Dear Supporter,
The month of February has been a wild one for all of us.
On February 8, 2019, Baba Nanak’s and Mother Earth’s lovers watched with awe and gratitude, Prime Minister of Pakistan dedicating Balloki wildlife reserve to Baba Nanak and announcing an upcoming university in his name; taking another step towards peace and harmony in the world that strengthened our hope for an ecological heritage village to be set up in Kartarpur.
However, the last two weeks of February have been marred by the clouds of darkness over the Indian subcontinent. Since the unfortunate Pulwama attack in the Kashmir Valley on Feb 14 that took the lives of forty Indian paramilitary forces, to now, where a full fledged war is looming between the twin nations of India and Pakistan — transpired incidences make us fear if Kartarpur Corridor will be a reality this year.
The attack on Kashmiri students, the retaliatory military actions and counter actions, the taking over of conventional and social media by warmongers in both of the nuclear-armed neighbors, the promise of revenge and counter revenge, and the anxiety of both the military families and the civilians on the borders make any peace lover cringe with the fear of massive and unstoppable destruction.
Almost everyone who was excited about the narrative of peace through the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor opening is now convinced that the situation has turned one hundred and eighty degrees and the corridor of peace is seemingly an impossible dream of the few in the times when talking about peace is termed as being anti-national on both sides.
We are one, 15,000 strong, such voice that continues to talk peace. Every one of the petition supporter, I have had the chance to speak or interact to, believes that the time has come that Kartarpur Sahib will be the harbinger of peace in that subcontinent. The corridor will open even if in a limited way. I thank you for being the voice of peace and hope.
I take the opportunity to reiterate to Prime Minister, Imran Khan that no matter if the corridor with India opens, thousands of Baba Nanak lovers from around the world are anxiously awaiting to visit Kartarpur Sahib starting this November.
Now, it is even more relevant that the petition signed by thousands of concerned citizens of the world should soon be accepted dedicating Kartarpur as a heritage village that enlivens the peaceful and ecological principles and the vision of Baba Nanak.
Through the petition, we are requesting to preserve the fields and orchards, make the corridor and Kartarpur village an ecological haven, preserve the current Kartarpur Sahib Complex, plan any and all new construction far away from the current complex and design it in coherence with the Guru period architecture, and establish a commercial and educational center that encourages local produce, art, music and trade in an ecologically & spiritually responsible manner.
With our wishes to visit our lost heritage in Pakistan, we wish for the Pakistan government to understand the agony and helplessness of the concerned sangat worldwide who are tired of heartbreaks upon visiting the white marbleized and gold structures in India that have buried our heritage, artifacts, ancient & historical trees and landscape under a permanent plaster.
We wish for the concerned authorities to understand that beauty and sustainability will lie in ecological and heritage tourism that is sensitive to the land, its spirit, its history and honors the locals, their culture and values, while caring for their economy — and not in commercial tourism that allures temporarily but causes agony and rift in the long run.
Rest assured that if Kartarpur is preserved as suggested in the petition, not only will you have a steady flow of spiritual tourism but young generations of Baba Nanak’s lovers will be keen on visiting the sacred land for attending camps and classes, learning from the artisans, musicians, folklorists and taking the products of the rich native arts, language, the love of the land and message of peace back to spread it to the whole world! They will be coming back year after year to give back to the locals and to uplift the young people of the land. What a tribute to environment and peace will that be?
We also take the opportunity to thank, Prime Minister Imran Khan to continue to talk about Peace building and hope that both the nations will seriously engage in a dialogue rather than war.
I hope you will continue to share this message of peace, hope, sustainability, and ecology to all you can and continue to share this petition so our voice gets even stronger.
With love, peace, and hope,
Gurmeet Kaur
#KartarpurSahibCorridor
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