In an atrocious but not entirely surprising move, Pakistan has returned to backstabbing India again. Pakistan denied access to the Ministry of External Affairs envoy to the Gurudwara at Nankana Sahib, the place where the founder of Sikhism, Guru Nanak, had taken birth.
According to media reports, the Indian High Commission was denied access to the Gurudwara Nankana Sahib. This has been confirmed by the Ministry of External Affairs, who has written in a detailed, but the critical press release,
“We have shared our grave concern that this is the third consecutive visit of the Indian Sikh pilgrims when Pakistan has prevented the Indian High Commission officials from meeting the visiting Indian nationals on the pretext of security in order to deflect attention from Pakistan’s violation of the international legal instruments and conventions like the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, 1961 and the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, 1963.”
They also added, “We have also expressed grave concern at the reports of attempts being made during the ongoing visit of the Indian pilgrims to Pakistan, to incite communal disharmony and intolerance and promote secessionist tendencies with the objective of undermining India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
……Pakistan has been reminded that such actions are not in consonance with the stated intentions of Pakistan to facilitate the visits of Indian Sikh pilgrims, especially as we commemorate the 550th Birth Anniversary of Guru Nanak Devji.”
This step taken by Pakistan comes in response to the decision of PM Modi to open the Indian side of the ‘Kartarpur corridor’ for the devout Sikh pilgrims, which has been received with applause throughout the country. Like Gurudwara Nankana Sahib, Kartarpur is also a holy place for the Sikh community, which is situated at some distance from the international border in Punjab province of Pakistan. It is the place where Guru Nanak had spent almost 18 years of his life.
Even Pakistani PM Imran Khan expressed his delight at this decision and announced that his government will open their side of the Kartarpur corridor as well. Going by this statement, it looks Pakistan doesn’t even know how to cover their tracks when it comes to backstabbing their neighbor. This is not completely unexpected from Pakistan since their entire history is replete with such embarrassing examples. But this denial is a real low even from their own standards. Is this the way they wish to hold talks with us? Is this not sheer hypocrisy?
Also, we have a few questions for our own Pakistan loving politicians, especially the likes of Navjot Singh Sidhu, who had gone all the way to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Imran Khan and had also announced that he did so for the opening of the Kartarpur corridor. After the opening of the corridor was announced, Navjot Sidhu rushed to take credit.
Now that the Pakistanis seem to be backtracking on their alleged promise, will he apologize to the nation for his foolhardy decisions? Wasn’t he making a laughing stock out of the nation with his absurd statements and his visits to Pakistan? Will Navjot Sidhu also condemn those whom he hugged for the ‘corridor cause’? A country that Navjot Sidhu declared to be much more beautiful than our own, has stopped devotees from visiting a pilgrim site on a holy occasion, then why Navjot Sidhu is not speaking now? Why has Navjot Sidhu not called up his ‘buddy’ to clear the issue or demand an apology?
By denying access to the MEA envoys under the Indian High Commission, Pakistan is destroying the remnants of what could’ve improved the relations between the two belligerent nations. Their credibility already destroyed at the international stage, such hypocrisy will not help them either and if they don’t resort to course correction, they shall be officially declared a bankrupt nation, both financially and culturally.
