Sidhu Writes Letters To Modi, Imran Khan 

AMRITSAR — Punjab minister Navjot Sidhu wrote a letter on Sunday to the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan, suggesting ways to further develop the Kartarpur corridor. Sidhu also urged both nation’s leaders to maintain serenity and sanctity around the gurudwara.

According to the Times of India (TOI), Sidhu suggested that the construction of concrete structure over the border, on both sides – at India’s Dera Baba Nanak and Pakistan’s Kartarpur Sahib – should not be ignored and should allow only foot movement through the corridor with exemption for only old people, sick devotes and disabled along with providing accessible amenities such as toilets.

In a letter to Pak’s Imran Khan, Sidhu wrote: “I request that the old pristine landscape and terrain of the area should not be disfigured in the name of commercialization and providing tourist comforts. Kartarpur Sahib is a sacred place and should remain so without compromising its history, architecture, and ecology. The holy land where Guru Nanak Dev spent 18 years of his life should be declared a heritage village.”

Sidhu said the new facilities for the pilgrims should not be interfered with the current aesthetics and should be eco-friendly. In his letter, Sidhu also urged both the leaders that the religious place of Sikh Guru Nanak Dev should be declared as “Heritage Villages”.

Sidhu wrote: “We can turn away from any form of shopping complexes that sell fast food or utilize plastic wares and we can welcome folk art and the music of Rabbi’s and folklorists.”

In the letter, Sidhu said, “We must plan and carefully execute waste disposal. Garbage from the use of plastic bags, bottles, styrofoam, and packaged foods has no place.”

He added: “Baba Nanak’s corridor opens the way to a sacred pilgrimage. We have a duty to devote ourselves to its future as well as its past.”

Sidhu also suggested that the land could be utilized for organic cultivation of the local food crops that must be used for Sikh pilgrims and devotees visiting the gurudwara.