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Kartarpur corridor: Punjab CM likens Pak’s demand for service charge to ‘jaziya’

YB WEB DESK. Dated: 9/19/2019 8:22:19 PM

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Thursday equated the service charge demanded by Pakistan from Indian pilgrims for visiting the Kartarpur Sahib Gurdwara with “jaziya” (a tax on non-muslims).

He demanded the immediate withdrawal of the proposal by Pakistan.

The Chief Minister, who reviewed the progress on the Kartarpur corridor here, said emperor Akbar had abolished “jaziya”, a controversial and regressive tax, during his rule.

He said the proposed service/facilitation charge of USD 20 on each visitor was against the Sikh ideology of allowing ‘khulle darshan deedar’ (free access) of the Gurdwara sahibs that remained in Pakistan after the Partition.

The CM had sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s intervention to pressure Pakistan into withdrawing the proposed service charge.