Kartarpur corridor: Indore MP raises issues of service fee, passport in LS

Tribune News Service
New Delhi, November 20

BJP’s Indore MP Shankar Lalwani on Wednesday urged his party-led Central government to work to waive passport requirement and service fee for pilgrims visiting Kartarpur Sahib in Pakistan. 

Raising the issue in the Zero Hour in the Lok Sabha, Lalwani said people of the country, especially from Sikh and Sindhi communities, were thankful to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the opening the Kartarpur corridor.

He urged the government to take up the issue of waiving service fee for pilgrims visiting the shrine saying that Pakistanis visiting Sufi shrine in Ajmer are not required to pay anything extra. “Similarly those who go there (Kartarpur Sahib) to pay obeisance should not be charged,” Lalwani said. Congress members from Punjab were seen raising hand in endorsement of the Indore MP’s plea.

Lack of awareness about the online registration process, requirement of passport and service fees being charged by Pakistan are said to reasons for the low turnout at the Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib. It also seems that apprehension about difficulty in getting a visa to the US or other countries after visiting Pakistan is also a reason why the devotees, particularly the youth, are not turning up in large numbers. 

Meanwhile, AIMIM’s Imtiyaz Jaleel sought construction of an express highway between Aurangabad and Shirdi, the home of revered Sai Baba, saying the current highway is in a very bad shape.