Underlining the need for preserving spiritual heritage of the country, BJP President Amit Shah today said India cannot become a super power if it makes even a little compromise with its ancient traditions.
Shah, who was the chief guest at the 104th annual function of Gurukul Kurukshetra here, said that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the country is fast moving toward being a prosperous and strong nation by preserving its ancient spiritual heritage.
In the two-and-a-half years of the NDA government, the world has witnessed the pace with which India is moving ahead.
Also Read
"It is the result of unstinted efforts of the Prime Minister that the whole world has accepted yoga," he said.
Expressing his gratitude to Gurukul Kurukshetra for giving him the opportunity to visit the land where Lord Krishna had delivered the celestial message of 'Bhagavad Gita', he said solution to all problems of the world lies in this sacred book.
He said that the land of 'Gita', where Swami Shradhanand has sown the seed of education, has now taken the shape of a Gurukul, where the young generation is getting value-based quality education which is a commendable work in this era of materialism.
Throwing light on the life of Swami Dayanand Saraswati, the founder of Arya Samaj, Shah said that though Gujarat was his birth place, the spiritual leader worked in Punjab and other parts of north India.
He said that several saints had worked for preserving our spiritual heritage and played a vital role in the freedom struggle of the country.
Apart from this, they also worked for imparting knowledge to the masses, eradicating various social evils and protecting Indian culture, the Hindu religion and Vedas, he said.
This enlightenment of knowledge led to spiritual consciousness in the country which resulted in the freedom of the country, Shah said.
He made it clear that BJP supports the ideology of Arya Samaj and urged the people to follow the path shown by Swami Dayanand to ensure development of the country and the world.
(REOPENS DEL46)
Shah said Swami Dayanand founded the Arya Samaj in Mumbai in 1875 and showed a new path to the world. Lala Lajpat Rai, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Ram Parsad Bismil, Bhagat Singh and Mahatma Gandhi were among the prominent personalities who were associated with Arya Samaj.
Swami Dayanand provided a new direction to the nation and society by eradicating social evils of child marriage and sati pratha, he said.
To prevent the youth from being addicted to drugs, Shah said, moral values which are on the decline have to be strengthened.
The BJP President said that to mark the birth centenary of Pt Deendayal Upadhyay this year, focus is being laid on ensuring that the benefit of various welfare schemes reach beneficiaries at the grassroots level.
Shah said that following the vision of Prime Minister Modi, it has also been decided to observe this year as Dalit Kalyan Varsh.
Earlier, he laid the foundation of Subhas Chandra Bose NDA training centre.
This was Shah's second visit to Haryana within a week, the last being on Sunday when he took part in annual fair organised at the Agroha Dham in Hisar.
Speaking on this occasion, Himachal Pradesh Governor Acharya Dev Vrat said the Arya Samaj was the first social-religious institution in the country to work for the promotion of education.
He said that DAV Management Committee and the Gurukul are running thousands of educational institutions across the country where modern education based on moral values is being provided to the children.
The Governor said Arya Samaj has always worked for the uplift of poor and downtrodden and women education, besides eradication of social evils like dowry and child marriage.
He urged the students of Gurukul to take pledge to work for making the country and the state free from social evils and also save the youth from the menace of drugs.
Referring to Prime Minister Modi, the Governor said that it is a matter of pride that today the leadership of the country is in the hands of such a great personality of whom the whole country is proud.
He lauded the PM and the army for the recent surgical strike on terrorist launch pads across the LoC.
Haryana Chief Minister Khattar appreciated Gurukul Kurukshetra for doing "unprecedented work in providing quality education based on moral values to the children".
Khattar said the state government has prepared a scheme
for imparting quality and value-based education to students in rural areas in collaboration with private institutions so that they do not lag behind.
He appealed to the students to adopt the method of 'each one, teach one' to ensure that those in rural areas get quality education.
Earlier, Khattar greeted Shah on his birthday today.
At the event, President of DAV Management Committee, New Delhi, Punam Suri, said that to give a major push to the Centre's 'Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao' programme, a new school for girls would be opened in Rajaund in Kaithal district.
It has also been decided to open a women's university in Yamunanagar where all the staff from Vice Chancellor to peon would be women, Suru said.
The committee has already written a letter to the Haryana government seeking permission for setting up the university, he said.
Senior BJP leader and in-charge for party affairs in Haryana Anil Jain also spoke on the occasion.
The function was also attended by state ministers and BJP leaders. However, BJP MP from Kurukshetra Raj Kumar Saini, who was recently manhandled by some youths who threw ink at him, was conspicuous by his absence.
