The Punjab government has decided to hold virtualcelebrations to kick off the historic 400th Prakash Purab of Sri Guru TeghBahadur ji from April 28 amid the uncertain situation resulting from thecontinuous surge in Covid cases, Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singhannounced on Friday.
Online kirtans will be organized by the government onTelevision and social media channels, with people being urged to offer Ardas for‘sarbat da bhala’ from their homes, the Chief Minister said, adding that hewill speak to SGPC chief Bibi Jagir Kaur to shift all celebrations to thevirtual mode in view of the crisis situation.
While he and the whole state had been looking forward to celebratethe great event in a befitting manner in memory of Guru ji’s sacrifice forHindus, the situation was not conducive to grand celebrations, noted the ChiefMinister.
He appealed to people to watch the events on TV and offerardas from their homes for sarbat ka bhala on May 1 - the Guru Purab of theninth Guru. All programmes will be heldas scheduled now, but through virtual mediums, with no physical gatherings, anofficial spokesperson disclosed after a meeting of the executive committee setup to oversee the historic celebrations.
Chairing the meeting, the Chief Minister exhorted thepeople to participate in the various events, including live televised kirtansetc, which will also be telecast on social media, from their homes.
Earlier, MPs Manish Tewari and Gurjeet Aujla stressed theneed to have symbolic celebrations this year, with no big functions orgatherings till the Covid situation eases. Cabinet Minister Charanjit SinghChanni was of the view that televised/online celebrations will send out apositive and constructive message to the people during these difficult times.
Chief Secretary Vini Mahajan also suggested onlineprogrammes since the mutated strain of the virus seemed to be extremelydangerous. The SGPC should also be taken on board with this decision, she said.