How Sikh groups are trying to align with Dalits & minorities against Hindutva

Incensed at the attempts by Hindutva outfits to interfere in Sikh religious matters and distort the community's history, Sikh groups are now trying to align with other religious minorities as well as Dalits.

“We stand with the Dalits, Muslims, Christians and other minorities of India and will not allow the designs of the Brahminical forces including the RSS to succeed”. This is the message being sent out by various Sikh outfits.

Members of the United Sikh Movement (USM) that claims to represent various political and social groups that are outside the ambit of the Congress and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) disclosed that they are now in touch with various groups and organisations representing the Dalits and minorities that are facing an onslaught from the Brahminical forces across the country.

“We want to raise the question - what is happening across India? They are out to finish off everything that makes them uncomfortable. Even the Hindus are now questioning their motives and are feeling insecure and threatened. One day they change the name of colleges and on another change the name of roads. What was the purpose of changing the name of Dyal Singh College to Vande Mataram Dyal Singh College in Delhi when it is well known that Vande Mataram has been converted into a sort of a war cry against the Muslims. Then they go on to create a controversy over a picture of Mohammad Ali Jinnah,” said Captain Chanan Singh at a USM briefing in Chandigarh on Friday
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Along with him another USM leader Dr Bhagwan Singh told Catch, “We are in touch with people like Mayawati, Prakash Ambedkar and groups like All India Milli Council along with several other organisations. We plan to hold a seminar and a meeting shortly where we will be chalking out our future course of action.”

“We are opposed to idolatry, we never fast, we never perform yagnas and havans. We have got nothing to do with Brahminism yet the Brahminical groups are trying to meddle into our affairs. They are bringing out books referring to our Gurus as robbers and thieves while saying that some of them committed suicides. They are being called 'Gau Bhakts'. Anyone opposing them is told to go to Pakistan. We warn them to mend their ways failing which they will be the ones being sent to Pakistan. We will be forced to take to the streets and come out with an Elan-e-Jang,” said Captain Chaman Singh.

The blasphemous content in books printed by Shree Bharati Prakashan in Dr Hedgewar Bhawan Parisar in Nagpur has taken the Sikh world by storm. People even outside the political domain are also agitated over reports on such literature being brought out and circulated across the country.

It is the uproar over these books that was first reported by Catch that has led to the Shiromani Gurudwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) demanding strict action against the publishers of these books. Media reports quote a statement released by SGPC president Gobind Singh Longowal stating that the SGPC has taken up the matter with the union human resource development (HRD) minister Prakash Javadekar and Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis expressing the displeasure of the Sikhs over the distortion of the Sikh history and facts relating to the Gurus in the books that are being circulated.

Longowal has reportedly demanded immediate withdrawal of the controversial book while cautioning Hindutva groups to restrain from indulging in such activities.

But several Sikhs believe that an apology would not do in this case. They want the state government under Captain Amarinder Singh to register criminal cases against the culprits and arrest them.

A large number of Sikhs are of the view that the Hindutva organisations like the RSS have infiltrated into the Sikh institutions like the SGPC and the Akal Takht through the SAD that is an ally of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

“It is a chain. The Badals (Parkash Singh and Sukhbir Singh) led SAD have become the servants of the BJP and the SGPC has become the servant of the SAD. Things have today come to a pass that no one cares about the directives coming from the Akal Takht Jathedar or the SGPC. There used to be a time when the directives of the Akal Takht Jathedar were sacrosanct. The SGPC itself stands accused of having published books that have shown the Gurus in poor light,” said Captain Chanan Singh.

A large number of Sikhs have been questioning the RSS and other Brahminical groups of their contribution to the Indian freedom struggle in the context of their propagating their version of cultural nationalism.

Given the increasing beligerence of Hindutva forces, the resistance from Sikh groups is only likely to rise.