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The date, 9th November 2019 will certainly find a dedicated chapter for itself in South Asian history as it marks not merely one but two important events.
On one hand this date will be remembered for the historic opening of the Kartarpur Corridor that pledges to allow safe access to Sikh pilgrims from India into Pakistan.
On the other hand, 9th November will also be remembered as the date on which the Indian Supreme Court “settled” the 25-year-old Babri Masjid dispute by allowing the construction of Ram Mandir on the site of the historic Mosque.
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The opening of the Kartarpur Corridor and the Babri Masjid verdict arriving on the same date offer the sort of historical irony that is rare. And so, when historians on both sides of the border sit down to document this chapter in the Indo-Pak saga, Pakistan is likely to earn a favourable mention for siding with religious harmony at a time when the Indian Supreme Court awarded strength to religious extremism.
The irony of the Kartarpur Corridor opening and the Babri Masjid verdict falling on the same date is not in the least lost on Pakistanis.
Read: The Rise Of Jingoism in Indian Media And What Pakistan Needs To Do To Counter It
But Pakistanis are not the only ones drawing comparisons between the Kartarpur Corridor Opening & Babri Masjid verdict.
Even secular Indians can’t help but recall the mass murder of Muslims facilitated by the state of India following the demolition of the Babri Mosque.
And while the world laments the sad state of Indian secularism, Indians at large remain oblivious to the grave turn its democratic tradition has just taken.
True that Pakistan has years of “protected” bigotry to mop out of its own home before it earns the right to point fingers elsewhere. However, with the opening of the Kartarpur Corridor a precedent of religious tolerance and harmony has been set, which one hopes will one day become a norm on this side of the great divide.
