Seeking the reopening of the Kartarpur Sahib corridor and permission for Sikh jathas to visit Nankana Sahib, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann today said if the Centre could allow a cricket match between India and Pakistan during the Asia Cup, why could Punjabis not visit their shrines in Pakistan?
Mann said he would write to the Centre on the issue soon. This is the second time in the past two days that Mann has spoken against the Indo-Pak match. On Saturday, Mann had questioned the holding of the match, saying if a film of Diljit Dosanjh was banned in the wake of the Pahalgam attack and the actor was called a traitor, how could the match be justified?
“If you can allow a cricket match between India and Pakistan during the Asia Cup, why should Punjabis’ devotion towards their shrines in Pakistan be ignored? Either you allow all kinds of relationships with Pakistan, or you do not allow anything. You can’t have cricket relations with Pakistan, because the ICC is headed by ‘Bade sahib ke laadle’, but tell the Sikhs that they can’t go to Pakistan because of deteriorating relations between the two countries,” said Mann, adding that the reverence that Punjabis hold for the places of worship of Guru Nanak Dev in Pakistan should not be ignored.
The voices against the denial of permission to Sikh jathas to travel to Pakistan and the demand for the reopening of the Kartarpur Sahib corridor are getting louder, with many organisations condemning the move. Today Anandpur Sahib MP Malvinder Singh Kang also raised the issue, saying he condemned the decision taken by the Centre to stop Sikh jathas from going to Nankana Sahib for the Parkash Utsav of Guru Nanak Dev.