Solutions to all problems of society in Gita: Amit Shah

PTI, Dec 23, 2023, 9:24 AM IST

Solutions to all of society’s problems are in the Bhagavad Gita and its message should reach every corner of the country and the world, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said here on Friday.

He was addressing a gathering at the Sant Sammelan after visiting the International Gita Festival.

The home minister said that in the 75 years of the country’s Independence, many seers and ‘mahatmas’ have worked for the revival of the Bhagavad Gita. ”I have met many scholars around the world, and all believe that solutions to all the problems of the whole world lie in the Gita’s message,” he said.

He referred to the Mahabharat saying, ”We are sitting here on the holy land of Kurukshetra. More than 5,000 years ago, Lord Krishna also gave the message of the Gita to Arjun.” Shah said that some intellectuals, including those related to the defence sector, told him that if one managed to successfully spread the message of Gita everywhere, then there would never be a war in the world.

The BJP leader said that he corrected them by saying the text they were referring to contains the message given to inspire someone to fight in a battle. Lord Krishna told Arjuna that it was the time for a war and he could not see who was before him and that it was his ‘dharma’ that he was fighting for and not himself, Shah said.

”I have seen many ups and downs, but because my mother taught me the Gita in my childhood, I never experienced any disappointment and pain,” he said.

The Gita festival is being organised at an international level since 2016, two years after Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his desire to hold such an event, he said. Assam is the partner state for the festival this year.

Shah said that Modi has worked to awaken the sense of self in the country in the past 10 years since he became the prime minister.

The BJP came out with its poll manifestos with the belief that the country’s culture should always be taken forward, and the government made policies keeping it as a guiding force, he said.

The minister said that the scrapping of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir enabled the complete integration of the region with the rest of India. For the start of a cultural and religious renaissance in the country, the Ram temple had to be built and ‘triple talaq’ had to be ended, he said, referring to two of the promises in his party’s manifestos. The Ram Mandir in UP’s Ayodhya, built after years long litigation, is slated for a consecration ceremony on January 22.

Shah also spoke about the construction of Varanasi’s Kashi Vishwanath corridor and the Mahakal Lok corridor in Madhya Pradesh’s Ujjain, and the inauguration of the Mata Sharda Devi temple in Kashmir as some of the NDA government’s achievements.

He referred to the installation of the ‘Sengol,’ a historical sceptre from Tamil Nadu, in the Lok Sabha chamber of the new Parliament building, as one of the high points of Modi’s tenure.

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, yoga guru Ramdev and Swami Gyananand Maharaj were present on the occasion.