Kartarpur Gurdwara management organises Basant festival to attract Indian pilgrims

Chandigarh: To give impetus to the Pilgrimage at Kartapur Sahib, the Pakistan government has taken various measures to motivate the devotees from India to visit Gurdwara Darbar Sahib, Kartpaur Corridor, in large number even as the Project Management Unit (PMU), an exclusive department created under Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) for the management of Kartarpur Corridor is striving hard given the sinking economy of Pakistan.

Since the reopening of the Kartrpaur Corridor, the average number of devotees visiting from India was around 200 per day. While talking to Zee News, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), PMU, Muhammad Latif informed that they had made arrangements to facilitate 5000 pilgrims a day.

“We have over one thousand staff for the management of Gurdwara Darbar Sahib and the corridor which incurs expenses of anything between Rs 5 to 6 crore per month and our capacity is being highly under utilized,” said Latif.

Sikh’s first spiritual master Guru Nanak Dev had spent nearly the last 18 years of his life tiling his fields at Kartapur Sahib.

The Gurdwara Dabar Sahib is situated 4.7 km inside Pakistan territory from the Integrated Check Post (ICP), Dera Baba Nanak, Punjab (India). Both India and Pakistan had constructed the Kartarpur Corridor enabling Indian devotees to reach Gurdwara Darbar Sahib, Kartrapur, for a day-long pilgrimage. 

The Kartapur Corridor was inaugurated on November 9, 2019. However, following the coronavirus pandemic, the Kartapur Corridor was temporarily closed for the pilgrims on March 16, 2020, to check the spread of the virus.

On November 2, 2020, the Pakistan government unilaterally decided to open the Kartapur Corridor, however, the Indian side didn’t reciprocate the gesture given the prevalent Covid 19 situation.

In the recent past on November 17, 2021, the Indian government decided to open the Kartapur Corridor which resumed the day-long pilgrimage to Pakistan.

Latif informed that to attract the devotees from India  PMU had decided to celebrate the festival of Basant which is known as ‘Jashan-e-Baharan’ (Basant ) in Pakistan and was celebrated with much traditional fervor. He informed that they would arrange for kites and traditional thread used for kite flying by the devotees in the corridor. 

Besides paying obeisance at Gurdwara Darbar Sahib, the festival would provide the Indian devotees to experience the Jashan-e-Baharan festival which was jointly celebrated before 1947.

In yet another significant decision taken by PMU, Muhammad Latif informed that they had begun cultivating Baba Nanak’s fields to grow vegetablesand other farm produce for the langar and the visiting devotees. For now, he said, they had planted seasonal vegetables which would be a constant feature for the langar.

PMU had earmarked 64acres of land for the cultivation of organic vegetables, rice, wheat, etc. He informed that a dedicated fruit garden would also be grown.

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