Guru Tegh Bahadar Sahib’s Legacy Deserves a University, Not a Street Name: Sarna
NEW DELHI, Nov 6 (WISHAVWARTA):- Delhi Akali chief Paramjit Singh Sarna has strongly rejected calls from a section of the Sikh community to rename Chandni Chowk or the Old Delhi Railway Station after Sri Guru Tegh Bahadar Sahib as part of the 350th Shaheedi Anniversary commemorations, calling the proposal “an intellectually dumb gesture that confuses remembrance with erasure.”
Sarna said Chandni Chowk, a historic quarter of the Mughal capital where Novin Patshahi was martyred in 1675, holds immense significance precisely because of its layered past. Altering its name, he added, would distort the very history that makes the site sacred to humanity.
“Guru Tegh Bahadar Sahib’s sacrifice took place in the heart of an empire that sought to silence conscience,” Sarna said. “Changing the name of that space removes that very context.”
Sarna said renaming historical landmarks is intellectually lazy because it replaces understanding with display.
“Guru Sahib didn’t confront tyranny to have his name printed on signboards,” the Panthak leader said. “He stood for the freedom of every human being to live by truth. Reducing that vision to a cosmetic act of renaming undermines the scale of his moral and spiritual courage.”
Sarna emphasised that history should be interpreted, not rewritten.
“Guru Sahib’s message was about liberating the mind, not controlling narratives,” the Akali leader said. “When you overwrite the past, you weaken the very lesson his sacrifice teaches — that power must be confronted, not imitated.”
Instead of symbolic gestures, Sarna urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to announce the establishment of a world-class university in the name of Sri Guru Tegh Bahadar Sahib, focused on ethics, pluralism, and interfaith learning.
“If the government wishes to honour Novin Patshahi, let it do so through an institution that educates, questions, and uplifts,” Sarna said. “A university dedicated to his vision would help future generations understand why he stood for others.”
Sarna added that such an institution would serve as a living continuation of the Guru’s principles of justice, equality, and freedom of conscience.
“Guru Tegh Bahadar Sahib’s martyrdom was a stand for truth within the capital of power,” he said. “It deserves to be remembered through learning and reflection, not through renaming the very streets that hold that history.”
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