Passport norm, hefty service charge keep pilgrims off Kartarpur shrine

Ravi Dhaliwal

Tribune News Service

Dera Baba Nanak, February 9

If numbers are any indication, the Kartarpur corridor, a 4.6-km passage connecting Dera Baba Nanak with the Kartarpur shrine in Pakistan, is not catching the fancy of devotees. Every day, only 500 pilgrims visit the shrine against the intended target of 5,000.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had inaugurated the corridor on November 9 last year. Two days later, only 122 pilgrims crossed over. This figure remains the lowest so far. The highest figure has been 1,744. That was on December 1.

Officers manning the integrated check post (ICP) claim there are three major reasons for people staying away: one, the mandatory requirement of a passport; two, a service fee of US $20 (Rs1,500); and three, security checks that devotees are made to go through.

An immigration official said, “A majority of people do not have a passport. And those who have cannot afford the service fee. This is not all. Every single devotee, who arrives at the ICP, goes through security check by six agencies — the Punjab Police CID, counter-intelligence, BSF, Army, Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) and Intelligence Bureau.”

Good Samaritans such as Dubai-based businessman Surinder Pal Singh Oberoi have done their best to infuse life into the project, but to no avail. His charitable organisation — Sarbat Da Bhalla Trust — has opened offices in all districts of the state to help people register themselves online and pay the service fee. But even his efforts have failed to pay off.

“I have not lost hope. If the requirement of passport is done away with, the number of pilgrims visiting the shrine will increase,” he said.

The youth have another concern. They fear denial of visa by other countries if they visit the Kartarpur shrine, as they say other countries view a visit to Pakistan with suspicion. “The phobia of visiting Pakistan is misplaced, but the youth are adamant on not visiting the shrine as they fear denial of study visa,” an ICP official said.

Cabinet Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, who played a significant role in the project by facilitating the land acquisition process, said CM Capt Amarinder Singh had urged the Centre to ease the passport norm.