LAHORE: The three-day celebration of the 500th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak, the founder of the Sikh faith, commenced this morning [Nov 21] at his birth place, Gurdwara Janam Asthan, at Nankana Saheb, 55 miles from here.

The Chief Justice of the West Pakistan High Court, Mr Justice Qadeeruddin Ahmad, declared open the celebrations at a colourful ceremony held at the Guru Nanak Degree College, adjacent to the Gurdwara, and attended by over 7,000 Sikh pilgrims from all over the world, including large contingents from India, Iran, Afghanistan, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Kenya. The birthday celebrations inside the Gurdwara had started early in the morning with “Akhand Path”, the traditional recitation of the Sikh holy book.

Mr Justice Qadeeruddin in his inaugural speech said that the best tribute that could be paid to the founder of the great religion was to follow his great principles which preached love for all humanity and negation of selfhood in complete submission to the will of God. Mr Justice Qadeeruddin said that Muslims had always held Guru Nanak in great veneration not only because he was one or the most outstanding personalities of the sub-continent but also because most of his teachings were akin to the tenets of lslam. — Agency

Published in Dawn, November 22nd, 2019