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How Bihari Nitish Kumar won Sikh hearts and minds

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Harmeet Shah Singh
Harmeet Shah SinghFeb 12, 2017 | 19:11

How Bihari Nitish Kumar won Sikh hearts and minds

In Punjab, and among Punjabis elsewhere, Biharis are largely perceived as labourers, farm workers, masons or rickshaw-drivers from a poverty-stricken region.

Some haughty landlords, or even some ordinary office-goers, could be heard using the term "Bihari" or "Bhaiya" as a slur.

But here's a Bihari who has turned what I call Punjabi vanity into modesty with his own humility and secular beliefs.

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Chief minister Nitish Kumar himself presided over the grand 350th birth-anniversary celebrations of Guru Gobind Singh in Patna last month.

Hundreds of thousands of Sikhs from India and overseas converged on the birthplace of their Guru, the founder of the order of the Khalsa.

The way the entire event was organised changed their perception about Bihar - and also individual attitudes.

Meticulous arrangements - from transport, security, to venues - aside, Biharis overwhelmed the visitors from as far as Canada and the US with their courteous hospitality.

Facebook was awash with posts about Nitish Kumar's passionate involvement in every single programme, micro and macro alike.

On Saturday, a delegation of Sikhs of Delhi and Punjab, which I was part of, met the CM at Bihar Bhawan in the capital to say thank you.

But I realised it was much more than a thank you when an elderly former IRS officer stood up to speak.

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Sikhs meet Bihar CM Nitish Kumar to express their gratitude for his grand hosting of Guru Gobind Singh's birth celebrations in Patna. 

Surinder Jit Singh Pall, a retired chief income-tax commissioner, was carrying an envelope in his palm.

And he handed it to Nitish Kumar. It was a request to the chief minister to accept an honour on behalf of Pall's humble Kes Sambhal Parchar Sanstha.

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But the title Pall, also a researcher of Sikhism, has chosen to confer on Nitish Kumar is extraordinary - it's "Guru Piara", the Beloved of the Guru, for the Bihar CM!

I am not sure any established Sikh religious administration has ever come out with such a sublime salutation.

So when Pall proposed to decorate Nitish Kumar as a "Guru Piara" at Delhi's India International Centre on March 12, every Sikh in Bihar Bhawan's conference hall seemed to be in agreement that it was an apt laurel for the JD(U) leader.

The Gurus were fierce proponents of religious rights, equality and egalitarianism and fierce opponents of bigotry and social stratifications.

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Surinder Jit Singh Pall (left) and former cleric Giani Kewal Singh (right). 

Nitish Kumar's grand hosting of Guru Gobind Singh's birth celebrations was high on political symbolism.

The narrative that came out of Patna in January was pleasantly in contrast with divisive politics that's trying hard to inundate the rest of the Hindi heartland.

Nitish Kumar has walked tall with his secular outlook.

I am not competent enough to forecast the unusual "Guru Piara" honour as a divine blessing, but I feel it does signify lasting respect for inclusive governance and politics.

Nitish Kumar, and the likes of him, will flourish nationally in diverse India if they stay put patiently with their all-embracing doctrine.

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Last updated: February 13, 2017 | 10:54
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