Waive passport norm for Kartarpur visit: Jathedar

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, February 21

Akal Takht officiating Jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh has appealed to the governments of India and Pakistan to simplify the process of ‘darshan-e-didar’ of Kartarpur Sahib by lifting the mandatory passport condition.

He also appealed to the Indian government to pave way for making an identical arrangement so that Pakistani Sikhs could pay obeisance at Gurdwara Dera Baba Nanak in Gurdaspur.

Giani Harpreet Singh was speaking at Gurdwara Janam Asthan in Nankana Sahib, the birth place of Guru Nanak. He was there leading a 12-member delegation to participate in the Saka Nankana Sahib commemoration programme on an invitation extended by the Evacuee Trust Property Board and the Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee.

In his address, he said the existing terms and conditions were tedious which resulted in depriving a vast majority of Sikhs from visiting the shrine through the Kartarpur corridor.

According to an agreement signed by India and Pakistan, passport and an electronic travel authorisation (ETA) were required to gain access through Kartarpur Sahib.

It was estimated that almost 60 per cent of the people of the state, a majority of them poor, do not possess a passport.

Giani Harpreet Singh recommended that instead of a passport, any other official identification document issued by the Indian government could be considered to validate the trip to the gurdwara, be it Aadhaar or voter card.

“There has been a scant turnout as most of the people do not have a passport. An immediate intervention of ministries on both sides of the border can find a way out by removing this condition,” he added.