Rs 100-cr aid for Khalsa festival
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, Nov 5 — The Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, today announced a grant of Rs 100 crore for the tercentenary celebrations of the birth of the Khalsa all over the country and also decided to request foreign governments to loan Sikh relics for exhibition among other programmes.

The decision taken at the first meeting of the National Committee which met here today under the chairmanship of the Prime Minister, was announced by the Human Resource Development Minister, Dr Murli Manohar Joshi, at a press conference here this evening.

It was attended among others by two former Prime Ministers Chander Shekhar and Inder Kumar Gujral, four Cabinet Ministers, and the Chief Ministers of Punjab, Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir and other leaders.

In order to oversee the celebrations due to begin on Baisakhi day next year, an Implementation Committee has been formed. It will be headed by the Human Resource Development Minister, with the Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, as its Vice-Chairman. The other members of the committee will be announced soon.

Interestingly, the issue of requesting foreign governments to loan relics will also lead to Pakistan which has a considerable segment of history connected with the Khalsa Panth.

Dr Joshi told TNS the Centre had decided to take up the matter with a team of Pakistan’s Cultural Department which is due to visit India later this month.

During the meeting, the J and K Chief Minister had reportedly raised the issue of including the people of his State in the ‘jathas’ which visit Sikh shrines in Pakistan.

The Punjab Government had suggested that 1999 be declared as the Year of Human Spirit’, and Dr Joshi said he had written to UNESCO which replied that the theme would be incorporated in 2000 AD which is to be observed as ‘Year of Peace’.

Among the programmes suggested was a summit of spiritual heads of world religions, release of a commemorative stamp on April 13, 1999, by the Prime Minister and institution of a Chair in the name of Guru Gobind Singh in Kurukshetra University, Dr Joshi said.

The Centre, he said, will also direct Indian missions abroad to design suitable programmes for the occasion in which the Indian community can participate.

Outlining some of the highlights of the celebrations, he said, will be a march of "Panj Piaras" which will commence from five locations — Hastinapur, Lahore, Jagannath Puri, Dwarka and Bidar — where the original Panj Piaras hailed from to Anandpur Sahib.

A grand march from Kiratpur Sahib to Anandpur Sahib led by heads of Sikh religious organisations has also been planned.

Some of the suggestions made at the meeting the included establishment of memorial halls or libraries in different states. The main theme should focus on unity and nationalism and the creation of a casteless egalitarian society without gender discrimination, highlighting the literary aspect of Guru Gobind Singh.

He said it was suggested that Guru Gobind Singh’s poetry be translated into different languages and some parts of it be incorporated in curricula at all levels.

An association of all sections and religious heads with all programmes and institution of awards in the name of Guru Gobind Singh, particularly for the service of the downtrodden, gallantry and literature, was also suggested.

Dr Joshi said all these suggestions would be considered by the Implementation Committee and some sub-committees could be formed to assist it.

In a separate press conference, the Punjab Finance Minister, Capt Kanwaljit Singh, said the State Government had urged the Centre to request UNESCO to organise a seminar of interfaith religion to mark the occasion. He said UNESCO had agreed to hold it at Chandigarh.

Similarly, a request has been made to Victoria and Albert Museum, London to loan the original Anglo-Sikh pact which contains the handprint of Maharaja Ranjit Singh.

Dr Joshi said the London museum is also organising an exhibition of ‘The Arts of the Sikh Kingdom’ and later at other venues in North America in collaboration with local Sikh Community. He said the exhibition was due to be inaugurated on March 25 and some exhibits would be provided by India.

He said foreign countries were also making plans to celebrate the event with the University of Paris, having commissioned a project to translate Guru Granth Sahib in French.

The French Culture Ministry has also decided to organise a seminar in Paris next year where eminent scholars from the world, including India, will take part.

In order to promote the Punjabi language and literature, there is a proposal to open Punjab book stores in Chandigarh, Amritsar, Delhi and London, he said.