Chandigarh Vice-president M Venkaiah Naidu on Wednesday called the Kartarpur corridor that will link Dera Baba Nanak in Punjab to Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan a passage to the ‘shrine of peace, harmony and humanism’.
Addressing a special commemorative event held by the Punjab government in the state assembly here to mark the 550th Parkash Purb of Guru Nanak, Naidu said he was happy that the corridor, which would connect people of India to Kartarpur, would be opened in a couple of days. “I am sure it will be a corridor to the shrine of peace, harmony and humanism, to the universal vision of a world as one family, to the sublime ideal of service to humanity,” he said.
The corridor that will allow Indian pilgrims visa-free access to Gurdwara Darbar Sahib where Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, spent the last years of his life will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 9. Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Punjab governor VPS Badnore, chief minister Amarinder Singh, Haryana governor Satyadeo Narayan Arya and chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar were also present at the special event, along with several MPs and MLAs from the two states, including Punjab leader of opposition Harpal Singh Cheema.
Lauding the state government’s decision to hold a special session to one of India’s most democratic spiritual leaders, he added that Guru Nanak was not only a saint, but also a poet-par-excellence who could communicate the most complex philosophical concepts in the simplest language, a creative, out-of-box thinker, humanist and the quintessential guru. “Guru Nanak Ji belongs to the long illustrious tradition of India’s visionary spiritual leaders who have illumined human existence and greatly enriched the country’s cultural capital,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}Lauding the state government’s decision to hold a special session to one of India’s most democratic spiritual leaders, he added that Guru Nanak was not only a saint, but also a poet-par-excellence who could communicate the most complex philosophical concepts in the simplest language, a creative, out-of-box thinker, humanist and the quintessential guru. “Guru Nanak Ji belongs to the long illustrious tradition of India’s visionary spiritual leaders who have illumined human existence and greatly enriched the country’s cultural capital,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}Naidu added that Guru Nanak’s vision was timeless and had as much relevance in present times as it was when it was expounded five centuries ago. “If we can internalise and integrate these messages in our daily lives and reshape our thinking and actions, we can certainly discover a new world of peace and sustainable development,” he said, adding, “The world needs such spiritual leaders, who can engage in a meaningful dialogue to exchange ideas in order to promote peace, stability and cooperation.”
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Guru Nanak belongs to the long illustrious tradition of India’s visionary spiritual leaders who have illumined human existence and greatly enriched the country’s cultural capital.
M Venkaiah Naidu, vice-president