Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh has been maintaining that he smells conspiracy in Pakistan’s move to open the Kartarpur corridor. Today while speaking on the Pakistan government’s official video on Kartarpur corridor which features Khalistani terrorists and anti-Indian elements including Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, the Punjab CM reiterated that Pakistan has a hidden agenda behind the opening of the corridor.
“All this is what I have been warning about since day one, that Pakistan has a hidden agenda here,” stressed the chief minister.
Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Khalistani separatist Jarnail Bhindranwale featured in Pakistan Govt’s official video on Kartarpur corridor: All this is what I have been warning about since day one, that Pakistan has a hidden agenda here. pic.twitter.com/xh5v4jsGle
— ANI (@ANI) November 6, 2019
On Monday, Pakistan’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting had released a video of the official Punjabi song welcoming Sikh pilgrims to Kartarpur Sahib Gurdwara in Pakistan through the Kartarpur Corridor, which displays posters of Khalistani separatist leaders Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, Maj Gen Shabeg Singh and Amrik Singh Khalsa in the background.
Captain Amarinder Singh has several times in the past asserted that Pakistan’s move to open the Kartarpur corridor ‘indicated an ulterior motive’. He had called the corridor-opening a bigger conspiracy of ISI. Today too, in an interview with India Today the Punjab CM said that the Pakistan Army and ISI were behind the opening of the corridor.
Singh said that he is apprehensive since Pakistan never thought of opening the shrine earlier in so many years. He said the demand for the opening of the Kartarpur Sahib corridor had been pending since 70 years ever since the Partition as several holy Sikh shrines (Sri Nankana Sahib, Sri Panja Sahib, Dera Sahib and Kartarpur Sahib) had been left in Pakistan. Why only now have they thought of opening the Kartarpur corridor? asks the CM. He asserts that this is nothing but Pakistan’s sinister plot to peddle its anti-India agenda.
Earlier in December 2018, while reacting to the statement made by the SJF’s Gurpatwant Singh Pannu soliciting Pakistan’s support to ‘liberate’ Punjab from India, the CM stated that it has exposed the evil nexus between the Pakistan army and the SFJ. In a statement, Amarinder said, “The entire affair of Kartarpur Corridor smacks off a wider conspiracy by the Pakistan Army and ISI to dismember India by reviving militancy in Punjab.” He claimed that it is an ISI ploy to strengthen anti-India forces, including the Sikhs For Justice (SFJ).
He has also indicated that Pakistan was attempting to revive militancy in Punjab and thus everyone should be wary of Pakistan’s motives. He maintained that ISI was trying to foment problems in Punjab by exploiting the religious sentiments of Sikhs. He also said that Pakistan funds and arms Sikhs in USA, Canada and even the UK by exploiting their religious feelings.
And why we can say that Captain Amarinder Singh’ apprehensions over Pakistan’s over-eagerness to open the Karatarpur corridor hold true is because recently Indian Intelligence agencies have accessed information that terrorists are being trained near the border district of Narowal in Pakistan’s Punjab province, the same district where Kartarpur Sahib Gurdwara is situated.
Reportedly, the intelligence alert has been received less than a week from the opening of the Kartarpur corridor for Indian pilgrims.
The Indian intelligence agencies are very much apprehensive about Pakistan’s desperation to open Kartarpur corridor as it provides an opportunity for the terror state to “exploit Sikh sentiments to support Khalistan agenda” in India.
Another worrying issue for Indian security establishment is that spillage of Pakistan mobile network up to 3-4 KM inside Indian territory. The officers said the spillage of the network can be used by drug smugglers and those involved in anti-national activities by using Pakistani SIM cards.
Another major challenge for security agencies is the proscribed group – Sikhs for Justice, whose propaganda through digital media and activities abroad have been a matter of concern.
Pakistan is scheduled to open the Kartarpur Corridor for Indian Sikh pilgrims on November 9. Initially, only 5,000 pilgrims will be allowed to visit daily from India but later it will be increased to 10,000 pilgrims per day. The corridor connects Dera Baba Nanak Sahib in Gurdaspur district of Indian Punjab with the Kartarpur Sahib Gurdwara located in Narowal district of Pakistan’s Punjab.
