White House Celebrates Guru Nanak Birth Anniversary

WASHINGTON -Sikh-Americans intheir traditionalPunjabi dresses,colourful turbansand business suitscame to the WhiteHouse to celebratethe birth anniversaryof Guru Nanak, thefirst Sikh Guru.Senior Obamaadministration officialsled by MelissaRogers, special assistant to thepresident and executive director,White House office of faithbasedand neighbourhood partnerships,were at hand to greetthe invitees to the eventWednesday.Among them was Taranjit SinghSandhu, India’s charge d’affaires,who conveyed PrimeMinister Manmohan Singh’s’Gurpurb’ greetings to the audience.Congressman Joe Crowley,co-chair of the House Caucuson India and Indian Americans,and Gautam Raghavan, advisor,White House office of publicengagement, also addressed themeeting.Last week, President BarackObama had greeted “Sikhfriends” around the world onthe birth anniversary ofSikhism’s founder saying Sikhvalues of pluralism were also”central to who we are asAmericans.””This sacred time is an occasionto reflect on Guru Nanak’stimeless teachings and the principlesthat are at the heart ofSikhism, including the equalityof all human beings, the pluralismwe cherish in diverse societiesand the compassion weowe one another,” he said in hismessage.Expressing gratefulness “to themany Sikh Americans who givelife to these values and enrichour country every day,” Obamasaid they reminded “us thatthese shared principles are notonly at the heart of the Sikhfaith, they are central to who weare as Americans.”