Kartarpur Sahib

Kartarpur (Punjabi / Urdu: کرتار پور; pronounced [kɐɾˈt̪äɾᵊ ˈpuːɾᵊ]) is a town 102 km from Lahore in the Shakargarh Tehsil, Narowal District in Punjab, Pakistan. Located on the right bank of the Ravi River, it is said to have been founded by Guru Nanak, the first guru of Sikhism, who established the first Sikh commune there.

History :
The first guru of Sikhism, Guru Nanak, founded Kartarpur in 1504 AD on the right bank of the Ravi River with money donated by Karori, a wealthy Khatri convert.It was the site of the first Sikh commune. Guru Nanak settled there with his family. Following his death in 1539, Hindus and Muslims both said he was one of them, and raised mausoleums in his memory with a common wall between them. The changing course of the Ravi River eventually washed away the mausoleums. Guru Nanak's son saved the urn containing his ashes and reburied it on the left bank of the river, where a new habitation was formed, the Dera Baba Nanak.After Nanak's passing, the early Sikh community's headquarters was shifted from Kartarpur to the village of Khadur by his successor, Guru Angad.

At the location Guru Nanak is believed to have died, the Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib was built. It is considered to be the second holiest site for the Sikh religion.[citation needed]

During the 1947 partition of India, the region got divided across India and Pakistan. The Radcliffe Line awarded the Shakargarh tehsil on the right bank of the Ravi river, including Kartarpur, to Pakistan, and the Gurdaspur tehsil on the left bank of Ravi to India.

Kartarpur Corridor:
The Kartarpur Corridor (Punjabi: ਕਰਤਾਰਪੁਰ ਲਾਂਘਾ (Gurmukhi), کرتارپور لانگھا (Shahmukhi), romanized: kartārpur lāṅghā; Urdu: کرتارپور راہداری, romanized: kartār pūr rāhdārī) is a visa-free border crossing and religious corridor,connecting two gurdwaras (Sikh temples), Gurdwara Darbar Sahib, near Narowal in Pakistan and Gurudwara Dera Baba Nanak, Gurdaspur district, Punjab, India.The crossing allows devotees from India to visit the gurdwara in Kartarpur, Pakistan, 4.7 kilometres (2.9 miles) from the India–Pakistan border on the Pakistani side without a visa.Pakistani Sikhs are unable to use the border crossing, and cannot access Dera Baba Nanak on the Indian side without first obtaining an Indian visa or unless they work there.

The Kartarpur Corridor was first proposed in early 1999 by Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Nawaz Sharif, the Prime Ministers of India and Pakistan respectively at that time, as part of the Delhi–Lahore Bus diplomacy.

On 26 November 2018, the foundation stone was laid down on the Indian side by Prime Minister Narendra Modi; two days later, then Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan did the same for the Pakistani side. The corridor was completed for the 550th anniversary of the birth of Guru Nanak, on 12 November 2019. Khan said "Pakistan believes that the road to prosperity of region [sic] and bright future of our coming generation lies in peace", adding that "Pakistan is not only opening the border but also their hearts for the Sikh community".Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi compared the decision by the two countries to go ahead with the corridor to the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989, saying that the project could help in easing tensions between the two countries.

Previously, Sikh pilgrims from India had to travel to Lahore to get to Kartarpur, a 125 kilometres (78 miles) journey, even though people on the Indian side of the border could see Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur from the Indian side, where an elevated observation platform was constructed.

On 17 November 2021, the Kartarpur Corridor re-opened after over a year and a half of closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Both India and Pakistan have allowed citizens to visit the Gurdwara on the condition that they carry both a negative COVID-19 test and are fully vaccinated.

On 9 November 2019, Prime Minister Imran Khan inaugurated the opening of a cross-border Kartarpur Corridor allowing Indian Sikhs to visit Pakistan without a visa. On the same day, the first Jatha (batch) of over 500 Indian pilgrims visited the shrine thanking Prime Minister Khan for "respecting the sentiments of India" towards the shrine across the border that marks the final resting place of #Sikhism founder Guru Nanak Dev.

Under the leadership of Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh, the first Jatha traveled through the corridor into Pakistan to pay obeisance at Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur which included former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The delegation also included ex-PM's wife, Gursharan Kaur, Chief Minister of Punjab, Captain Amarinder Singh, Navjot Singh Sidhu, Sunny Deol, and 150 Indian parliamentarians.

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