Religion for PeaceWorld for Peace

The Sikh Temple could create a bridge between India and Pakistan

Govind Singh said, “Sikhs all over the world are full of happiness. We pray that the bridge to Kartarpur will bring them all here.”

The Sikh Temple could create a bridge between India and PakistanK

ARTARPUR, Pakistan — A graceful white-domed Sikh temple rises above a placid stretch of rice paddies and wheat fields in the southern province of Punjab. It is a holy site to adherents of the Sikh faith, 21 million of whom live in neighbouring India, where Guru Nanak Devji, a founder of Sikhism, spent the last decade of his life and passed away, almost 550 years ago.

However, the site has remained either closed or mostly empty for the past 70 years — captive of the historical enmity stemming from Partition, the process that violently sundered India in 1947 and created Pakistan as a Muslim home country.

The Sikh temple sits only 3 miles from the Indian border, but the psychological gap is far greater. This border is one of the tensest, most militarized borders in the world, with thousands of troops guarding the razor-wire fences on both sides. The countries have fought two wars, and shootings often erupt across the “control line” which divides Kashmir’s disputed Himalayan territory.

Indian Sikh pilgrims who wish to visit the temple on special occasions, such as anniversaries of the death of Guru Nanak, must obtain Pakistani visas, walk across the only official border opening, 75 miles away, and travel by bus for two hours to reach the isolated temple. Others find it easier on their side of the border to visit a designated location where they can see the Sikh temple through binoculars.

But now the Pakistani government has announced plans to open a border crossing directly across the Sikh temple, and to construct a connecting road which it expects to open in November 2019. It is a small but high-profile move that officials say they hope would help improve relations with Pakistan’s Hindu-led, nuclear-armed opponent.

The proposal arose from a discussion at the inauguration of Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan in August between Pakistan’s army chief, Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa, and an Indian Sikh politician and former cricket star, Navjot Singh Sidhu. On November 28, both officials joined Khan at a groundbreaking ceremony outside the Sikh temple, along with foreign ambassadors and Indian journalists. Khan made an emotional plea for rapprochement, telling the crowd that Pakistan’s government, army, and political parties “are all on one page. We want to move forward. “The Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a strong Hindu nationalist, reciprocated in response.” Anyone ever felt the Berlin Wall was going to fall? “Maybe with the blessings of Guru Nanak Devji this corridor will serve as a bridge between the peoples of the two countries,” Modi said in a statement. “But years of deep animosity soon intruded upon a moment of hope. India’s foreign minister refused to attend the ceremony, citing ‘previous obligations’ and sending out two lower-ranking Sikhs. India’s Hindu and Sikh religions have common roots, but Sikhs believe in one single deity, while Hindus worship a number of gods.

Pakistan’s foreign minister had accused India of playing the issue with politics. In 1947 Modi disappointed the Indian opposition Congress party for “letting go of Kartarpur” and cutting off India’s temple. Khan complained that the Indian news media had disparaged his gesture as a stunt.

Despite the high-level wrangling, many Pakistanis voiced strong support for the opening of the border, saying they hoped it would ease the long-standing tensions that kept two neighbouring armies on alert and the specter of nuclear war hanging over the region.

Particularly excited were members of Pakistan’s small Sikh community, numbering several million before Partition but dwindling to around 30.000. Many said at least once a year they visited the Sikh temple, explaining that it holds a strong place in their emotions and beliefs.

“Which brings me into a different world. There, I sense a peace like nowhere else, “said Sarbir Singh, 41, who owns a bridal shop in a crowded bazaar in Rawalpindi. “We all want both countries to be at peace and to mingle with their people,” he said. “This is a first step, and it will lead to more, if God wills.”

The lane to the Kartarpur Sikh temple, off a bumpy farm road, is marked with an English, Urdu, and Hindi Sanskrit sign. The grounds are surrounded by sugar cane fields, and the border is just across the horizon, with bulldozers at work building the new road. On Wednesday, a small stream of visitors arrived to visit the site, a walled compound built in 1921. Inside are neatly tended gardens, pristine tiled pavilions, and a white carved building that contains vividly decorated chambers for prayer and reading from the holy book of Sikhism, the Guru Granth Sahib.

Most of the tourists were Muslim Pakistanis, some of whom said they came partly out of curiosity and partly to pay their respects. Saima Afzal, 34, pulled her children and other relatives out of Lahore in a minivan.

“Since childhood we have learned of this guru, that he was a great thinker who cared about mankind,” said Afzal. “We are Muslims but we love him. We want to see more trade and communication with India, because when people meet, they begin to know each other.

The temple is run by a Sikh from Pakistan, Govind Singh. He has lived in the temple compound since 2000, a source of knowledge on Sikh history, when the site was reopened after being closed since 1947.

Singh said that the Sikh religion had been respected by all previous Pakistani governments, and that Pakistanis had never shown Sikhs the ill-will that historically marred their relationship with Hindus. Yet even since the reopening of the Sikh temple, he said, only about 15,000 Sikhs have managed to come from abroad a year, including about 4,000 from India, because it was too difficult to enter the site.

Now, Singh said, “Glad are the Sikhs all over the country. We pray that the Kartarpur bridge will bring all of them here.’

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