Indians, including members of the Sikh community, were outraged over the statement on the Kartarpur corridor by Pakistan’s railway minister Sheikh Rashid on Saturday (30 November).
Rashid said the historic Kartarpur corridor was the brainchild of Pakistan Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa and it will hurt India forever. The statement contradicted an earlier one by the Pakistani government asserting Kartarpur to be the initiative of Prime Minister Imran Khan.
The statement was soon hit by a number of angry responses.
State Chief of Punjab Amarinder Singh said that Rashid's comment has exposed their nefarious intentions and warned that "any misadventure will be met with retaliation of the kind they won’t survive".
Manjinder Singh Sirsa, a politician and chief of the Delhi-based Sikh Shrine organisation, strongly condemned Pakistan in a series of tweets for “exploiting the holiest land Sri Kartarpur Sahib & Sikh sentiments” and said that “Sikhs have been backstabbed by Pak”.
Others also echoed these sentiments and said Pakistan has been exposed by contradicting its earlier statement in which it claimed Kartarpur to be a good faith initiative by Imran Khan.
Claiming to have won the love of the Sikh community, Rashid further said, “Gen Bajwa strongly hit India by opening the corridor. Through this project, Pakistan has created a new environment of peace and won itself love of the Sikh community”.
The inauguration of the Kartarpur corridor on 9 November was in doubt after the two nations downgraded their diplomatic ties following New Delhi’s decision to revoke Jammu and Kashmir's special status and bifurcate it into two union territories on 5 August.