Amritsar, September 26: Ahead of US Ambassador Sergio Gor’s proposed visit to Darbar Sahib, Amritsar, on September 28, Dal Khalsa has written to the American diplomat, urging the United States to use its diplomatic influence to facilitate the reopening of the Kartarpur Corridor, restore trade through the Attari-Wagah land route and address growing concerns over transnational repression and hate crimes against Sikhs.

In its letter, Dal Khalsa reiterated that democratic societies must continue to provide space for peaceful advocacy of self-determination and self-rule, as well as for the expression of Punjab’s long-standing political grievances and Sikh aspirations.

Describing the Kartarpur Corridor as a remarkable diplomatic achievement across a difficult border, Dal Khalsa leader Kanwar Pal Singh said its closure since May 2025, following Operation Sindhoor, had caused anguish among Sikhs.

Releasing the press statement, Dal Khalsa Working President Paramjit Singh Mand said, “Kartarpur Sahib is not an ordinary cross-border destination. Guru Nanak Sahib spent the concluding years of his life there. Religious pilgrimage and human contact should not become casualties of political confrontation between states.”

Dal Khalsa urged the United States to use its good offices and diplomatic engagement with India and Pakistan to encourage an early reopening of the corridor. The organisation said the move could also revive meaningful people-to-people interaction between Punjab, Pakistan and India.

Calls for Restoration of Trade Through Attari-Wagah

The organisation also drew the US Ambassador’s attention to restrictions on trade through the Attari-Wagah land route.

Dal Khalsa stated that Punjab had historically served as a trading gateway connecting South Asia with Pakistan, Afghanistan and Central Asia. However, it said political circumstances had increasingly turned this natural gateway “into a wall.”

“When maritime, air and alternative commercial routes are being explored and strengthened, there is little justification for keeping Punjab’s geographically natural trading route severely restricted,” Kanwar Pal Singh said.

He called for American diplomatic encouragement to progressively restore legitimate trade through the Attari-Wagah land route.

Concerns Over Transnational Repression and Threats to Sikh Activists

Dal Khalsa also expressed serious concern over alleged threats, surveillance and violence targeting Sikh political activists in the United States, Canada and other Western democracies.

While acknowledging the seriousness with which American law-enforcement and judicial institutions have pursued such cases, the organisation maintained that investigations, indictments and security warnings should not mark the end of the matter.

“The exposure, indictments and arrests of Indian-origin gangsters with illegal arms in the United States and elsewhere, some of whom are believed to have covert links with Indian security agencies, have understandably raised alarm bells within Sikh circles,” Kanwar Pal Singh said.

Dal Khalsa Urges US Action Against Anti-Sikh Hate Crimes

Kanwar Pal Singh also highlighted continuing hate crimes against Sikh Americans, whose visible identity, particularly the turban and unshorn hair, has repeatedly made them targets of racial and religious prejudice.

He urged the US administration to strengthen education about Sikh identity, improve the recognition and reporting of anti-Sikh hate crimes and deepen engagement between law-enforcement agencies and Sikh institutions.

Dal Khalsa Working President Paramjit Singh Mand expressed hope that the United States and its democratic partners would pursue these matters to their logical conclusion and ensure accountability.

Mand observed that Sikh interests in general, and those of the Sikh diaspora in particular, had over the years been sacrificed in favour of economic interests. He urged the United States to ensure that accountability did not become subordinate to geopolitical convenience.