Chandigarh, February 27- Haryana Chief Minister, Sh. Manohar Lal said that teachings of revered Saint Shiromani Guru Ravidas Ji are still relevant today and everyone while rising above caste, creed, class and community should take inspiration from the life and teachings of such great personalities for ensuring brotherhood and social harmony in society.
“On this auspicious day, I bow to the great Saint Guru Ravidas Ji. I urge everyone to come forward and strengthen the bonds of society by following the path of reverence, devotion, equality and compassion shown by him,” said Sh. Manohar Lal.
The Chief Minister was speaking during a state level programme organized on the occasion of 644th Birth Anniversary of great Saint Shiromani Guru Ravidas Ji held at his residence here today. Power and Jails Minister, Sh. Ranjit Singh and BJP leader, Smt. Banto Kataria were also present on this occasion. District level programmes were also organized simultaneously in 22 districts and the dignitaries present in these programmes also participated in the programme held at Chandigarh through video conferencing.
Speaking on the occasion, Sh. Manohar Lal said that Saint Shiromani Guru Ravidas Ji was a great Saint, philosopher, poet, social reformer, and follower of God who was born in the 15th century. He said that Saint Shiromani Guru Ravidas Ji had devoted his entire life to bring about social reforms in the society and ensure upliftment of every needy person.
“Saint Shiromani Guru Ravidas Ji did not belong to any particular caste or community but always worked for the wellbeing of the entire humanity therefore let us take a pledge for imbibing the teachings and messages of such great personalities in our lives so that the sense of disharmony in the society ends and the spirit of equality, love, and brotherhood prevails,” said the Chief Minister.
Sharing Saint Shiromani Guru Ravidas Ji’s, 'Mann Changa Toh Kathauti Mein Ganga', anecdote, the Chief Minister said this anecdote still holds great relevance. He said that our body needs to be holy by soul not by just taking bath in the holy river, if our soul and heart is pure and happy then we are completely holy. Hence everyone should always work with the spirit of communal harmony to serve the society and country.
While quoting Shiromani Guru Ravidas Ji’s Shloka against caste discrimination, “ Jati-jati Mai Jati hai, Jo Ketan Ke Paat, Redas Manush na Jud Sake, Jab Tak Jati na Jaat”, meaning that the caste is like banana leaves, wherein there are leaves within the leaves. There are also many castes within the castes, Sh. Manohar Lal said that Saint Shiromani Guru Ravidas Ji was against casteism and he always believed that social evils like discrimination based on caste, class, or community should be completely eradicated from society.
“It is really unfortunate that the society today has not been completely freed from the atrocities based on caste. Therefore we must all come forward to establish social unity and equality in the society so as to ensure that all the atrocities based on caste, creed, class and community do not prevail in the society and the State and the Country swiftly moves on the development path,” said the Chief Minister.
Political Secretary to Chief Minister, Sh. Krishan Kumar Bedi, Principal Secretary, Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Backward Classes Department, Sh. Vineet Garg, Additional Principal Secretary to Chief Minister and Director General, Information, Public Relations and Languages Department, Dr. Amit Agrawal, Managing Director, Haryana Scheduled Castes, Finance and Development Corporation, Ms. Amneet P. Kumar and other dignitaries were present on this occasion.