Hundreds Pay Homage To Guru Arjun Dev Ji At Richmond Hill
NEW YORK, NY: The martyrdom day of Guru Arjun Dev Ji was observed at the Sikh Cultural Society Gurdwara on June 19. Hundreds of Sikhs came from the tri-state area to gather and pay their homage to the Guru who got the Harimandir, the Golden Temple, erected in Amritsar.
Giani Gurdeep Singh the Head Priest of the Gurdwara, in his Katha, the explanation of Guru Granth Sahib, told the congregation of how the Sikh Holy Scripture was written and edited by the fifth .Guru, Guru Arjun Dev Ji.
He also spoke of the Guru’s martyrdom and his lasting contribution to the Sikh ethos.
- Baldev Singh, the secretary of the Society in his address also stressed the great contribution of the Guru in giving us our holy scripture as well as the holiest of the Sikh shrines, the Golden Temple in Amritsar.
He spoke of the close relationship between the 24 akharas of the Sufi Muslims and. the Sikhs. The fifth Guru gave the honor of laying the foundation of the Golden Temple to Mian Mir, a sufi.
On the other hand it was at the instigation of Majadid, a fund a mentalist who advocated the conversion to Islam at the point of sword that Guru Sahib was martyred.
He also pointed out that Guru Hargobind Ji started the tradition of Miri and Piri after his father’s martyrdom. Guru Tegh Bhadur’s martyrdom made the Sikhs take to arms. The martyrdom of innocent Sikhs at the Golden Temple in Amritsar and the subsequent taking of arms by the Sikhs was just history repeating itself, he said.
Harbhajan Singh Gill spoke to the youth. He asked all the Sikh youth to unite and to contribute one week’s salary to defend the innocent Sikh youths.
Prof. Sher Singh Kanwal from California also read a poem to the sangat.
Sikh youth stood outside the Gurdwara Sahib and organized a chabil there. They distributed water sweetened with milk and sugar.
Article extracted from this publication >> June 24, 1988
