CM to urge Modi to prevail upon Pak to open other historic gurdwaras to Indian sikhs
KI Singh/ royalpatiala.in/ Sultanpur Lodhi
Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Tuesday announced that he would take up with Prime Minister Narendra Modi the issue of prevailing upon Pakistan to grant Indian devotees open access to more historic gurdwaras across the border.
The announcement was made during the 550th Prakash Purb of Sri Guru Nanak Dev ji, where President of India Ram Nath Kovind joined the Chief Minister in leading the historic celebrations in the state. Punjab Governor VPS Badnore and Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot were among the galaxy of luminaries present at the state-level function to mark the auspicious occasion.
The Chief Minister also announced that the 550th Prakash Purb celebrations, which commenced last year, would continue till November 2020.
Addressing a religious congregation after the bhog of ‘Sri Sehaj Path’, the Chief Minister welcomed millions of devotees (Sangat) who had converged from different parts of the country and foreign shores here to participate in the Prakash Purb celebrations with great enthusiasm and religious fervour. The Sehaj Path, jointly organized by the Punjab Government, Sant Samaj, various Sikh religious organisations and Sikh Sangat on behalf of the people of Punjab at Sri Guru Nanak Darbar, had commenced on November 5.
Once again expressing his gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Pak PM Imran Khan for helping realise the Sikh community’s dream of visiting the Kartarpur Gurdwara, Captain Amarinder hoped this would be followed by more such gurdwaras in Pakistan being opened to Indian devotees. He said he would personally take up the matter with Modi and urge him to raise the issue with Imran to facilitate the realization of the Sikh community’s dream to visit those gurdwaras, such as Panja Sahib and Nankana Sahib, also.
Captain Amarinder acknowledged the support given by the Central Government in making the historic celebrations a success and expressed happiness at the participation of people from different political parties, as a befitting tribute to Pahli Patshahi (first Sikh guru), who always spoke of Sarbat Da Bhala.