Times Now Digital | Occasion is spiritual fortune, national duty: PM Modi on Guru Tegh Bahadur’s 400th birth anniversary

Apr 08,2021

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday called the 400th birth anniversary of Sikh Guru Tegh Bahadur a spiritual fortune and chaired a meeting of a High-Level Committee to commemorate the 400th birth anniversary (Prakash Purab) of Hind Di Chadar Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur on Thursday at 11:00 am through video conferencing. 

Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh, former prime minister Manmohan Singh and Home Minister Amit Shah also attended the meeting.

Speaking after the meeting, the PM said: "The occasion is a spiritual fortune and national duty. We've been blessed to be able to make a contribution to this. I'm happy that we're taking forward our efforts, together with all citizens."

"All of you're aware of stages of his (Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur) life but it is important for the new generation of the nation too to know and understand it. From Guru Nanak Dev to Guru Tegh Bahadur and Guru Gobind Singh - our Sikh Guru tradition is a philosophy of life in itself," the PM added.

Punjab CM seeks approval on launching various projects worth Rs 937 crore
"We're all committed to celebrate this momentous occasion in a befitting manner," the Punjab CM said. He urged the PM to clear the state government’s proposal for launching various projects worth Rs 937 crore, including the development of Sri Anandpur Sahib as Smart City, to pay befitting tributes to the Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur.

The CM further requested the PM that the Centre should release a special commemorative stamp on this occasion. He suggested that the commemorative events should be held all across the country, as well as at all Indian missions abroad, the Punjab CMO said.

Guru Tegh Bahadur is the ninth of the ten Gurus who founded the Sikh religion. He was the head of the followers of Sikhism from 1665 until his killing in 1675.

The high-level committee was constituted by the Centre on October 24, 2020 to approve policies, plans and programs related to the commemoration of the 400th birth anniversary of Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur along with supervision of the events. The prime minister is the chairman of the 70-member panel.

The members of the committee include Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, former prime minister Manmohan Singh, Union Ministers Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, Nitin Gadkari, Nirmala Sitharaman, Hardeep Singh Puri, chief ministers of Punjab, Haryana, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Rajasthan.

Besides the above-mentioned dignitaries, Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, Akali Dal leaders Parkash Singh Badal, Sukhbir Singh Badal, SGPC president Gobind Singh Longowal, former Indian Army chief JJ Singh, former Indian Air Force chief Birender Singh Dhanoa, and sportspersons Milkha Singh and Harbhajan Singh, are also the members of the panel headed by PM Modi.