Pakistan releases Kartarpur corridor video featuring Khalistani separatists

Before the inauguration ceremony of the Kartarpur Gurudwara corridor, a fresh controversy has erupted after Pakistan released a video welcoming Sikh pilgrims to Kartarpur in which pictures of three slain Khalistani separatists are to be seen.

In the video, posters of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, Major General Shabeg Singh and Amrik Singh Khalsa, all of whom were involved in the failed attempt to separate Indian state Punjab, can be seen. The separatists demanded a separate land for Sikhs by the name of Khalistan. All three separatists were killed by Indian forces in Operation Blue Star in Golden Temple in June 1984.

"All this is what I have been warning about since day one, that Pakistan has a hidden agenda here," Punjab CM Amarinder Singh said on the video from Pakistan. However, officials from Pakistan are yet to respondto the video.

The video was released by Pakistan's information and broadcasting ministry.

The video has surfaced days before both India and Pakistan will inaugurate the Kartarpur gurudwara corridor. The Indian side of the corridor will be inaugurated by PM Narendra Modi on November 8 while the Pakistan PM will open the Pakistani side of the route the very next day.

The Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur in Pakistan holds a special significance in the hearts of Sikh pilgrims as their first religious leader, Guru Nanak Dev spent his last 18 years here. The Kartarpur corridor connects Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur (Pakistan) and Dera Baba Nanak shrine in Gurdaspur (India). Last year, both sides agreed to inaugurate this corridor on the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev.