India News | Follow Guru Tegh Bahadur's Teachings for Peace, Harmony: Amarinder

Chandigarh, Sep 3 (PTI) Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Friday underscored the need for following Guru Tegh Bahadur's teachings for peace and harmony in the world as he cited examples of "religious intolerance" in countries like Afghanishan, where the Taliban is in power, and China.

The state assembly on Friday held a special session to commemorate the 400th 'Parkash Purab' (birth anniversary) of the ninth Sikh Guru here.

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Singh said it will be a different world if the teachings and ideology of Guru Tegh Bahadur are followed by the people.

"His basic message was of religious tolerance and for it, he sacrificed his life," Singh said in his address in the House.

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"This message does not remain within the confines of Punjab. It goes to the entire nation and across the oceans to other countries of this globe," he said while wondering whether the nations were following it.

"Look north of us, the Chinese are destroying the Uyghurs because they are Muslims. Next to them is Afghanistan, (there) you have an emerging power which does not accept religious tolerance in any form," Singh said apparently referring to the Taliban regime in Afghanistan.

"Go across to Africa and you see countries there or the Middle East and you see nations where today all these message of love, understanding and tolerance do not exist," he said.

He said the history remembers Guru Tegh Bahadur with great pride as 'Hind Ki Chadar' for making the supreme sacrifice while opposing forced conversion and protection of religious freedom.

"That is what I said today. Is the world following it (Guru's message)," he asked.

"There are places in the world where intolerance is the order of the day. You have people being killed because they belong to another religion and that is unacceptable to what should be the humanity," he stated.

Sharing his perception on India continuing to be a pluralistic country which has the unique distinction of being home to almost every faith in the world, the chief minister said that this concept is what gives India its richness and cultural diversity.

Punjab Governor Banwari Lal Purohit described the martyrdom of Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib as one of the most important turning points in the spiritual, religious and political history of India.

In his address, former chief justice of India J S Khehar emphasised the importance of 'Ardas' (prayer) in the Sikh way of life. "By reflecting on Guru Tegh Bahadur, we can achieve all nine spiritual and worldly sources of wealth and those who contemplate on Guru Tegh Bahadur will receive his help in all situations," he said.

On the occasion, the speaker read out the messages sent by Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu and Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama.

Naidu and former prime minister Manmohan Singh, who were invited to attend the ceremony, expressed their inability to be a part of the event.

(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)