In an unusual development Prime Minister Narendra Modi, without any security cover, and without any prior announcement paid a visit to Guru Tegh Bahadur Gurdwara at Rakabganj in Delhi on Sunday morning.
The Prime Minister walked alone, bowed down, offered prayer and then later paid tributes to the 9th Sikh Guru, whose body was cremated after his execution.
There were some pilgrims in the morning who were taken by surprise after seeing the Prime Minister among them. Some of them later took selfie with him.
Modi’s visit did not cause any traffic jam nor many people in the vicinity could immediately know about it.
Political observers are linking this development with the farmers’ movement going on at the borders of Delhi. As a big chunk of farmers are Sikhs from Punjab, Sunday’s gesture might have been planned to soften them.
During a visit to Kutch a few days back the Prime Minister also met some Sikh farmers who were settled there more than half a century back. But the agitating farmers were not impressed by the PM’s Gujarat exercise and dubbed it as political gimmick. They then said that it would have been better had the Prime Minister talked to them in Delhi itself.
Meanwhile the farmers agitation on the outskirts of Delhi entered its 25th day on Sunday with hardly any chance of an early end.
Later in a series of tweets, the Prime Minister recalled the contributions of Guru Tegh Bahadur and his struggle for just cause: “This morning, I prayed at the historic Gurudwara Rakab Ganj Sahib, where the pious body of Sri Guru Teg Bahadur Ji was cremated. I felt extremely blessed. I, like millions around the world, am deeply inspired by the kindnesses of Sri Guru Teg Bahadur Ji.”
In another tweet, PM Modi said: “It is the special Kripa of the Guru Sahibs that we will mark the special occasion of the 400th Parkash Parv of Sri Guru Teg Bahadur Ji during our Government’s tenure.”
“Let us mark this blessed occasion in a historic way and celebrate the ideals of Sri Guru Teg Bahadur Ji,” he added.
