Asia

Pakistani officials and civilians armed with mobile phones warmly welcome Sidhu in Kartarpur

November 20, 2021
Henry Club

Sidhu was cornered not only by the Indian immigration and customs officials but also by the on-duty BSF jawans, as he was greeting each of them and obliging them with photographs and selfies.

This was repeated on the other side of the border as well, where Sidhu was inundated with requests for selfies from Pakistani immigration staff and police officers. However, the number of his fans increased manifold when he entered the Gurdwara premises in Kartarpur.

Many Pakistani visitors suddenly realized that a celebrity had arrived and rushed to congratulate Sidhu. There were many such visitors around the campus, who were recording their every move and word on their mobile phones. At one stage inside the gurudwara sanctum sanctorum, the crowd went out of control and the priest was forced to warn visitors who took Sidhu’s photographs and were threatened by security guards to remove him.

“Thokko Tali, Thokko Tali,” shouted a group of youths while shouting slogans of Sidhu at a comedy show. When asked if they knew who Sidhu was, both Ish Kumar and Hrithik from Sukkur in Sindh province said they knew he was a former cricketer who appeared on The Kapil Sharma Show.

Incidentally, a large crowd of Pakistani Hindus from Sindh visited Gurdwara Darbar Sahib on Saturday in connection with the birth anniversary celebrations of Guru Nanak Dev. “We had come in buses to Nankana Sahib and Kartarpur during the Gurpurab. We were pleasantly surprised to have Navjot Sidhu among us today. Ranjit Kumar, a devotee from Sindh, said, he was very grounded and asked us to take as many pictures with him as we wanted.

Ishfaq Hussain of Lahore requested Sidhu to help get Pakistani pilgrims permission to visit Dargahs like Nizamuddin Auliya in Delhi. “Sidhu sahib, you have successfully raised the issue of Kartarpur Corridor. Please take up our matters also. I have a deep desire to visit the dargah of Nizamuddin Auliya,” he said.

Overwhelmed by the affection received from all sides, Sidhu was seen thanking everyone, including the Pakistani officials, who were saving him. A representative of the Governor of Pakistan Punjab first greeted him at the entrance of the Gurdwara complex and congratulated the Governor, to which Sidhu responded warmly.

Another interesting scene was taken away from the Sidhu Dal where some Pakistani Muslim youths were seen trying to understand the ethos of Sikhism from three Indian Sikh youths. Engaged in a deep but friendly debate near Khu Sahib (Guru Nanak’s holy well from which they drew water), the Pakistani boys tried to understand Sikhism by asking questions.

However, there were some vagabonds who could not understand what was the reason for the uproar involving Sidhu. “Any Punjabi singer has come? (Has a Punjabi singer come?),” asked Azmat from Lahore excitedly as he gathered a crowd around Sidhu. They did not know who Sidhu was.

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