The Enlightened Path: Unveiling the Legacy of Sri Guru Angad Dev Ji



International Desk, Barta24.com
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It is widely known that Guru Angad is the second Sukh Guru. What is relatively unknown, however, is that he formalized the present ‘Gurmkhi’ script and started the ‘Mal Akhara’ to educate his followers about physical well-being parallel to spiritual development.

Guru Nanak Devji, the founder of Sikhism, appointed Guru Angad as his successor. Knowing the prowess and far-sightedness of the former, it can be easily understood that this event had implicit importance in the evolution and outreach of Sikhism as the second Guru’s sublime teachings foster universal brotherhood based on mutual love and understanding.

As known by recorded history, Guru Angad was born in 1504, called Bhai Lehna by his friends and relatives, in the village Matte-de-Sarai in Sri Mukhtasar Sahib District. ‘Angad’ means ‘limb Guru Nanak Nanak Deviji’ and the latter certainly did justice to this christening!

Lehna was a Hindu by birth and was married to Mata Khivi, the couple had two sons and two daughters. Although Lehna was a devout follower of Mata Durga and took the annual pilgrimage to the Jwalamukhi temple, there was a spiritual vacuum in his life. The story goes that he once heard a Sikh hymn and fell in love with its content, on enquiring about its creator, he was informed that it was written by Guru Nanak Devji of Kartarpur. Lehna was keen on meeting the Guru and incidentally on his way over, asked the Guru himself for directions to his house, unknowingly. The Guru, instead of directing him, took his horse’s saddle strings and led him to his own house. When Lehna came to know about his folly, he was deeply embarrassed and asked Nanakji for forgiveness. The Guru smiled, and replied, “Don’t worry, when someone comes to take something, they would come as you have (as ‘Lehna’ means to take something), if you give me the strings of your mind as you did with the horse saddles and let me direct you, you will be amazed…”.

There are many ‘Sakhis’ or anecdotes that talk about Lehna’s unquestionable devotion and loyalty to Nanak Devji. One of the most significant ones tells that once while traveling through the forest, Nanak made gold and silver coins appear before his group but only Bhai Lehna and Bhai Budda did not run to pick them up. Then Nanak led them to a funeral pyre and ordered both of them to eat the corpse hidden under the shroud. While Bhai Buddha stood thinking, Lehna lifted the shroud to obey his Guru and found ‘Prasad’ under it instead of a dead body. He offered the same to the Guru, satisfied to feed off his leavings. After this Nanak revealed the ‘Japuji’ to Bhai Lehna and proclaimed him as the next Guru.

After 7 years of intense devotion, Nanak named him ‘Agad’ in 1539 at Kartarpur. Guru Angad left Kartarpur after Nanak’s demise and set towards ‘Khadoor Sahib’ (near Goindwar Sahib) and carried forward the principles of Guru Nanak in both; letter and spirit.

“Austerity and everything come through immersing oneself in the meditation of the Lord’s name. All other actions are useless. O Nanak, believe in the One who is worth believing in. By Guru’s Grace, he is realized.”
– Guru Angad

Angad Devji was both, a spiritual teacher and a man of action and insisted that harmony between thought and action led to a pure life. Hence, he believed ardently in the concept of ‘Sewa’ as the path to achieving enlightenment was only through selfless service, good deeds, and devotion and worship of one God.

“Eliminate your conceit and then perform service to humanity, only then you will get the honor.”

Guru Angad staunchly believed in equality between castes, classes, and genders. He always set himself as an example and showed dignity and equality of women through his relationship with his wife, Mata Khivi, who in turn, lived out his teachings beautifully with her actions. She pioneered women’s empowerment by establishing women-centric roles in leadership and took forward the concept of ‘Langar’ by feeding people who came to visit her husband, regardless of their caste, religion, race, or gender.

The second Guru’s actions were interlaced with his teachings. He popularized that a sound mind could only thrive in a healthy body and thus, stressed on need for physical exercise after morning prayers and encouraged wrestling bouts or ‘Mal Akharas’ to compete in physical competitions. This was another medium through which he wanted to do away with the taboo of lower caste masses being restricted to having physical contact with those belonging to upper castes. This strengthened the foundation of a healthy Sikh community without barriers of caste and creed.

As mentioned earlier, one of Guru Angad’s major contributions to Sikhism was the development of the Sikh alphabet which gave people the ‘Gurmukhi script’ in which the hymns of the Gurus were recorded. This measure had a two-fold impact; firstly, it was instrumental in giving Sikhs an individual identity, enabling them to express their thoughts freely without hassles of translation and, secondly, it led to the growth and development of their own social and religious practices which were dissociated from Sanskrit religious traditions. He also started several schools for children so that more and more people would become literate. Angad Devji himself was a great teacher, providing education to the downtrodden people in order to empower them to achieve greater goals in life. He also initialized the first biography of Guru Nanak Devji, with the help of Bhai Bala’s verbal accounts in 1844, and wrote 63 verses which were later included in Guru Granth Sahib by the fifth Guru.

Guru Angad nominated Guru Amar Das as his successor and presented him with all holy scriptures as he became ‘jyoti jot ‘ on 29th March 1552 at the age of 48. The now-existing town of Goindwal Sahib was commissioned to be constructed by him, which came to be supervised by the ‘Third Nanak’ eventually. Such was the aura and reverence of Angad Devji that deposed Mughal Emperor, Humayun, also came to seek the former’s blessing to regain the throne of Delhi for Sher Shah Suri.

This era in Guruship and the establishment of Sikhism was a very crucial one because due to positive reinforcement and balanced leadership of Guru Angad, Sikhism blossomed from a bud to a gorgeous flower, spreading beauty and fragrance to all those who came in its vicinity.

   

Netanyahu in fear of ICC arrest



International Desk, Barta24.com
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Israel's attack on Gaza did not stop. The death procession is increasing every day under the orders of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The Israeli army is not paying attention to the ongoing movement around the world. On the other hand, Tel Aviv is listening to the calls of pro-Palestinian world leaders.

Killing, torture and destruction are being carried out indiscriminately in violation of international law. The blockaded area is being gradually completed, including women and children. On the other hand, the world is not able to do anything about such activities in Israel.

But now it is known that the International Criminal Court (ICC) may issue an arrest warrant against the Prime Minister of Israel.

This is what the country's local media reported on Saturday (April 27). According to The New Arab, citing unnamed sources, Maariv newspaper reported that Netanyahu is under stress and panic over the threat of an ICC arrest warrant.

Not only Netanyahu, but also some of his prominent officials may receive this arrest notice, according to reports in the Israeli media.

According to Israeli media reports, the names of the country's Defense Minister Yoav Galant and Army Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi will be included in the list. Senior government officials held an emergency meeting in Tel Aviv this week to discuss that possibility.

In the meantime, Netanyahu has spoken on the phone with international friends, especially US President Joe Biden, to prevent the arrest warrant. It is not clear when an arrest warrant may be issued, and it is not standard for courts to disclose such information.

But fears of an arrest warrant against Netanyahu were first aired on Thursday by British-pro-Israel commentator Douglas Murray in an opinion piece in the US tabloid New York Post.

A warrant could be issued within days, Murray wrote. Netanyahu will not immediately face trial. But it would be a major blow to the prime minister on the world stage and put pressure on Israel's allies and ICC members to act.

Earlier in an interview on Friday, Netanyahu wrote, "Israel's natural and self-defense rights are undermined, and this country will not accept any such efforts by the ICC under my leadership." Threats to seize military officers of the Middle East's only democracy and the world's only Jewish state are outrageous. We will never bow down to it.'

Senior Israeli officials are said to be concerned about what such a warrant would mean for military operations against Hamas in Gaza.

Israel's Channel 13 broadcaster quoted officials as saying they believed the tribunal would target policy makers rather than junior soldiers.

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20 soldiers were killed in an explosion at an army base in Cambodia



International Desk, Barta24.com
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An ammunition explosion at a military base on Cambodia's western border has killed 20 soldiers. Prime Minister Hun Manet said the explosion happened on Saturday afternoon.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet said on Facebook that the explosion occurred at a military base in Kampong Speu province in western Cambodia.

He said, we are deeply shocked by this. However, the cause of the explosion is not yet known.

Expressing his condolences to the families of the slain soldiers, he said that the funeral expenses of the deceased would be paid.

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Endangered hippos stranded in dry rivers in Botswana amid severe drought



International Desk, Barta24.com , Dhaka
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African countries are suffering from severe drought. A herd of endangered hippos trapped in the mud of a dry reservoir in the drought-stricken African country of Botswana is at risk of dying.

South Africa has been hit by severe drought due to El Nino weather, AFP reported. Crops in the region are under threat, millions of people are starving. Several countries in the region have recently declared national disasters.

Herds of hippos become trapped in dried-up rivers near the vast wetlands of the Okavango Delta in northern Botswana.

Lesego Moseki, spokesman for the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (DWNP) in Botswana's capital Gaborone, said the river system had dried up and the animals were in a compromised situation.

Botswana is home to the world's largest population of hippos living in the wild. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), there are approximately 2,000 to 4,000 hippos.

Moseki said hippos in Ngamiland (North West District) depend on water flowing through the Okavango Delta system. They are still investigating how many hippos died in the pools.

Hippos have thick but sensitive skin. They need to bathe regularly in water to avoid sunburn and they usually live in humid areas.

Without water they can become aggressive and approach villages. Local authorities have called for the hippos to be relocated to protected areas to avoid conflict with humans.

El Niño is a naturally occurring climate pattern usually associated with global warming, leading to drought in some parts of the world and heavy rainfall in others.

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India has allowed onion export to 6 countries including Bangladesh



International Desk, Barta24.com, Dhaka
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India has approved the export of 99 thousand 150 tons of onions to 6 countries including Bangladesh. Other countries are - United Arab Emirates, Bhutan, Bahrain, Mauritius and Sri Lanka.

This information was given on the website of the Government of India on Saturday (April 27).

It said onion exports were banned to ensure domestic supply due to lower kharif and rabi seasons in the country in 2023-24 compared to the previous year. This increases the demand in the international market. Indian agency National Cooperation Exports Limited (NCEL) exports onions to these countries. They procure onions from internal sources through e-platform at lowest price (L1). Then, on a 100% advance payment basis, the rates are negotiated and supplied to the agencies or government-designated agencies in the destination countries.

NCEL fixes the prices with the buyers taking into consideration the prices of the countries where onion is bought, international and domestic prices. Now the quotas are allocated according to the demand of the countries where onion export is allowed.

Maharashtra is the largest onion producer in India. They are the largest supplier of onions to NCEL for export.

Earlier, Bangladesh had sent a formal letter to the Indian government to allow the export of certain quantities of onion to reduce the price of onion in the country's market during the holy month of Ramadan.

In addition, the country's government has allowed the export of additional 2000 metric tons of white onion. These onions are mainly exported to Middle East and some European countries. Due to the high production cost of white onion, its price is relatively high.

India is the world's largest onion exporter. The country's government had imposed a ban on onion exports till March 31, 2024 in December last year to maintain supply in the domestic market. Later it was extended indefinitely. The new decision to export onions is good news for India's friendly countries.

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