Punjab Congress MLA Navjot Singh Sidhu Saturday said Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has “won hearts” by inaugurating the Kartarpur Corridor. Sidhu was speaking at the inauguration event on the Pakistan side of the border which he attended as a special invitee of Khan.
Sidhu also thanked Narendra Modi for making the project happen, saying he was sending a “Munnabhai MBBS style hug” to the Prime Minister.
Sidhu said, “No one can deny my friend Imran Khan’s contribution. I am thanking Modi ji also, it doesn’t matter if we have political differences, doesn’t matter if my life is dedicated to Gandhi family, I am sending a Munnabhai MBBS style hug to you Modi sahab for this.”
Former Indian cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu with some lovely words for Prime Minister Imran Khan #KartarpurCorridor pic.twitter.com/u9OobwtCYf
— Saj Sadiq (@Saj_PakPassion) November 9, 2019
Sidhu’s appearance today at the opening was after a self-imposed exile of almost five months. In his speech, Sidhu recited Urdu couplets and said Khan had fulfilled the dream of four generations of Sikhs by opening the corridor. “For the first time since Partition, the fence has been broken down, ab border kholo, dil kholo,” Sidhu was quoted as saying in Punjabi amid slogans of ‘Bole So Nihal, Sat Sri Akal’.
The Kartarpur Corridor, connecting Dera Baba Nanak shrine in India’s Punjab with Darbar Sahib— also called Kartarpur Sahib— in Narowal district in Pakistan’s Punjab, was thrown open today. Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off the pilgrimage of nearly 550 pilgrims and handed over the flag of the Jatha to Jathedar Akal Takht.
The 9-km Corridor has been inaugurated to celebrate the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak. Remembering the Sikh guru, Sidhu in his address, said, “Baba Guru Nanak spent the last days of his life here. He spent his life bringing people together and spreading the message of love. In your last days here you continued to spread the message of oneness, truth, peace. His teachings carry the lessons of humanity and its well-being.”
