Tamil Nadu - Madurai   

Interfaith relations much needed now: Barnala

— Photo: K. Ganesan

meaningful dialogue: Governor Surjit Singh Barnala (third from right) releasing a book at Madurai Kamaraj University in the city on Wednesday. Vice-Chancellor R. Karpaga Kumaravel (second from right) receiving the first copy. (from left) N. Muthu Mohan, Head, Department of Guru Nanak Studies, MKU, Sardar Waryam Singh, Secretary, Dharam Prachar Committee, SGPC, Amritsar, Gurnam Singh Sanghera, author of the book, Sirpi Balasubramanian, Convenor, Tamil Nadu Sahitya Akademi, and A. S. Bamrah, Syndicate Member, are seen.

MADURAI: “The Holy Granth is a repository of sacred words and holy utterances of not only Sikh Gurus, but also of saints and spiritual leaders from different communities,” said Governor Surjit Singh Barnala on Wednesday.

Inaugurating an international seminar on ‘Identity and Dialogue in Guru Granth Sahib’ at Madurai Kamaraj University here, he said that this year was a golden year in the annals of Sikh history as Sikhs all over the world were celebrating the tercentenary of Sri Guru Granth Sahib and it was befitting to organise the seminar.

“The Guru Granth Sahib is a repository of sacred thoughts and does not have temporal limits as it is applicable at all times and, especially, is much needed in these recent times of communal turbulence,” he said. The seminar would prove to be a platform to promote interfaith relations, harmony, brotherhood, equality and love which were most needed these days. N. Muthu Mohan, Head, Department of Guru Nanak Studies, said that the rationale of the seminar was to probe into the specific features of the Sikh scripture. He said that Sri Guru Granth Sahib on one hand bore the ideological and institutional identity of Sikhs and on the other hand contained an inter-religious space to open up itself to every religion and people.

R. Karpaga Kumaravel, Vice-Chancellor, said that there existed a symbiotic relationship between philosophy and education. “Philosophy is theory and education is practice. Education is the dynamic state of philosophy.” He said that the seminar assumed significance after the recent Mumbai terror attacks and seminars such as this would spread the message of communal harmony.

Quoting Paulo Freire’s ‘Pedagogy of the Oppressed,’ he said that distance between people and knowledge should be bridged and any means of knowledge production should be disseminated among the masses. The Vice-Chancellor said that steps would be taken to publish the proceedings of the seminar and research papers. A paper on Sri Guru Granth Sahib would be included in Value Education course and made available to all departments and affiliated colleges.

Deliberations of the proceedings would turn a new leaf in the history of Sikh Studies in South India said, Waryam Singh, secretary, Dharam Prachar Committee, SGPC, Amritsar.

Sirpi Balasubramaniam spoke on the parallels between Tamil literature and Sri Guru Granth Sahib through various references.

A book, ‘Interfaith Relations: A Sikh Perspective,’ authored by Gurnam Singh Sanghera, was released by Mr. Barnala and the first copy was received by the Vice-Chancellor.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Rajaji, Thevar, Bharathi remembered
DRDO to fund research in counter-terrorism
Thanapandiyan DMDK candidate for by-poll
UGC eligibility test to be held on December 21
Comes out in flying colours
Transgenders enter public space in a big way
American College to reopen today
Interfaith relations much needed now: Barnala
VC: revamp science teaching in schools
In Madurai Today
Water level
AIFB faction to support DMK

Copyright © 2008, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu