Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday chaired a high-level committee meeting to commemorate the 400th birth anniversary (Prakash Purab) of Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur. The meeting was organised via video conferencing.
The Prime Minister said that the occasion is a spiritual privilege as well as a national duty. He shared the teachings of and lessons learnt from the life of Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur, adding that everyone must derive inspiration from him. He highlighted that it is important to make the younger generation understand these lessons and noted that it is easier to reach out to them the world over and spread the message through digital means.
PM Modi further said that the Sikh Guru’s tradition is a complete life philosophy in itself. It is the privilege and good fortune of the government that it got the opportunity to celebrate the 550th Prakash Purab of Sri Guru Nanak Dev, the 400th Prakash Purab of Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur and the 350th Prakash Purab of Sri Guru Gobind Singh, he said.
Elaborating on the discussions in the meeting, the Prime Minister said that to involve more people in commemorating the 400th Prakash Purab of Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur, various activities will be organized throughout the year. He said that the organisation of activities should be such that not only the life and teachings of Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur, but of the entire Guru tradition will be propagated across the world. Hailing the social service done by the Sikh community and gurudwaras all over the world, the Prime Minister said that proper research and documentation on this aspect of Sikh tradition should be done.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who was part of the meeting, said that collective efforts should be made to ensure that the message of Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur reaches out to all. The Culture Secretary gave a presentation on suggestions outlined till now for the purpose.
The participants of the meeting thanked the Prime Minister for the grand vision behind the event. They recalled the various contributions and sacrifices made for religious freedom by Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur and gave inputs and suggestions for the commemorative event.
The meeting was attended by former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh Narayan Singh, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar, Punjab CM Capt Amarinder Singh, Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot, President of Shiromani Gurudwara Parbandhak Committee in Amritsar Bibi Jagir Kaur, MPs Sukhbir Singh Badal and Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, former MP Tarlochan Singh, MD of Amul Group R.S. Sodhi, eminent scholar Amarjit Singh Grewal and others.