Ministry of Home Affairs orders closure of Kartarpur Corridor

The Ministry of Home Affairs bureau of immigration has shut down the Kartarpur Corridor “till further orders”. One hundred and fifty pilgrims, who had gathered at the integrated check-post on Wednesday morning, were asked to return home after being made to wait for 90 minutes.

There were apprehensions since early morning that devotees would not be allowed to cross over to Pakistan.

Tarsem Singh, a pilgrim, said, “We were made to wait for nearly 90 minutes before an immigration official told us that they are not allowed to go to Darbar sahib Gurdwara in Pakistan.  The immigration officials also said the corridor had been closed till further orders.”

“Whenever the passage reopens we will have to reapply online,” said Satnam Kaur.

The air was thick with rumours that the corridor would be shut down after the April 22 incident in which terrorists had gunned down 26 tourists in Kashmir’s Pahalgam. However, nothing happened till today morning when the passage was ordered to be shut.

Punjab