Month-long series of events to mark Guru’s 350th martyrdom day begins

Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday offered prayers and attended a kirtan at Delhi’s Rakab Ganj Sahib Gurdwara as a month-long series of events to mark the 350th martyrdom day of Sikh Guru Teg Bahadur began in Punjab.

Earlier in the day, Punjab ministers and ruling party MPs paid obeisance at Chandni Chowk's Sis Ganj Sahib Gurdwara. The Guru, also called 'Hind Di Chadar', was beheaded on November 11, 1675 on the orders of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb. While the Chandni Chowk shrine stands at the spot where he was killed, the place where he was cremated has the Rakab Ganj Sahib Gurdwara.

The state government is organising multiple events to commemorate the martyrdom day over the next month, for which it has decided to invite President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chief ministers of various Indian states.

Mann said the Guru advocated unity and religious tolerance while his teachings stood as a beacon of hope for all humanity.

According to a statement, the ministers and AAP leaders who offered prayers at the Chandni Chowk shrine included Aman Arora, Harjot Singh Bains, Harbhajan Singh ETO, Tarunpreet Singh Sondh, Gurmeet Singh Khudian, Barinder Kumar Goyal, Hardeep Singh Mundian, Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal, and Balbir Singh.

The ministers exhorted people to follow the Guru's universal message of love, secularism, religious tolerance and peaceful co-existence.

“Guru Teg Bahadur laid down his life in Delhi to protect human rights and religious freedom — a sacrifice unmatched in world history,” the statement read.

The Punjab Government has planned several events across the state in the honour of the Guru. From November 1 to 18, light-and-sound shows will be held in all Punjab districts to depict his life and messages. A special kirtan darbar will be held in Jammu and Kashmir's Srinagar on November 18. It will be followed by a nagar kirtan (religious procession) from Srinagar to Punjab’s Anandpur Sahib, where Guru Gobind Singh had founded the Khalsa Panth. The city is also home to the Takht Kesgarh Sahib, the third of the five temporal seats for the Sikhs.

The Kashmiri Pandit community, members of which had approached the Guru against the tyranny of Aurangzeb, will take part in the procession.

On November 20, simultaneous nagar kirtans will start from the Takht Damdama Sahib in Talwandi Sabo and Gurdaspur. All three will culminate at Anandpur Sahib on November 22. Commemorative events will be held at Anandpur Sahib from November 23 to 25, including a Sarv Dharm Sammelan (interfaith conference), exhibitions and a drone show highlighting.

A special session of the Punjab Assembly will also be held at Anandpur Sahib on November 24. State-wide blood donation camps and a tree plantation drive will also be undertaken on November 25.