Chandigarh, December 14: The Punjab Legislative Assembly on Friday in a resolution appreciating the efforts of Punjab Government and the Centre to open the Kartarpur corridor unanimously decided to seek swapping of land with Pakistan to bring the historic Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib into Indian territory.
Punjab will now take up this demand with the Government of India, offering over 11,000 acres of land in exchange for the part on which Kartarpur Sahib stands, on the banks of the Ravi.
After SAD chief Sukhbir Badal took up the issue of land swapping with Pakistan, Cabinet Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, MLA from Dera Baba Nanak, offered land from his constituency for the purpose.
The minister mentioned about the effort made by former veteran Akali leader Kuldip Singh Wadala in this direction.
The resolution moved by Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh saw him being advised by the members of Opposition, to not to see the project through the “prism of terrorism”.
While the chief minister missed out the name of Navjot Sidhu in the initiative, a Congress MLA praised the Cabinet minister while at the same time endorsed concerns of the chief minister on Pakistan’s bid to revive terrorism.
The Opposition MLAs, including Sukhbir Badal, advised the chief minister to be positive and work for the corridor to come through.
AAP MLA Kanwar Sandhu said Capt Amarinder was relying on selective memory while forgetting about the peace initiatives that he had taken when he was the chief minister during his previous term.
Amarinder, while appreciating the role of the Narendra Modi government and the initiative by Pakistani premier Imran Khan in paving way for opening of the corridor, warned the Opposition and countrymen to be wary of Pakistan’s designs to revive militancy in Punjab.
He said he would visit Pakistan once peace prevailed between the two countries. He advised Imran Khan to tame his army in case he wanted peace to prevail.
He did not mention Navjot Sidhu’s name for the efforts put by him in the corridor issue.
Akali MLA Gurpartap Wadala, while speaking on the corridor issue, urged the chief minister to be positive on the issue. He appreciated the role of Navjot Sidhu.
In reply, the chief minister said while every Sikh was happy on opening of the corridor, politics and evil designs of the Pakistan Army should be understood.
