It is a government function, and I told them their (Badals) names should not be there."
“My name should not be with the Badals' on the foundation stone," he said, and then went on to pasting a black tape on his name and that of Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh, State Minister Vijay Inder Singla and Gurdaspur Member Parliament Sunil Jakhar. "This is not a war for taking credit. Nobody's name should have been there. 'The Guru Ka Marg (Road of Guru) dedicated by Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu should have been mentioned instead,” said Randhawa. After the protest by the Punjab minister, the particular foundation stone was removed.
The Kartarpur Sahib corridor will facilitate easy passage to Sikh pilgrims to the historic Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur in Pakistan. Kartarpur is located in Shakargarh in the Narowal district of Pakistan's Punjab. Guru Nanak Dev, the founder of Sikhism, had spent more than 18 years of his life there. The Kartarpur Sahib Gurdwara is located about three-four kms from the border in Pakistan.
Prime Minister Imran Khan will inaugurate the Kartarpur Corridor on the Pakistani side tomorrow (November 28). Later, Indian Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh in his speech, disregarding international norms by hurling allegations against Pakistan Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa, said that he was violating ceasefire and vitiating the atmosphere in India. "I am warning you (Pakistan Army Chief Qamar Bajwa). We are also Punjabis, you will not be allowed to enter here and vitiate the atmosphere," the Punjab CM said. Questioning the Pakistan Army Chief as a military man, former captain Singh referred to the act of violating ceasefire as cowardly. "Which army teaches to violate ceasefire and kill jawans on the other side? Which army teaches to send people to attack Pathankot and Amritsar? This is cowardness," he said while speaking at the ground laying ceremony of Kartapur Corridor on Monday.
Amarinder Singh had on Sunday rejected Pakistan's invitation to attend the foundation ceremony of the Kartarpur Corridor on November 28 on their soil. Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi had extended an invite to him to visit Pakistan. Indian cricketer turned politician and minister in Indian Punjab Naujat Singh Sidhu accepted the invite and is awaiting a nod from the Indian External Affairs Ministry to travel to Pakistan. This will be Sidhu's second visit to Pakistan this year after he attended the oath ceremony of Prime Minister Imran Khan in August.
