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M.S.Gill the Manly
MP Reiterates his demand for Corridor
Sometimes Back we had
conducted a study of performance of members of Parliament in the house.
The results were disgusting especially for Punjabis. The performance of
Punjabi MPs was found to be lowest. They would seldom rise to the occasion
and take up the Punjab issues. Through the studies it was found that one
MP Sardar Tarlochan Singh Tur had the dubious distinction of having
remained silent for full 10 years. The results were very clear that the
Punjab sent only sycophant type of candidates only, whose only
qualification was their faithful to the concerned leaders of the Party.
But Sardar Manohar
Singh Gill the ex-Chief Election Commissioner of INdia seems to be an
exception. We don't much about his performance in the house but it is
pretty certain that he takes up issues of the masses. We have found at
least 4-5 times that he took up issue of Kartarpur Corridor. In a recently
written letter to Foreign Minister he says Kartarpur is my Mecca, my Rome.
Here is the news :-
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2008/20080701/nation.htm#8
Govt may
open route to Kartarpur shrine in Pak
Aditi Tandon
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, June 30
The Government of India is seriously considering opening the pilgrimage
route to Kartarpur shrine in Pakistan. Sikhs settled in India have long
been seeking visa-free visit to the shrine, located on the banks of the
Ravi, right across Dera Baba Nanak town in Gurdaspur.
In a letter to minister
of state (independent charge) of youth affairs and sports M.S. Gill,
external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee has conveyed the government’s
sentiment on the issue close to Sikh hearts.
The letter was written in
response to Gill’s earlier communication to Mukherjee in this regard,
wherein, he sought opening of the pilgrimage route to Kartarpur at the
earliest. Gill, in his communication, also made a reference to the
government’s budgetary support to Muslim pilgrims visiting Mecca and
Medina.
Speaking to The Tribune
today in the wake of Mukherjee’s recent visit to Pakistan and Kartarpur,
Gill said, “The external affairs minister has said that India would
seriously pursue the matter with Pakistan. But I would like to ask the
Pakistan government to make a formal proposal to India in this regard.”
During the NDA regime,
Pakistan had made an offer of considering visa-free visit for Sikhs to
Kartarpur. The current Pakistan government has again made such an offer.
Prime Minister of Pakistan Yousuf Raza Gilani and Pakistan minister for
religious affairs recently said they had no objection to visa-free travel
of Sikh pilgrims to Kartarpur, situated in Narowal in Pakistan.
“This offer must be
formalised considering India’s recent commitment to honour the Sikh
sentiment with respect to Kartarpur Sahib,” said Gill, who has long been
hammering the issue in Parliament where he stated, “Kartarpur is my
Mecca, my Rome, my Jerusalem.”
Kartarpur is of immense
significance to Sikhs, as it was here that Guru Nanak spent the fag end of
his life, consolidating and preaching the Sikh faith. The town is just
about 1.5 km away from Dera Baba Nanak in Gurdaspur on the Indian side.
The river separates the two towns. Sikhs
visiting Gurdaspur can, at best, bow before Kartarpur Sahib from a
distance.
“This is not fair considering
Kartarpur’s significance to Sikhs. The route needs to be opened at the
earliest. Having an agreement that in dry season, allows movement of
pilgrims across the bridge over the Ravi channel can do this. The bridge
can have barbed wires to take care of the security aspect,” Gill said.
He had earlier conveyed these feelings to
Mukherjee in an official communication, copies of which he sent to Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi.
B.S.Goraya
Editor/Moderator:-
Punjab Monitor Magazine
www.punjabmonitor.com
www.kartarpur.com
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/kartarpur/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/inderpreet2000/
Servant:-
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