"Ram Janmbhoomi Andolan Was Started By Sikhs": Rajnath Singh

Stating that the Sikh community has done a lot to protect the Sanatan Dharma, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday said it was Sikhs who started the Ram Janmabhoomi movement and their contribution can never be forgotten by any Indian.

Mr Singh said this while addressing a gathering at Lucknow's Alambagh Gurudwara on Prakash Utsav of Guru Granth Sahib.

"The Sikh community has done a lot to protect the Sanatan Dharma. For Ram Janmabhoomi also, no Indian can forget their contribution," Mr Singh said.

He said, "I wanted to share an important fact according to the government record. On Dec 1, 1858, according to an FIR, a group of Sikhs raising slogans of Guru Govind Singh captured the premises and wrote 'Ram Ram' everywhere on the walls." "The Ram Janmbhoomi Andolan was started by the Sikhs," he added.

Mr Singh said that now everyone talks about their rights but not about their duties.

"If there is a community whose percentage of those who laid down their lives for the country and their percentage in the Army is greater their population percentage, that is the Sikh community," he said.

Rajnath Singh also said that the Guru Granth Sahib is such an ocean of knowledge and compassion in which every person can dive and attain the right path. The knowledge it contains is free from the constraints of time and limitations.

"Guru Granth Sahib, which gives the message of selfless service, peace and brotherhood, is a source of inspiration not only for the Sikh community, but also for every Indian community and deserves respect."

"Guru Nanak Ji had envisioned a society based on compassion, contentment and sacrifice for social harmony, which believed in rising above caste and doing work for the greater good and welfare of all," he said.

History is witness to the fact that to protect the religion which had given the message of welfare of all, not once but innumerable times, people have shown "incomparable courage," Mr Singh said. He added that protecting India and its people is our supreme duty and Guru Nanak Dev has also given us the same inspiration.

Mr Singh said the Sikh community also has an important contribution in the freedom struggle. "I want to ask whether the sacrifice of Guru Gobind Singh Ji and his Khalsa is not a part of this?" he said.

He also cited the sacrifice of Guru Tegh Bahadur.

The defence minister said, "I am also well acquainted with the history of the Sikh Regiment. Whenever I go among the Army soldiers, when the slogan 'Jo Bole So Nihaal Sat Shri Akal' is chanted, I get the joy of chanting (the slogan) with them. I cannot express it in words." Mr Singh also said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has decided to celebrate the sacrifice day of the sons of Guru Gobind Singh ji as 'Veer Bal Diwas' and it is celebrated all over the country.

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