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A political touch to religious congregation

Staff Correspondent

CHANDIGARH: Bharatiya Janata Party leader Rajnath Singh and president of the Amritsar faction of the Shiromani Akali Dal Simranjit Singh Mann provided political content to the otherwise religious congregation organised by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) at Tarn Taran on Friday.

In his address, the BJP president, who was accompanied by former Union Minister Shahnawaz Hussein and MPs of the party from Punjab, Navjot Singh Sidhu and Avinash Rai Khanna, urged the Sikh Panth to take the lead in following the teachings of the Guru "to contain the spate of conversions, especially in the border areas of Punjab". He was highly critical of the policies of the Central Government, which according to him were responsible for the rise in prices.

According to many visitors to the congregation, the SGPC managed a better show than the one organised by the State Government, which organised a gathering about 500 metres away. The SGPC pandal was waterproof, while the one put up by the Government could not hold the afternoon downpour. The stage was occupied by a wide spectrum of national and state-level political and religious leaders.

Former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda expressed anguish that the democratic system stood threatened from ever widening communal and casteist fissures across the country. He underlined the relevance of the ideals of Guru Arjan Dev, who accepted martyrdom to prove his commitment towards the need for establishing a peaceful society.

Taking a pledge to follow the path shown by the Guru, Mr. Gowda warned of the dangers posed to civilisation and culture from the global atmosphere, which according to him stood polluted due to shortsighted politics. Another former Prime Minister, I.K. Gujral, traced the continuity in the teachings of the ten Sikh Gurus, who stressed the need for a relentless struggle against inequality and injustice. He said that Guru Arjan Dev had laid the foundation for the unity of India by compiling the Guru Granth, which contained wisdom of the saints of different sects and faiths along with the scriptures authored by the Sikh Gurus.

The Tamil Nadu Governor, S.S. Barnala, dwelt in detail on the life and contributions of the Guru.

Former Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal while stressing that the agenda of congregation was completely religious, sought to snub Mr. Mann for reiterating his political goal based on the hard line.

He said such ideology had contributed in major losses for Punjab already.

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