Devotees pay obeisance at Golden Temple on Gurpurb of Guru Nanak

On the occasion of 556th Gurpurab of Guru Nanak Dev, a sea of devotees, including CM Bhagwant Mann along with his family, paid obeisance at the Golden Temple today.

Demanding re-opening of the Kartarpur Corridor, which leads to the shrine in Pakistan where the founder of the Sikhism lived a long part of his life, he said when the Union Government does not have any reservation at playing cricket matches with Pakistan, then the corridor should never be closed.

He urged that keeping in view the sentiments of the devotees, the Union Home Ministry should immediately initiate the process of reopening the corridor so that they can have darshan of the sacred site sanctified by the footsteps of Guru Nanak Dev.

He added that devotees from India could return within just four hours after visiting Kartarpur shrine. There seems no logical reason to keep the corridor closed, adding that since a jatha of Sikh devotees has already travelled to Pakistan, there should be no delay in reopening the Kartarpur Corridor.

The Chief Minister prayed for the development of the state, peace and tranquility of its residents and ‘Sarbat Da Bhalla’.

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He refused to comment on Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring’s allegedly “casteist remarks” made against former Union Home Minister Buta Singh during an election rally in Tarn Taran on November 11. Meanwhile, the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC), on Tuesday, issued a notice to the Tarn Taran deputy commissioner and SSP to submit the action taken report within seven days of the receipt of the notice.

Elaborating about his government’s efforts to provide amenities to devotees visiting the Sikh shrine, he said planning was to modernise the parking facilities and clean roads.

“Endorsing the statement of the Punjab CM to open the Kartarpur Corridor, Gurpreet Singh of the Kendri Sri Guru Singh Sabha said alongside the Integrated Check Post (ICP) at Attari and Joint Check Posts (JCP) at Hussainiwala and Sadiqqi must also be opened to facilitate trade of the North Indian States using the road route to CIS countries and Eurasia. This would help in ensuring peace in the region as also achieve the goal of trade of 100 billion USD the Government has set for 2030.”

Amidst continuous flow of divine Gurbani, devotees, who arrived from across the country and around the world, were making a beeline to pay obeisance at the holiest Sikh shrine — Golden Temple — since the wee hours.

On the occasion, a “Jalau” (show of splendour), displaying rare and precious articles, artifacts, was held at the sanctum sanctorum, Akal Takht, and Gurdwara Baba Attal Rai, all situated inside the Golden Temple complex.

Harmandar Sahib and other shrines were tastefully decorated and illuminated with lights. Religious societies, faithfuls and various organisations held langars and distributed food among the devotees. A religious diwan was organised at Diwan Hall Gurdwara Manji Sahib.