Born in 1952 to a family of Vedic Scholars, Pandit NK Sharma gained early exposure and insights into the rich heritage and legacy of Vedic Shastras by his father, Devagya Bhushan Pandit Dulichand Sharma, who was a renowned scholar of his era and was considered an expert authority in Ved, Shastras & Astrology.
He worked very closely with Former Prime Minister Mr. Rajiv Gandhi on highly confidential and important political missions and wanted to reinstate him as the Prime Minister in 1991 before Mr. Gandhi became a victim of an international conspiracy.
After the unfortunate and sudden demise of Mr. Rajiv Gandhi, He advised Congress High Command to nominate PV Narasimha Rao as the President of Congress party president which eventually led to Rao becoming the Prime Minister. He continued to work very closely with PV Narasimha Rao as his political strategist and was the cornerstone to many of Rao’s political engagements that had major social and economic implications. In the aftermath of the Babri Masjid demolition, Pandit NK Sharma spearheaded the Muslim Outreach Programme and made monumental efforts in restoring the lost social fabric by means of various policy-level initiatives.
To assuage the feelings of Muslims, he conceived many schemes that offered them better participation, protection, and welfare benefits.
A slew of measures undertaken to achieve this objective included setting up of Minority Development Finance Corporation, Passing of Waqf Amendment Bill, Setting up funds for Madarsas, Kabristan, etc, and reintroduction of 15 point program for Muslims.
A Stamp in the honor of Ala Hazrat Imam Ahmed Raza Khan (Founder of a Barelvi school of thought) is also known to be released at his behest in 1995.
To rebuild the confidence and unity amongst the two communities he started meeting Spiritual heads of various Muslim Shrines and engaged in dialogue with learned Muslim scholars from prestigious nationalist & religious organizations. He organized around 30 meetings all over India in Delhi, UP, Bihar, Maharashtra, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, etc, which were attended by Rao and other top ministers from his cabinet.
Many high profile appointments were also done in the government to give better recognition to the minority community. He persuaded Rao to appoint Zaffar Shafullah as the first Muslim Cabinet Secretary of India. On his
recommendation, representations of Muslims were increased to 9 cabinet ranks, highest to date.
Ever since 1993, when he organized Indian PM’s first-ever visit to Ajmere Sharif (after the Islamic Revolution in 1979), he has been paying regular homage to Dargah of Hazrat Khawaja Moinuddin Chishti (RA) and was instrumental in getting the postage stamp released in commemoration of 800th Urs of great Sufi Saint popularly known as Khwaja Gharib Nawaz.
To infuse the feeling of composite nationalism, he advised top UPA II cabinet ministers to honor the prominent freedom fighters from
the Muslim community. Accordingly, 2 commemorative postage stamps were released to mark the 100th year of the Silk Letter Movement and to hail the spirited efforts of Shaikhul Islam Maulana Husain Ahmad Madani for leading the Khilafat Movement that symbolized the finest of national sentiments marked by exemplary Hindu-Muslim bonhomie.
Pandit NK Sharma is well respected by all schools of thought and enjoys cross-channel access to various sects of the Muslim community. He has given lectures at all prominent Dargahs and Darool Ulooms including Devbandh. Many renowned organizations too like Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind (founded in 1915), Jamiat Ahle Hadis, Majlis-e-Mushawarat, AIMPLB regularly seek his advice and patronage.
He has strategized, organized, and sought support for various Anti-Terrorism Rallies held by these organizations in Hyderabad, Mumbai, Calicut, Deoband (Uttar Pradesh), Delhi, etc.
He notably contributed and pushed for the progressive dialogue on the Kashmir issue by persuading separatist Hurriyat leaders to engage in peace talks with the Indian government in 2003. The significance of these talks was immense as it was coming after a gap of 14 years of continuous blood bath in the valley.
Pandit NK Sharma is also closely associated with His Holiness Jagadguru
Shankaracharya of Dwarka, Jyotish, and Puri Math and has mediated various meetings between religious leaders of both communities to create a broad consensus on an amicable solution for an out of court settlement on the Ayodhya issue.
As a Founder President of the Universal Association For Spiritual Awareness (USA*), Pandit NK Sharma strongly advocates for the need for social, political & economic change at the policy level to realize communal harmony. He has aided and regularly participated in the ‘World Confluence on Humanity, Power and Spirituality’ ever since its inauguration in 2010. This annual confluence is a brainchild and initiative of Kanoria Foundation, a trusted entity founded by the Kanoria family which has been in
business for over a century.
In recognition of his untiring efforts for the past 25 years, he has been invited as a state guest to many countries in the MENA region like Iraq, Iran, Syria, Libya, Sudan, etc. Ever since he has been traveling frequently with a vision to strengthen Indo-Arab ties. He has visited the US, Europe, Mauritius, Singapore, and Hong Kong, etc to participate in various seminars where he has highlighted, time and again, the importance of Vedic
Governance, which is fundamental for co-existence.
His vast experience and rich network has also proved economically beneficial to many business houses across India & other countries that rely heavily on his advice and guidance.
*Founded in 1994, Universal Association for Spiritual Awareness (UASA) is a non-profit organization trust that advocates support for interaction and engagement with worldwide spiritual heads & thought leaders to bridge the social & religious differences for creating health, vigor, wealth, peace, harmony & universal brotherhood among all.
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