The long-pending issue of reconstruction of Gyan Godri Gurudwara near Ganga got a final nod from Chief Minister Harish Rawat amidst cheering by members of the Sikh community on Sunday at BHEl Gurudwara.
The Chief Minister had come to preside over the the 350th birth anniversary celebrations of the tenth Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh. He tried to elicit the support of the Sikh community by making assurance of Gurudwara land transfers from Uttar Pradesh soon.
Beside other sops for the spread of Sikhism and its culture, the Chief Minister said that he was proud and elated that the long pending matter of the Gurudwara was resolved by him. “As the media reports highlighted, it seemed there would be no solution to the problem and I was pained to observe the same. Now I am happy that the Sikh brothers shall be able to restore the heritage of Gyan Godri,” said the CM. He even went up to the extent of saying that he was expecting that they would make a magnificent Gurdwara near the bank of Ganga river. He said that he spoke to the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh on Sunday morning making him aware that orders for land transfer had been issued long ago and the process of making handover of land must ensue. Only one formality was left which shall also be completed, said the chief minister.
On every announcement he made, there was sloganeering from the crowd, “Bole so Nehal, Sat Sri Akal” expressing their gratitude and jubilance.
The Chief Minister further said that plans were afoot that the ‘Vani Path’ (recitation from the holy book Guru Granth Sahib) should be done in schools and colleges so that the coming generations will know about their rich culture. The education department has been told to facilitate the way to enable this, said the Chief Minister. Besides plan of hiring of teachers conversant in Gurumukhi was also underway, he added. The Chief Minister also said that a "magnificent" programme of celebration of Guru Gobind Singh Jayanti would be held in Parade Ground of Dehradun for which Rs 51 lakh was already deposited with the committee formed. This was done before the model code of conduct for polls was enforced, emphasised Rawat.
He said apart from ‘Uttarakhandi Sanskriti’, ‘mili-juli sanskriti’ (mix of culture) is also the face of Uttarakhand.