International Sikh Conclave begins in Patna

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his Punjab counterpart Parkash Singh Badal today joined a host of leading Sikh personalities for the inaugural function of the three-day International Sikh Conclave here.
The Sikh personalities, who hailed from the country and abroad, would also discuss the arrangement for celebration of the 350th birth anniversary of Guru Gobind Singh between December 30, 2016 to January 10, 2017.
Union Minister of State for Agriculture S S Ahluwalia and Uttar Pradesh jail minister B R Ramuwalia were also present at the function.
Ruby Dhalla, ex MP of House of Commons of Canada and R S Sandhu, Deputy Lord Lieutenant, Licestershir, UK were among a host of NRIs who came to attend the conclave.

In his speech, the Bihar CM said, "It is a matter of pride and honour that I got the opportunity to organise Guru Gobind Singh Maharaj's 350th birth anniversary celebrations in Patna Saheb which has got an important place in Sikh religion."
Scholars would participate in the conclave and the panel discussions to be held in four sessions on various subjects relating to Guru Gobind Singh Maharaj.

Kumar requested the people at the conclave to visit places like Bodhgaya and Rajgir where Guru Nanak Dev spent some time. The state government has made arrangements for their visit to these places, he added.

Punjab CM thanked Kumar for organising the Sikh Conclave and preparing for Guru Maharaj's birth anniversary celebration.
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The Punjab Chief Minister also gave a cheque for
Rs 10 crore to his Bihar counterpart for construction of a building to accommodate people coming to Patna to participate in 'Prakash Parv'.
Union Minister S S Ahluwalia, who hails from Bihar, referred Kumar as 'Sardar Nitish Kumar' at the event.
Noting that Bihar, after Punjab, has the major Sikh population, Ahluwalia asked the state government to identify the places where Guru Sahab went and had sittings and declare them as places of historical importance.

Ruby Dhalla, who was the first woman MP of House of Commons of Canada, spoke at length about the growth of 'Khalsa' philosophy across the globe "which is evident from the fact that out of 15 Sikh MPs in the Canadian Parliament, four are ministers in the Canada government."
Nitish Kumar also released a book on Guru Gobind Singh and a mobile phone app giving tips and information to those visiting Bihar for attending the celebration.
Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejaswhi Prasad Yadav, Tourism Minister Anita Devi, former chairman of national minority commission Tarlochan Singh and G S Barnala also spoke on the occasion.

Bihar ministers Krishnandan Verma, Awadhesh Kumar Singh, Abdul Gafoor and senior officers were also present.