Concocted narratives were taught in the country, which created a sense of inferiority among us,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Monday marking the first Veer Bal Diwas in the Capital. “Any country with such a glorious history must be full of self-confidence and self-respect,” he added.
He underlined what he called the need to be freed from “the narrow interpretation of the past in order to move forward.”
Tributes to the Sahibzades on Veer Baal Diwas. They epitomised courage, valour and sacrifice. https://t.co/PPBvJJnXzS
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) December 26, 2022
That’s why the country has pledged to remove all traces of “slave mentality” during the Azadi ka Amrit Kaal, he said.
Modi said that wherever there were faces of cruelty, these were overshadowed by the character of heroes. “The Mughals possessed an army of millions, while the Veer Sahibzaade of Guru (the two martyred children) were armed with courage. They did not bow down to the Mughals even though they were alone. This is when the Mughals walled them alive,” he said addressing the gathering at Major Dhyan Chand Stadium.
On January 9 this year, on the day of the Prakash Purab (birth anniversary) of the Sikh Guru Gobind Singh, the Prime Minister had announced that December 26 would be observed every year as “Veer Bal Diwas,” to mark the martyrdom of the 10th Guru’s young sons Baba Zorawar Singh and Baba Fateh Singh.
“Vishwa ka hazaaron varshon ka itihaas kroorta ke ek se ek khaufnaak adhyaayon se bhara hai (the history of the world is replete with horrific chapters),” the PM said, referring to events that led to the sacrifice of the young sons at the hands of the Mughals.
“But it is also true that whatever happened in Chamkaur and the battle of Sirhind was unprecedented,” he said, adding, “On the one hand was religious fundamentalism and the entire Mughal empire blinded with fundamentalism, and, on the other hand, were our guru our Gurus, teeming with the power of knowledge and penance, and India’s ancient value system (ek or dharmik kattarta aur us kattarta mein andhi itni badi Mughal sultanat, aur doosri or, gyaan aur tapasya mein tape huye hamare guru, Bharat ke pracheen manveeya mulyon ko jeene wali parampara).”
“Ek or aatank ki parakashtha to doosri or adhyatam ka sheersh; ek or mazhabi unmad, to doosri or sab mein ishwar dekhne wali udaarta (on the one hand, ultimate terror, and on the other, the pinnacle of spirituality; one side was marked by religious frenzy, the other by a generosity of seeing god in every human being,” he remarked.
PM Modi paid tributes to Zorawar Singh and Fateh Singh, Guru Gobind Singh’s sons. (Express photo by Praveen Khanna)
And all this is not thousands of years old, to have been blurred with the passage of time, but happened on this very soil, not more than three centuries ago, the PM said.
“Veer Bal Diwas will tell us what is India and what is its identity and every year, it will inspire us to recognize our past and make our future. The day will also remind everyone about the strength of our young generation”, the Prime Minister added.
“It’s a day of a new beginning for the nation when we all come together to bow our heads for the sacrifices laid down in the past. Shaheedi Saptah and Veer Bal Diwas are not just a cauldron of emotions, but also a source of infinite inspiration,” he said.
The day will remind us that age does not matter when it comes to extreme valour and sacrifice, Modi said, adding that it will also be a reminder of the immense contribution of the 10 Sikh Gurus in protecting the honour of the nation.
The event, organised by the Ministry of Culture, was also attended by Union Ministers Hardeep Puri, Meenakshi Lekhi and Arjun Meghwal; Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann; Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and functionaries of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee.
Recalling the solemn tradition of observing the shahidi week throughout the state, Mann said: “It is the time to reminisce about the ultimate sacrifice and remind coming generations that such sacrifices were done at the ages of nine and seven.”
He also thanked the Prime Minister for the government scheduling two mega G-20 events in Amritsar, during which the city’s history and heritage – the Golden Temple, Jallianwala Bagh, and Wagah Border – will be showcased to the visitors.
Shinde built on the shared Sikh history and heritage of Punjab and Maharashtra. “Brave souls, saints, patriots and revolutionaries have been born on the soil of both states,” he said, citing Bhagat Singh who was born in Punjab and Rajguru in Maharashtra. “The samadhi of Guru Gobind Singh ji is in Nanded, Guru Nanak had also come to Nanded, while Namdeo, the saint from Maharashtra, had visited Punjab,” he said.
During the two-hour programme, a ‘Shabad Kirtan’ was recited by a group of 300 Baal Kirtanis. Later, the Prime Minister flagged off a march-past by 3,000 schoolchildren from the venue to the Kartavya Path at India Gate.
The Prime Minister also highlighted the importance of determination and the bravery of Veer Sahibzaade as they showed up the tyranny of Aurangzeb signalling that the young generation was not ready to buckle under cruelty. This, he said, establishes the role of the young generation in the destiny of a nation. He also cited the names of young, inspirational children from history, including Bharat, Bhakt Prahlaad, Nachiketa, Dhruv, Luv-Kush and Bal Krishna.
