Sikkim today on Thursday, August 18th to commemorate the birth anniversary of India’s former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi celebrated the ‘Sadbhavana Diwas’ in the state. Rajiv Gandhi was the Sixth Prime Minister of India. He is also, till date the youngest Prime Minister in the history of Independent India.
The Northeastern state decided to celebrate the birth anniversary of the former Prime Minister two days prior to the actual date taking into note the fact that while August 20 is a gazetted state holiday in Sikkim to mark ‘Nepali Bhasha Manyata Diwas’, August 19, on the other hand, is a holiday on the occasion of Janmashtami.
Nepali Manyata Diwas is celebrated in the state to recognize the day the Nepali language was included in the eighth schedule of the Indian constitution in 1992.
Sadbhavana Diwas every year is celebrated on the 20th of August to celebrate Rajiv Gandhi’s birth anniversary and to promote national unity, peace, and communal harmony.
The Rajiv Gandhi-led Congress govt. in India during its tenure from 1984 to 1989 played a pivotal role in restoring peace in neighboring countries like the Maldives and Sri Lanka as well as in quelling terrorism from the state of Punjab. He also played a major role in maintaining peace in several states in the northeastern region of the country, one example of it being the signing of the historic Assam accord between the Govt. of India and the All-Assam Students’ Union popularly known as AASU.
The celebration was observed across all departments of the Sikkim Govt.
The pledge of the Sadbhavana Diwas, reportedly, was administered by the Chief Secretary Suresh Chandra Gupta to all the department heads and other officers and employees at the Tashiling Secretariat present today.
The pledge for the Sadbhavana Diwas reads as follows, “I take this solemn pledge that I will work for the emotional oneness and harmony of all the people of India regardless of caste, region, religion, or language. I further pledge that I shall resolve all differences among us through dialogue and constitutional means without resorting to violence.”
The pledge is taken by the officials of the Sikkim Govt. every year.
