Farmers Movement Archive

On Guru Nanak Jayanti, Sikhs have 2 reasons to rejoice

Panaji: It was a double celebration for the Sikhs in Goa as they celebrated the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak on Friday and rejoiced as the farm laws were repealed in a verbal message by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday. “This is a very good step by the PM. The leaders will now have to see the modalities of how the protesters are to be dispersed. We are happy that this decision has come on such an auspicious day,” said Harvinder Singh, president of the Gurudwara Shri Guru Singh Sabha at Betim. Devotees from various parts of the state were seen attending the event, offering their respects to their leader, Guru Nanak. “We give him the status of a living God and wanted to be a part of the ‘guru janam din’. Though we did pay our respects at the gurudwara in Betim, we visited Azad Maidan as well, because it is a day of double celebration,” Varsha Gopani said. The Sikh community on Friday observed the 552nd Guru Nanak Jayanti at Panaji by holding a kirtan and langar at the gurudwara. This was followed by a procession to Azad Maidan. “Due to the pandemic, we had restricted entries to the gurudwara last year. The idea to hold the event at Azad Maidan this year was to send a message across Goa that devotees can come here to pay their respect to the Guru Granth Sahib. The message of Guru Nanak must be spread throughout Goa,” Singh said. There were at least 2,000 people at the gurudwara who were allowed to enter in small batches throughout the day. Only 600 were allowed to attend the kirtan, while the rally was led by 250 people who were at Azad Maidan. “Everyone is equal and on a par at the gurudwara, so there is no restricted entry only for believers. We believe in the concept of one God and preach that. The rally was taken out to preach the sermons of Guru Nanak and spread the message of humanity,” treasurer of the gurudwara, Rupinder Singh Kher, said.

The Times of India

2021-11-20

Goa