Cap­tur­ing true spirit of the Kar­tarpur cor­ri­dor, WSN says it is time to forge ahead, notwith­stand­ing the ra­bid rant­ing by vested in­ter­ests.

The Sikh prayers of 70 years have been an­swered.  With ha­tred all around, es­pe­cially over bor­ders and move­ment of peo­ple, the news of the open­ing of a cor­ri­dor be­tween two nu­clear power coun­tries -In­dia and Pak­istan, comes as a sigh of re­lief and serves as a re­mark­able ex­am­ple of what a tiny Sikh na­tion has en­abled these coun­tries to do.

The com­mend­able ini­tia­tive by the Pak­istan Gov­ern­ment to open a visa-free cor­ri­dor to Gur­d­wara Dar­bar Sahib Kar­tarpur from Gur­d­wara Sahib Dera Baba Nanak and other con­nected steps like is­su­ing spe­cial com­mem­o­ra­tive coin on Guru Nanak Sahib, be­tween the two sep­a­rated parts of Pan­jaab, is a mo­men­tous sign of big­ger and bet­ter things that can come for the Pan­jaabi and the wider In­dian and Pak­istani pop­u­la­tions, locked and straight-jack­eted within the cur­rent ar­ti­fi­cial ter­ri­to­r­ial bound­aries of South Asia.

It is pos­i­tively com­mend­able that the Pak­istan PM Im­ran Khan and the Pak­istan Army Chief, Gen­eral Qa­mar Javed Ba­jwa -him­self a Pan­jaabi, have com­bined their vi­sion­ary and proac­tive lead­er­ship to make this unique de­vel­op­ment hap­pen.

All too of­ten, Pak­istan is sub­ject to a tirade of scur­rilous hate pro­pa­ganda by the In­dian gov­ern­ment, In­dian politi­cians and the ever-com­pli­ant In­dian me­dia. This is a spe­cial hate-mon­ger­ing that the In­dian side take great plea­sure in, and ex­cel in; mo­ronic, ir­ra­tional and ob­ses­sive hate ma­nia. Sadly, de­spite the sanc­tity and over­whelm­ing sym­bol­ism of the Kar­tarpur cor­ri­dor, even this time, this vi­cious the ma­nia is un­sup­pressed.

Blam­ing and taunt­ing Pak­istan is a favourite de­flec­tion for the In­dian es­tab­lish­ment, to hide its grave fail­ures in gov­er­nance, law and or­der, pub­lic health, hu­man rights and more. Blame every­thing on the per­ceived en­emy, and whip up fren­zied ha­tred amongst its own des­per­ate, de­prived and dis­ad­van­taged masses.

Im­ran Khan’s pro­found and deep-felt speech at the re­cent of­fi­cial ini­ti­a­tion event of this cor­ri­dor, fo­cused on trans­form­ing at­ti­tudes from hate to co-op­er­a­tion and con­flict to col­lab­o­ra­tion across both In­dia and Pak­istan. His speech is highly note­wor­thy in both tone and con­tent, pro­vid­ing a re­fresh­ing con­trast to the ra­bid and taunt­ing out­bursts of the In­dian For­eign Min­is­ter Sushma Swaraj, In­dian army chief Bipin Rawat and In­dian Pun­jab Chief Min­is­ter Cap­tain Amarinder Singh.

For the record, the Kar­tarpur cor­ri­dor is in the works for decades. In­dian diplo­mats and lead­ers have taken ini­tia­tives and back­tracked. Their Pak­istani coun­ter­parts have taken the ini­tia­tive on many an oc­ca­sion but awaited re­sponse from the In­dian side. To Naren­dra Mod­i’s credit, it may be said that his com­par­i­son of the open­ing of the Kar­tarpur cor­ri­dor with the dis­man­tling of the Berlin wall in Ger­many was def­i­nitely praise­wor­thy; but, un­for­tu­nately, en­gulfed in the im­me­di­ate neg­a­tive hype cre­ated by his min­is­ters, the In­dian army chief and a xeno­pho­bic In­dian me­dia.

The com­ing of the Kar­tarpur Sahib cor­ri­dor rep­re­sents more than just a one-off de­vel­op­ment. It is the start and spring­board to much greater things for Pan­jaab and its peo­ple, and the wider South Asian con­ti­nent.

The un­prece­dented and coura­geous ini­tia­tive shown by the cur­rent Pak­istan gov­ern­ment and the fol­low up In­dian col­lab­o­ra­tion, how­so­ever be­lated, is truly com­mend­able, and out­shines and out­strips the mo­ronic mon­ger­ing of the no­to­ri­ous and in­fa­mous Capt Amarinder Singh and his friends in Dheli and across the power grab In­dian es­tab­lish­ment.  

This ini­tia­tive is more im­por­tantly about peo­ple, his­tory, unity and so­cial co­he­sion. It is about re­con­nect­ing what is rooted and in­grained in the Pan­jaabi mind and spirit. It opens a spring of ex­cite­ment, and hope of what more could and should fol­low. It is a rad­i­cal and coura­geous step for­ward, which needs to be du­pli­cated in other con­struc­tive and tan­gi­ble ways.

The Kar­tarpur cor­ri­dor ini­tia­tive is a truly pos­i­tive ini­tia­tive for all Pan­jaabis, across both sides of the ar­ti­fi­cial bound­ary. The his­toric an­niver­sary of the in­dige­nous Guru of Pan­jaab, pro­vides the state­less, par­ti­tioned Pan­jaabi peo­ple an ex­pres­sion to their in­trin­sic Pan­jaabi spirit; so con­nected, in­spired and in­formed by Guru Nanak over ten lives.