PM Modi to inaugurate Kartarpur ICP on Nov 8, attend SGPC event to mark Nanak Jayanti

“What could not have been made possible for 72 years under the Congress rule, PM Modi has corrected that wrong now,” she added.

The Kartarpur Corridor will connect Dera Baba Nanak shrine in Gurdaspur district of Punjab with Darbar Sahib in Pakistan’s Kartarpur. It will facilitate visa-free movement of Indian pilgrims who will have to just obtain a permit to visit Darbar Sahib, established in 1522 by Guru Nanak Dev.

Punjab is celebrating the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism.

Campaigning for Shiromani Akali Dal candidate Manpreet Singh Ayali, who is contesting bypoll to Dakha Assembly constituency, Harsimrat said Modi will also attend the religious programme being organised by the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) to mark the 550th birth anniversary celebrations of Guru Nanak Dev.

She further said Union Home Minister Amit Shah was scheduled to attend the SGPC function on November 11 while President Ram Nath Kovind will preside over the main function on November 12 at Sultanpur Lodhi.

Accusing Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh of “challenging the supremacy of Sri Akal Takht Sahib” by deciding to set up a parallel stage for the 550th Parkash Purab celebrations at Sultanpur Lodhi, she said, “Today, this government has gone blind in arrogance and considers itself above the Akal Takht Sahib and the SGPC. What is its compulsion (of having separate stage) that they had to stoop so low. Why Amarinder is impatient in undertaking the responsibility of the SGPC?”.

She said, “For a devout Sikh, a directive from the Akal Takht Sahib is a supreme order”. It is extremely unfortunate that the Congress government has decided to hold a parallel function despite an advisory from Akal Takht Jathedar Harpreet Singh and attempts by the SGPC to hold a joint celebration.”

“A joint coordination committee was also made for this purpose but Congress representatives of the committee did not let efforts for a joint celebration succeed. This will certainly create confusion and be considered as an act aimed at weakening the Sikh community,” she added.

The Bathinda MP’s remarks came a day after Punjab minister Charanjit Singh Channi accused the SAD of trying to stop the state government from holding the function to celebrate the holy event.

Both the Punjab government and the SGPC have been at loggerheads on the joint celebrations. The SGPC has decided to hold the main event at a stadium near Gurdwara Ber Sahib in Sultanpur Lodhi in Kapurthala district on November 12, while the state government wants to hold the function at a “tent city” coming up there. The SGPC has already awarded a Rs 8-crore contract to Delhi-based firm to set up its stage at Sultanpur Lodhi, dimming the prospects of a joint event along with the Punjab government.

Former SGPC chief Bibi Jagir Kaur, a member of the coordination committee for joint celebrations, confirming the move had asserted that the SGPC had always been holding religious functions. “Why do they (the state government) need to hold separate function?” she had asked.

Channi, a state government’s representative in the coordination panel, however, has claimed that the “state government will not interfere in the functions to be held inside gurdwaras by the SGPC and will take care of the events to be held outside their purview”.

The minister has claimed that the state government has completed making all arrangements for the celebrations.

Harsimrat, however, urged Amarinder Singh “to relent” and follow the “tradition” of CM and government functionaries always attending the religious events organised by the SGPC: “It’s our Guru’s 550th Parkash Purab. Let’s celebrate it together without any ego clash. If the CM and his ministers are really so enthusiastic about celebrations, they must first perform the duties, which the government is supposed to do, like creating infrastructure to facilitate the pilgrims, which hasn’t been done in the holy city of Sultanpur Lodhi till date,” she added.

She also slammed the state government for creating hurdles in opening of Ladhowal Mega Food Park and the AIIMS Bathinda: “These projects are getting delayed just for the want of power supply, which is to be installed by the state government”.

On a query on the supply of arms, ammunition by drones from Pakistan, she said: “Punjab is being seen as soft target as the CM has lost his grip over the law and order situation. Mafia is flourishing. When even the police in a state is not safe, how can we expect the safety of common man”.