Indian unease over Pakistan’s insistence to charge US$ 20 per pilgrim to Kartarpur Saheb continued on Wednesday with senior Punjab Congress leaders proposing alternatives to ensure the poor were not unfairly strained.
Former Punjab Congress president Partap Bajwa on Wednesday demanded a Haj like subsidy for Indian Sikh pilgrims who cross the Kartarpur corridor to visit Darbar Saheb Gurdwara on the Pakistan side.
AICC general secretary and Rajya Sabha MP Ambika Soni, meanwhile, again urged Pakistan to drop service charges proposed to be levied on the Indian pilgrims.
Speaking to The Tribune on Wednesday Bajwa said, “If the Government can have a separate budget for Haj pilgrims why can’t the government also support financially weak Indian pilgrims who visit Kartarpur?”
Bajwa proposed that the Centre, Punjab Government and the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee open a joint escrow account and refund charges of the poor pilgrims who cannot afford to pay.
“The income tax payers should not be covered by such refund policy but the rest of the economically weak pilgrims should be,” said Bajwa adding that one can’t expect Pakistan not to levy the service charges because Pakistan was providing Indian pilgrims with roads, bridges and accommodation.
“Pakistan has spent money to facilitate this project and its natural for them to levy some fee. Since 99 per cent of all world’s Sikhs live in India it is the responsibility of the Indian Government, Punjab Government and SGPC to facilitate poor Sikh pilgrims,” said Bajwa.
He was speaking after former PM Manmohan Singh flagged off nine mobile cancer detection units for Punjab. These units of World Cancer Care will be stationed at Sultanpur Lodhi from November 1 to 12 to offer free cancer detection services to Indian pilgrims who cross the Kartarpur corridor to mark the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev, founder of the Sikh religion.
Ambika Soni whoever said the service charges should be dropped and that Punjab CM Amarinder Singh has urged PM Narendra Modi to pressure Pakistan into agreeing to the Indian demand.