Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu in Kartarpur, Wednesday. (AP Photo)“Mera yaar, dildaar Imran Khan jiwe (my dear friend Imran Khan, may you live long),” thundered Punjab minister Navjot Singh Sidhu on Wednesday, drawing massive applause at the groundbreaking ceremony for the Kartarpur Sahib corridor. Khan, with fingers on his chin, smiled as the crowd roared.
Three months ago, cricketer-turned-politician Sidhu had got into trouble after he hugged Pakistan army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa during Khan’s swearing-in ceremony. That hug set the ball rolling for the Kartarpur corridor, which was promised by Bajwa.
“I live in a space where the mind is without fear and the head is held high,” Sidhu said, quoting Rabindranath Tagore’s poem and taking a dig at his political rivals, Union ministers Harsimrat Kaur Badal and Hardeep Singh Puri, who were present at the event across the border.
Kaur had lashed out at Sidhu then for hugging Bajwa; External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had reprimanded him for the act.
Khan, who spoke about Sidhu facing criticism after his last trip, said, “If there were more such hugs, many such problems could have been solved.”
On Wednesday, standing tall amid a crowd which cheered at his expressions, and with his political rival Harsimrat of the Shiromani Akali Dal sitting quietly in the front row, Sidhu stole the show. He was seated closer to Khan, and next to Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi.
Harsimrat , who turned emotional while speaking, said the gurdwara at Kartarpur was a case of “so near and yet so far”. Not mentioning contentious issues such as terrorism, she said when Prime Minister Narendra Modi took a step, Khan took two steps.
She also spoke about collapse of the Berlin Wall, and how history can be made. She recalled Guru Nanak’s philosophy that there is no Hindu or Muslim, but only human beings.
She suggested that stamps and coins be issued by the Pakistan government, as well as trains to connect Sikh pilgrimage sites on Guru Nanak’s 550th birth anniversary, as the Modi government has decided in India.
Chants of Jo bole so Nihal, Sat Sri Akal from the crowd punctuated their speeches.
Khan, who spoke fondly of his former cricketer-friend’s popularity, joked that Sidhu will win elections in Pakistan’s Punjab if he contests. He added, “We hope we don’t have to wait till Sidhu becomes PM, before peace talks happen.”
Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Puri did not speak at the event. Pakistan Foreign Minister Qureshi said Imran Khan has accomplished what could not be done in 71 years. This was the first time Modi government ministers travelled to Pakistan since the Uri attacks.
