J-K Peace Forum hails PM Modi, Amit Shah for organising commemorative event marking 400th birth anniversary of Guru Tegh Bahadur

Tribune News Service

Ravi S Singh

New Delhi, April 21 

The Jammu Kashmir Peace Forum on Thursday lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Union Culture Ministry for organising a grand commemorative event at the historic  Red Fort to mark the 400th birth anniversary of the ninth Sikh Guru, Tegh Bahadur, who is also revered as ‘Hind-di-Chadar’ or the Shield of India, and ‘Jagat Guru’. 

The Forum, which works for peace with regard to Jammu and Kashmir, said the great sacrifice made by the Guru to vindicate the right of the people to profess and practice faith was an assertion of the principle of justice for which the Mughal rulers of the day had very scant regard.

For this reason, life, career, and teachings of Guru Tegh are of immense relevance even in the contemporary times, when the forces of hate, fanaticism and tyranny are still very dominant and assertive.

Paying rich tributes of homage to the Guru, the Forum referred to his exemplary and supreme sacrifice for the sake of Kashmiri brahmins.

The iconic leader was publicly beheaded on the orders of the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb, for refusing to convert to Islam and for resisting the forced conversions of Hindus of Jammu and Kashmir.

"There was forced conversion of religion; thousands were killed for refusing to change their religion. The Guru's martyrdom sensitised the world to the macabre play of the Mughals," J-K Peace Forum Chairperson Satish Mahaldar said.

The Guru symbolised the triumph of good over evil that inspired Sikhs to lay down their lives for noble causes and moral values.

His sacrifice roused the Hindus from their passive silence to understand the power that comes from self-respect and sacrifice.