The Shiromani Akali Dal and the BJP on Thursday hit out at former Congress president Rahul Gandhi for his remarks during a speech that founder of Sikhism Guru Nanak Dev had visited Mecca, Thailand and Sri Lanka. Rahul Gandhi made these remarks during an address in the US while referring to his Bharat Jodo Yatra. In his California address, Rahul said, “Not only in India, Bharat Jodo is an idea that is in all your hearts and it is about respecting each other and being affectionate to each other. It is about not being violent towards each other, not being arrogant. I can see my Sikh brothers here. Your Guru Nanak ji, his entire life was about this only; that be humble, be affectionate.. [Compared to Guru Nanak ji], we walked nothing (during Bharat Jodo Yatra). I read somewhere that Guru Nanak ji had gone all the way to Mecca, Saudi Arabia… he had gone to Thailand…he had gone to Sri Lanka. So these giants were doing Bharat Jodo much before we were born…” Rahul Gandhi’s remarks sparked a condemnation with the BJP attacking Congress leader for drawing parallel between his “shallow” Bharat Jodo Yatra and Udhasis (foot journey travels) of Guru Nanak Dev on the one hand and questioning the silence of SAD-led Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) and the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC), on the other. BJP national spokesperson R P Singh tweeted, “I am very much hurt & appalled by @RahulGandhi 's statement in California. “I thought @SGPCAmritsar or other Sikh clergy will react to Rahul's drawing parallel between his shallow political #BharatJodoYatra & Udhasis of Guru Nanak Dev ji which were conducted with the purpose of spreading religious and spiritual knowledge & humanity to the masses & to explain the true nature of religion and God, but to my dismay none of @SGPCAmritsar or @DSGMCDelhipresent or previous members uttered a word,” tweeted Singh. Hours after R P Singh’s tweet, Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal took to Twitter and wrote, “@RahulGandhi should avoid speaking on subjects of which he has neither knowledge nor understanding. He clearly doesn’t know that the vision of Shri Guru Nanak Dev ji transcends geographical boundaries and is not only global but also cosmic in its reach. To suggest that Guru Sahib went to Mecca & other places on a Bharat Jodo Yatra is to reduce the sublime to ridiculous.” Before the duo, BJP leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa had tweeted, “Dear Rahul Gandhi, how much should we keep forgiving in the name of your stupidity? Where did you read that Guru Nanak went to Thailand? Is it too much to expect that you should talk like a sensible intelligent person when it concerns religion?” In his quest to spread love and harmony among the humanity through spiritual dialogues, Guru Nanak Dev visited more than 150 Islamic, Sufi, Hindu, Buddhist and Jain sites across Asia, travelling far and wide during 15th and 16th centuries. From Mecca to Haridwar, from Sylhet to Mount Kailash, Guru Nanak visited hundreds of interfaith sites throughout his foot journeys, called the Udasis. At some sites, gurdwaras were constructed to commemorate his visit, and later his travels were documented in texts called ‘janamsakhis’. As per the current geographical divisions, the Udasis were spread across nine nations — India, Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, China (Tibet), Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan.
