Ahead of the Kartarpur corridor inauguration, Shiromani Akali Dal leader Sukhbir Singh Badal urged Pakistan to scrap its order of levying 20 USD fee per pilgrimage for the shrine visit. The leader further requested the Imran Khan not to make it a source of income.
Request Pakistan PM Imran Khan not to make it a source of income: Sukhbir Badal on charging fee from pilgrims visiting Kartarpur Sahib
Read @ANI Story | https://t.co/FXdUiSfdDY pic.twitter.com/nfU8GaYEOo
— ANI Digital (@ani_digital) October 31, 2019
As quoted by ANI, Sukhbir Singh Badal said, “The fee is very high. I request the Prime Minister of Pakistan not to make this a source of income, it is a pilgrimage. Let this be a pilgrimage“.
The inaugural ceremony of the Kartarpur corridor is scheduled for November 9. Previously also, India had expressed its dissatisfaction with the clause of pilgrimage fee. It argued that the fee would hurt the “religious and spiritual sentiments” of the pilgrims. However, Pakistan continued to include this in the agreement on modalities for operationalizing Kartarpur Sahib.
Earlier, Harsimrat Kaur Badal had also expressed her disappointment over the proposal of the pilgrimage fee. The matter has also caused logistic delays as previously due to this only, the process of online registration of devotees could not be initiated.
The $20 fee each charged by Pak for #KartarpurSahib darshan is atrocious. How will a poor devotee pay this amount? Pakistan has made a business out of faith. @ImranKhanPTI's statement that this fee will boost Pak's economy & result in earning foreign exchange is highly shameful. pic.twitter.com/a0sidEDIPZ
— Harsimrat Kaur Badal (@HarsimratBadal_) October 20, 2019
It has also been decided the Indian delegation will be led by the former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Congress has submitted names to the Punjab government which also includes the name of Jyoraditya Scindia, RPN Singh, Asha Kumari, Deepender Hooda, and Jitin Prasad, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh and party’s national spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala.
Details of Project-
Kartarpur Corridor is an ambitious cross-border corridor project between the neighboring nations of India and Pakistan, connecting the Sikh shrines of Dera Baba Nanak Sahib and Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur. The project’s vital point is Zero point. Zero-point is the point at which the Kartarpur corridor converges from both the nations.
It was first proposed in early 1999 Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Nawaz Sharif, as a part of the Delhi–Lahore Bus diplomacy.