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India thinks about the welfare of the world and has never posed a threat to any country, prime minister Narendra Modi said Thursday night as he addressed the nation from Delhi’s Red Fort on the 400th birth anniversary of Sikh Guru Tegh Bahadur. The prime minister also said the Sis Ganj Sahib gurdwara near Red Fort honours the sacrifices of Guru Tegh Bahadur, and that those sacrifices had inspired generations of Indians to live and die with dignity.
“India has never posed a threat to any country or society. Even today we think for the welfare of the whole world. When we talk about self-reliant India, we keep the progress of the whole world at the forefront,” Modi said.
“Big powers have disappeared, big storms have calmed down, but India still stands immortal and is moving ahead,” the prime minister said.
READ: ‘India is following ideals of Sikh Gurus’: Modi’s tribute on Parkash Purab
“We have to be proud of local products and build a self-reliant India… We have to make an India whose strength is seen by the world and which takes the world to new heights.”
Delhi’s iconic Red Fort was chosen as the venue to commemorate the 400th birth anniversary of Sikh Guru Tegh Bahadur because it was from here that Mughal emperor Aurangzeb had given orders for the execution of Guru Tegh Bahadur in 1675.
“This holy gurdwara reminds us how great was the sacrifice of Guru Tegh Bahadur ji to protect our great culture. At that time there was a storm of religious fanaticism in the country,” PM Modi said at the Parkash Purab event. “In front of Aurangzeb’s tyrannical thinking, Guru Tegh Bahadur ji, becoming ‘Hind di Chadar’, stood like a rock,” Modi added.
READ: ‘Aurangzeb severed many heads, but…’: Modi at Red Fort | Top quotes
The event saw performances by 400 Sikh musicians and langar was also held.
Watch: On 400th Parkash Purab, fireworks adorn Amritsar’s Golden Temple
Modi reminded the nation of the Sikh gurus’ traditions and said India’s freedom from hundreds of years of slavery could not be separated from its spiritual and cultural journeys.
The prime minister also underlined India’s role in striving for world peace even as global conflicts take place – seen by some as a reference to Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine.
“All this is possible because the gurus taught us to give primacy to humanity. Love and harmony are part of our values,” prime minister Modi said.
READ: PM releases coin, stamp on Guru Tegh Bahadur’s 400th Parkash Purab
The government has shown its commitment to ‘guru seva’ by constructing the Kartarpur Sahib corridor for which people had been waiting for decades, he added.
Guru Tegh Bahadur’s death anniversary is commemorated as ‘Shaheedi Divas’ every year on November 24. Gurdwara Sis Ganj Sahib, built at the spot where he was beheaded, and Gurdwara Rakab Ganj, the site of his cremation, in Delhi are associated with his sacrifice.
With input from PTI
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