New Delhi, Apr 7 (IANS): Prime Minister Narendra Modi will chair a meeting of the High-Level Committee on Thursday to commemorate the 400th birth anniversary (Prakash Purab) of Guru Tegh Bahadur, ninth of the ten Gurus who founded the Sikh religion and was the head of the followers of Sikhism from 1665 until his beheading in 1675.

The Prime Minister will chair the meeting at 11 a.m. through video conferencing. Union Home Minister Amit Shah will also attend the meeting which will discuss the year-long calendar of events planned to mark this special occasion.

The High-Level Committee was constituted by the Central government on October 24 last year to approve policies, plans and programs related to the commemoration of the 400th birth anniversary of Guru Tegh Bahadur along with supervision of the events.

The High-Level Committee has 70 members including the Prime Minister as Chairman.

The members of the committee are former prime minister Manmohan Singh, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, Union ministers Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, Nitin Gadkari, Nirmala Sitharaman, Hardeep Singh Puri, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, chief ministers of Haryana, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Odisha and Rajasthan.

Other members of the committee include Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, Akali Dal leaders Parkash Singh Badal, Sukhbir Singh Badal, SGPC president Gobind Singh Longowal, former chief of Indian Army J.J. Singh, former chief of Indian Air Force Birender Singh Dhanoa, and sportspersons Milkha Singh and Harbhajan Singh.

Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla is the member secretary of the high-level committee.