NEW DELHI/ISLAMABAD: Nature’s fury has exposed Pakistan government’s sham at the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur when thunderstorms smashed some of its newly renovated domes.
Local sources in Islamabad confirmed the social media reports that at least eight domes of the recently renovated Sikh shrine, collapsed during rain and thunderstorm on Friday evening, causing major embarrassment to the Imran Khan government which had used the Kartarpur Corridor between the two countries for politically strategic purposes to draw support from Indian Sikhs.
New Delhi and Islamabad in November 2018 established a direct border-crossing linking Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur, the final resting place of the Sikh faith founder Guru Nanak, with Dera Baba Nanak in Indian Punjab’s Gurdaspur district.
Tainted globally for exporting terrorism, Islamabad had used the Sikh pilgrimage as an image-building exercise by showcasing the corridor as Pakistan’s initiative towards peace-building and communal harmony. Sources on Sunday said that the domes at Kartarpur were constructed with cheap substandard material even as the Sikh community had objected to it.
The government authorities had got the pre-fabricated domes of fiberglass made and screwed them to the structure, to meet Prime Minister Imran Khan’s deadline and to reduce the cost, sources said. Interestingly, Pakistan has levied an entry fee of US$20 for visitors, to raise money for maintenance of the shrine.
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