PM Modi salutes Sahibzadas of Guru Gobind Singh at NDA meet

Prime minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday saluted the sacrifice of Guru Gobind Singh's sons Sahibzada Zorawar Singh and Sahibzada Fateh Singh and called for nationwide awareness on the conviction to faith which the children of the tenth Sikh guru displayed.

Speaking at the NDA parliamentary party meeting in Parliament today, the Prime Minister referred to the upcoming Vir Bal Diwas on December 26, a day dedicated to the commemoration of the sacrifice of Sahibzadas, and called for it to be observed across India.

Related news: Akal Takht urges Centre to rename ‘Veer Bal Diwas’ as ‘Sahibzade Shahadat Diwas’

PM calls for nationwide observance of Veer Baal Diwas on December 26

The PM also used the NDA platform to reiterate his commitment to reforms and said India was now in the "reform express phase".

"The country is now in a full-fledged reform express phase, where reforms are unveiling rapidly and with a clear policy intent. The government’s reforms are fully citizen-centric, not just economic or revenue-focused," said Modi adding that the goal is to remove everyday hurdles from the paths of people so that they can realise their full potential.

The PM urged MPs of the BJP and NDA alliance parties, which felicitated him for the recent Bihar win, to actively share day-to-day problems faced by ordinary people. "Improve your connection with the masses, flag their problems so that the reform express can reach every household and remove their day-to-day hardships," Modi said at a time when the IndiGo crisis is unfolding and the government has vowed strict action against the airline.

Modi also said he wanted to end the culture of people having to fill bulky 30 to 40 page forms and unnecessary paperwork.

"We need to provide services at the door of citizens and eliminate repeated data submissions," he noted, recalling how the government trusted citizens by allowing self-certification and ending the practice of forms to be signed by gazetted officers.

"This trust has worked successfully for 10 years and has not been misused or exploited," Modi said. The PM also paid glowing tributes to the Sahibzadas referring to December 26 which the government declared as Vir Bal Divas in 2022 to honour the memory of Guru Gobind Singh's sons who were bricked alive by Mughal faujdar of Sirhind Wazir Khan on December 26, 1704.

The sons of the tenth Sikh guru remained unyielding in the face of threats to convert to Islam -- a message for all, the PM said.