The government will celebrate the 400th birth anniversary of Guru Tegh Bahadur with a two-day event at Red Fort starting Wednesday and the release of a commemorative postage stamp and coin, Union Culture Minister G. Kishan Reddy said on Monday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi would address the gathering and the nation from the Red Fort on Thursday, Mr. Reddy said at a press conference. A “shabad kirtan” would be held on Wednesday and an exhibition on the “life and sacrifice” of Guru Tegh Bahadur would be inaugurated by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, a statement said.
Mr. Reddy said this was the first time such an event was being held on the birth anniversary of the ninth Sikh guru. He added that the government had been organising events to honour all those “who had fought for their religion and India’s Independence” as a part of the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav programme.
Asked about the significance of holding the event at Red Fort, Culture Ministry secretary Govind Mohan said the orders to execute Guru Tegh Bahadur were issued from the same site by the Mughals. He said a message of harmony and brotherhood would go out from the ramparts of the Red Fort, from where Prime Ministers address the nation on Independence Day.
