It's no secret that a section of Sikhs has been trying for decades to carve out the so-called Khalistan from the Punjab state of India. Despite violent events lasting years, this sentiment hasn't died down fully, and continues to smolder, and take form and shape in both India and abroad. It has been said that Pakistan has been providing help to these separatists both to harm India in general, and specifically as a payback for India's carving out Bangladesh from East Pakistan. In this context, opening of the Kartarpur Corridor should be a serious cause of concern for India's sovereignty - not for the visa-free pilgrimage itself, but for how under the guise of a holy visit, the separatist elements can secretly meet with and conspire with Pakistani agents, the ISI, Pakistani government, etc., completely out of the watch of Indian government and Indian intelligence. Free from the Indian scanner, conspiracies can be made regarding provision of funds, weapons, etc., and strategic long-term plans can be made regarding how to convert the prosperous Punjab state into a new Sikh nation - Khalistan. What stops the separatist folks visiting Pakistan as pilgrims from venturing out of the holy sites and on to the streets of Pakistan, to conduct secret meetings with anti-India elements there?
One quick though partial solution to this issue can be this - contractually require that any convoy of pilgrims visiting the shrine be accompanied by a handful of Indian security personnel. Package/sell this as needed for the safety/security of the visitors themselves, but the private Indian motive should be to keep a watch for any suspicious activities by Pakistan, such as contacting any of the pilgrims, or passing of any type of information or packages, etc.
Update [28-Dec-19]: Looks like there is a hurricane of funding coming to this program from wealthy Sikhs all over the world. Peter Virdee is just one example. The impact, thus, will be much larger now.
Update [28-Dec-19]: Looks like there is a hurricane of funding coming to this program from wealthy Sikhs all over the world. Peter Virdee is just one example. The impact, thus, will be much larger now.
OTHER TAGS= Referendum 2020; Militancy; Terrorism; Hindus; Sikhism
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