Guru lesson for Capt

If Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala wanted to send a message, loud and clear, to his Punjab counterpart on the sharing of river wa...

If Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala wanted to send a message, loud and clear, to his Punjab counterpart on the sharing of river waters, he could not have chosen a better place and time to do so.

Chautala is leading a delegation to Sadhaura in Pakistan to celebrate the 300th Bakhshish Diwas of Bhai Kanhaiya, a devotee of the Sikh Gurus, known for offering water to drink to even enemy soldiers, for he saw the Guru’s image in each of them.

When a few Sikh soldiers complained to Guru Gobind Singh that Kanhaiya was offering water to the wounded Mughal and Rajput soldiers who had laid siege to Anandpur Sahib in 1704, he was summoned and asked to explain. Kanhaiya quoted the Guru’s own teachings that all humans are children of God. Pleased with his deed, Guru Gobind Singh blessed him.

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Quite in contrast to Punjab CM Capt Amarinder Singh, who overturned previous laws to deny SYL waters to Haryana. That is the message Chautala wants to send — water is ‘‘God’s bounty’’ and should be shared ‘‘even with enemies’’.

Neither the Punjab Government nor the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee has organised a function to commemorate Bakhshish Diwas so far. SGPC secretary Raghbir Singh said so far, there was no plan to celebrate the tercentenary of Bakhsish Diwas.

Chautala is going the whole hog ahead of Assembly elections. On Friday, a function was organised at Yamunanagar to flag off a yatra to collect sacred water from the birthplace of Bhai Kanhaiya. An empty kalash (container) is being taken to Sadhaura. It will be brought back and taken around Haryana in a yatra to project Singh’s attempts to deny waters to the state.