Chandigarh, April 8 – Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) President Sukhbir Singh Badal today requested that a world class museum be established in Delhi to showcase the life and sacrifice of Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur on the occasion of his 400th birth anniversary.
He also called for withdrawing all cases against farmers as well as youth which had been registered as part of the Kisan Andolan protests in the spirit of ‘sarbat da bhala’.
Participating in a meeting of a high level committee presided over by the Prime Minister which was held to finalize the year long events to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the Guru; the SAD President said the proposed museum should be on the lines of the Virasat-i-Khalsa established at Anandpur Sahib by former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal which had become one of the highest visited destinations. “This is the need of the hour to make the new generation aware of the sacrifice of Guru Tegh Bahadur as well as those of his followers”.
Mr Sukhbir Badal also urged that the birth anniversary of Guru Sahab on May 1 should be observed as National Integration day and that his life and sacrifice as well as that of the other Gurus should be included in the school curriculum. He also requested that the three holy towns of Amritsar, Baba Bakala and Anandpur Sahib should be developed appropriately adding that though the erstwhile SAD led government had done its bit to develop Amritsar, more could be done by the central government.
The SAD President also requested the Prime Minister to take appropriate steps to reopen the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor so that Sikh pilgrims could pay their obeisance at the last resting place of Sri Guru Nanak Dev ji. He said the Prime Minister could take up the issue with the Pakistan government also.
Mr Badal also called for the release of all Sikh detainees who were still incarcerated in jails even after completion of their jail sentences. He said doing so would send a right message on the occasion of the 400th anniversary of Guru Sahib. He also requested that Sikh soldiers who had left their barracks post Operation Bluestar should be given benefits due to them as they had reacted emotionally.
The SAD President requested in the meeting that the SGPC be made the nodal agency for organizing the year long celebrations stating this would ensure that the Sikh maryada was observed appropriately. He said the SGPC was a democratically elected body which was running the Gurughar since the last hundred years. He also highlighted how Sikhism was the biggest example of secularism with the focus of Sikh philosophy being ‘sarbat da bhala’ and not prosperity of Sikhs alone. He also talked about how ‘sewa’ and ‘shahadat’ had a special place in Sikh philosophy and gave the example of how Sikhs had done ‘sewa’ during times of Covid and also continued to lay down their lives to safeguard the country. Mr Badal said the life of Guru Tegh Bahadur was also the biggest example of ‘shahadat’ and secularism.
