Abstract
The 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak and the construction of the Kartarpur Corridor has helped the Darbar Sahib at Kartarpur in Pakistan gain global attention. In 2019, thousands of Sikhs embarked on a pilgrimage to Pakistan to take part in this momentous occasion. However, conversations surrounding modern renovations, government control of sacred sites, and the global implications of the corridor have been missing in the larger dialogue. Using historical methods and examining the Darbar Sahib through the context of the 1947 partition and the recent construction of the Kartarpur Corridor, this paper departs from the metanarrative surrounding the Darbar Sahib and explores the impact that Sikhs across the globe had on the “bridge of peace”, the politics behind the corridor, and how access to sacred Sikh spaces in Pakistan was only partially regained.
Highlights
In November 2018, the decision of the governments of Pakistan and India to open the KartarpurCorridor across the river Ravi—linking Dera Baba Nanak Sahib and Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur—marked the possible beginning of a new era of cooperation and a symbolic movement in the shared cultural history of the Punjab
With the tension between the bordering countries and their inability to visit the Darbar Sahib, Sikhs in India resorted to desperate measures to gain “darshan” of the politicized historical site: The gurdwara can today be seen through binoculars from across the Indian side of the international border, even though the tall elephant grass on the banks of Ravi sometimes blocks the view
Since the partition in 1947, generations of Sikhs across the globe have been praying for open access to historical sites in Pakistan
Summary
In November 2018, the decision of the governments of Pakistan and India to open the Kartarpur. While the Protocol on Visits to Religious Shrines of 1974 was a minor success for the global Sikh community and gaining access to historical sites in Pakistan, India refused to communicate with Pakistan in regard to Darbar Sahib over the few decades with the development of transnational Sikh political aspirations and the rise of the Khalistan movement. With the tension between the bordering countries and their inability to visit the Darbar Sahib, Sikhs in India resorted to desperate measures to gain “darshan” (glimpse) of the politicized historical site: The gurdwara can today be seen through binoculars from across the Indian side of the international border, even though the tall elephant grass on the banks of Ravi sometimes blocks the view. The 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak was another milestone in Sikh history as the global Sikh community had the opportunity to visit the birthplace of the Sikh community
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