Kartarpur pilgrims to declare they won’t harm India interests

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, November 13

With intelligence inputs suggesting that terror elements are active in Narowal district of Pakistan, where Kartarpur Sahib Gurdwara is situated, the Centre is contemplating inserting a column in application form for pilgrims to declare that their visit through the newly built corridor “will not be detrimental to India’s sovereignty”.

Sources said the column would be inserted in the form, which the pilgrims have to fill before applying for permission to visit Kartarpur Gurdwara through the corridor. 

“Concerns have been raised by security and intelligence agencies that elements in Pakistan may try to misuse the corridor by propagating anti-India narrative among visiting pilgrims,” said a senior official.

A few days ahead of the inauguration of Kartarpur corridor on November 9, intelligence agencies had alerted that “jihadi elements” were spotted hiding on the other side of border, which was very close to the Dera Baba Nanak shrine on the Indian side.

Talking to The Tribune, Border Security Force (BSF) personnel patrolling the border near Dera Baba Nanak said they had stepped up vigil with additional deployment.

In its report to the Ministry of Home Affairs, intelligence agencies had alerted that places like Muridke, Shakurgarh and Narowal, which are very close to Kartarpur Sahib Gurdwara, had become latest hotspots for terror camps.

The corridor, which connects Dera Baba Nanak Sahib in Gurdaspur district of Punjab with Kartarpur Sahib Gurdwara in Narowal district of Pakistan’s Punjab, became operational for Indian pilgrims after Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated it on November 9.