The solutions to society’s problems are in the Bhagavad Gita and its message should reach every corner of the country and the world, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Friday.
He was addressing a gathering at the Sant Sammelan after visiting the International Gita Festival here in Haryana.
The home minister said after 75 years of independence, many seers and mahatmas have revived the knowledge of the Bhagavad Gita. “I have met many scholars around the world, and all believe that solutions to all the problems of the whole world lie in the Gita’s message,” he said
“We are sitting here on the holy land of Kurukshetra. More than 5,000 years ago, Lord Krishna also gave the message of the Gita to Arjun,” Shah said, referring to the Mahabharata.
Solutions to problems of people and society as well as the nation and the world lie in the message of the Gita, he said.
The minister said that in 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had expressed his desire to hold the Gita festival, and since 2016, this festival is being organised at an international level. Assam is the partner state of the festival this year, he said.
The message of the Gita should reach every corner of the country and the world, Shah said and added that for the past seven years, the festival is being successfully organised.
The BJP comes out with its poll manifesto with the belief that the country’s great culture should always be taken forward, he said. Policies were decided by keeping the country’s great culture as a guide, Shah said.
He also spoke about the scrapping of Article 370 and said its abrogation enabled the complete integration of Jammu and Kashmir with the Indian Union.
Referring to past BJP manifestos, Shah highlighted that the party always said that the Ram temple should be built and the practice of instant triple talaq be ended.
In Modi’s tenure, he said, the construction of the Ram temple (in Uttar Pradesh’s Ayodhya) started and now the consecration of Lord Ram’s idol will take place on January 22.
He also talked about the Kashi Vishwanath corridor in Uttar Pradesh’s Varanasi, the Mahakal Lok corridor in Madhya Pradesh’s Ujjain, and the inauguration of the Mata Sharda Devi temple in Kashmir. The home minister also highlighted the installation of the ‘Sengol’, a historical sceptre from Tamil Nadu, in the Lok Sabha chamber of the new Parliament building.
“I am happy that seers sitting here have dedicated their lives to guiding society,” he said in his address at the sammelan. Shah also said he has seen many ups and downs in life, but the teachings of the Gita have always guided him.
“I have seen many ups and downs, but as my mother taught me the Gita in my childhood, I never experienced any disappointment and pain,” he said.
Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, yoga guru Ramdev and Swami Gyananand Maharaj among others were present on the occasion.
Meanwhile, the Gujarat government on Friday launched a supplementary textbook on the ‘Bhagavad Gita’ to be added to the curriculum of classes 6 to 8 from the next academic year with a minister saying the move is aimed at connecting students to India’s rich, diverse and ancient culture and knowledge systems.
Minister of State for Education Praful Pansheriya said the decision has been taken under the framework of the new National Education Policy (NEP) drafted by the Centre three years ago. The state education department has taken a decision under the NEP-2020 “to include the spiritual principles and values embodied in ‘Shrimad Bhagavad Gita’ as a supplementary textbook in the curriculum of Class 6 to Class 8,” Pansheriya said in a post on micro-blogging site X.
Thanking Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel for the decision, he further said, “Through this academic decision, students will feel proud and connected to the rich, diverse, ancient culture and knowledge systems and traditions of India through the teachings of ‘Shrimad Bhagavad Gita.” The supplementary textbook on the revered scripture, which is part of the epic Mahabharata, will instil moral values among student, he maintained. “This decision taken under the ‘National Education Policy 2020’ under the guidance of Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri @narendramodi ji will play an important role in improving values among students,” Pansheriya added. The textbook was launched on the occasion of Gita Jayanti, a Hindu observance marking the day the Bhagavad Gita conversation took place between Arjuna, a Pandava and warrior prince, and Lord Krishna on the battlefield of Kurukshetra. Talking to reporters later, Pansheriya said this is the first part of the textbook which is meant for the students of classes 6 to 8 and will be soon sent to schools across the state. Two more parts, for students of classes 9 to 12, will be made available soon, said the minister.
