Full Breakdown
Punjab Assembly Urges Immediate Reopening of the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor
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In this breakdown
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Core Event: Legislative Push to Restore Pilgrimage Access
On Tuesday, the Punjab Vidhan Sabha passed a unanimous resolution demanding that the Union government reopen the Sri Kartarpur Sahib Corridor. The resolution, moved by Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains, calls for the immediate resumption of pilgrim movement between Dera Baba Nanak in India’s Gurdaspur district and Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur, Pakistan. Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann reiterated the demand in the assembly, emphasizing that the corridor is a matter of faith rather than politics.
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Background & Context
The corridor, inaugurated on November 9, 2019, was created under an agreement signed on October 24, 2019, to allow visa-free, day-long visits for Indian pilgrims of all faiths to the shrine where Guru Nanak Dev spent the final 18 years of his life. It had operated continuously until May 7, 2025, when it was suspended following the Pahalgam terror attack and subsequent pre-dawn missile strikes by the Indian armed forces on nine terror targets in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir under Operation Sindoor. The Union government has cited the prevailing security situation as the reason for maintaining the suspension.
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Data & Statistics
- May 7, 2025 – Corridor closed after the Pahalgam attack and related missile strikes.
- October 24, 2019 – Bilateral agreement signed to operationalise the corridor.
- November 9, 2019 – Formal inauguration of the corridor.
- The corridor had previously been halted only once, from March 2020 to November 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Official Statements & Responses
- In Parliament, the Centre acknowledged receiving representations from Sikh religious organisations seeking reopening but maintained that security concerns preclude resumption.
- Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann stated that “the corridor should be opened. It is not merely a route between India and Pakistan but a matter of faith for Sikhs.”
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Verbatim Quotes
- “Sri Kartarpur Sahib is the cradle of the principles of Kirat Karo, Naam Japo te Vand Chhako. The corridor is not just a passage, it is a bridge that reconnects the Sikh Sangat with the soil where our Guru Sahib walked.” — Minister Harjot Singh Bains, punjab education minister
- “The corridor should be opened. It is not merely a route between India and Pakistan but a matter of faith for Sikhs,” — Mann. The
- “Sri Kartarpur Sahib is… a bridge that reconnects the Sikh Sangat with the soil where our Guru Sahib walked” — Harjot Singh Bains, punjab education minister
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Why It Matters
Reopening the corridor would restore a symbolic link of shared religious heritage for millions of Sikhs worldwide, allowing unobstructed access to a site central to Sikh identity. The demand underscores broader concerns about how geopolitical tensions affect religious freedom and people-to-people connectivity across the India-Pakistan border.