Dera Baba Nanak (Gurdaspur), Nov 19 (PTI) AAP leaders on Friday visited Dera Baba Nanak and offered prayers near the India-Pakistan border, a day after they alleged that the Centre and the Punjab government denied them permission to visit the Kartarpur Sahib gurdwara in Pakistan.

The over four-km-long Kartarpur corridor links Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan's Kartarpur, the final resting place of Sikhism founder Guru Nanak Dev, to the Dera Baba Nanak shrine in Gurdaspur district.

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Pilgrimage to the Pakistan gurdwara was suspended in March last year due to the Covid pandemic. The Centre opened the corridor from Wednesday ahead of the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev.

Led by Aam Aadmi Party's Punjab unit chief Bhagwant Mann, the party leaders prayed near the India-Pakistan border at Dera Baba Nanak for peace and prosperity of the state, according to a statement.

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Mann alleged that the Narendra Modi-led central government did not allow the AAP leaders to visit Kartarpur Sahib.

"There is a talk of open 'darshan' of Sri Kartarpur Sahib but the Aam Aadmi Party leaders were not allowed to pay obeisance. There should not be any politics on the issue of going to Kartarpur Sahib," said Mann.

He said only the Centre knew the reasons for not allowing them to go to Kartarpur.

Mann further appealed to the Centre to bear the USD 20 dollars fee to facilitate devotees.

"The fee of USD 20 dollars is a heavy burden on a family. If five members of a family go to Sri Kartarpur Sahib, then the fee is around USD 100, which is about Rs 8,000 in Indian currency," he said.

Those who accompanied him included Leader of Opposition in the Punjab Assembly, Harpal Singh Cheema, party's Punjab affairs co-incharge and Delhi MLA, Raghav Chadha; MLAs Kultar Singh Sandhwan, Aman Arora, Kulwant Singh Pandori, Meet Hayer, Manjit Singh Bilaspur and Jai Singh Rodi.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)