SGPC raises Kartarpur corridor issue with UN chief

After visiting the Golden Temple, Antonio Guterres said he did not find any other temple in the world where people of all religions come to pay obeisance.

The apex Sikh gurdwara body, Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) took up the issue of Kartarpur corridor with United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres during his visit to Golden Temple.

He is on a three-day trip to India. In a memorandum handed over by SGPC president Gobind Singh Longowal, the UN secretary general was requested to address major issues concerning the Sikh community worldwide. Longowal said United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) should take steps to “safeguard the religious and cultural rights of the Sikhs as per UN conventions and instruments”.

The SGPC sought UN help in getting “visa-free corridor” to the Indian pilgrims to Kartarpur Sahib in Pakistan. Earlier, Guterres was received by Union minister of state Hardeep Singh Puri and Punjab finance minister Manpreet Singh Badal at Sri Guru Ram Das Jee International Airport. He was received by SGPC president Gobind Singh Longowal and general secretary Gurbachan Singh Karmuwala at the Golden Temple. He spent 45 minutes at the complex. Besides partaking of a langar at the community kitchen, he paid obeisance at the sanctum sanctorum and received ‘karah parshad’. He also paid obeisance at Akal Takht, where he was presented a ‘siropa’. After visiting the Golden Temple, Antonio Guterres said he did not find any other temple in the world where people of all religions come to pay obeisance. “I express my deep respect to the Sikh religion and wonderful Golden Temple. Spirit of peace and tolerance prevails here,” he said.