New Delhi: After a heated discussion, members of the Sikhs Nihang group decided to stay put at the Singhu border along with the farmers who are protesting the three farm laws.
The decision came after various Sikh unions from different parts of the country met the Nihangs and requested them not to leave the protest. The decision was to be announced on Thursday.
Nihang is an order of Sikh warriors, characterised by blue robes, antiquated arms such as swords and spears, and decorated turbans surmounted by steel quoits.
Speaking to The Wire, leader of a Sikh Union from Rajasthan Manoj Singh Duhan said that they came here to request the Nihangs to stay at the protest site and look over the protesters.
“There is a movement that is going parallel to that of farmers protest which is that of Sikhi. And this Sikhi movement is very peacefully going on. The good deeds of the Sikhs are coming in front of the people who are getting influenced by it. Second, the security of Nihangs has been at Singhu ever since the protest started. We know that RSS workers have always tried to disrupt the protest but due the strength of the protesters they could not harm the movement,” he added.
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The meeting was called days after a Dalit man, Lakhbir Singh, was lynched, his hand chopped off and his body tied to a metal barricade at the protest site at Kundli near the Delhi-Haryana border.
The incident shocked the whole country, but many in the Sikh community said that there will be no tolerance towards anyone disrespecting their religion.
Gurmeen Singh, who has been at the protest since November last year, said that the culprits have already surrendered and called it a conspiracy. “This was all planned. Our religious textbooks were disrespected, while such incidents have been happening for a long time,” he added.
The Samyukt Kisan Morcha, an umbrella body of farmers’ unions spearheading the anti-farm-law protests, was not part of the meeting and did not comment on the matter. However, sources from the morcha said that the Nihangs were asked to leave the agitation site following the lynching, which is why the meeting had taken place.
Nihang leaders, before starting the meeting, called a mahapanchayat and asked for suggestions from the Sikh unions.
Nihang Sardars arrive for Kisan Mahapanchayat at Singhu border, in New Delhi, Wednesday, Oct. 27, 2021. Photo: PTI
Kirandeep Kaur, who was part of a Nihang group from Patiala, said that they are happy with the decision of not going back. “Many people have been trying to disrespect our religion and to send us Nihangs away from the protest, but it has been decided that it would not happen, no matter what. We are in support of them, and this was just a reaction for disrespecting our Gurus who we keep above all,” she said.
The body of the labourer, Lakhbir Singh, 35, from Punjab’s Taran Taran district, with his hand chopped off was found tied to an overturned police barricade at the farmers’ protest site at the Singhu border on October 15.
Two members of the Nihang order was arrested and two more “surrendered” before the Sonipat Police in connection with the lynching incident even as the victim’s family questioned the attackers’ claim that he had committed sacrilege and demanded a high-level probe.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, the Delhi police lathi charged a group of people who were trying to enter Singhu border in solidarity with Lakhbir Singh.
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According to eyewitnesses, the men claiming to be from a Kisan Mazdoor Sangathan wanted to perform ardas (Sikh religious prayers) at the exact spot where Lakhbir’s body was hanged. “We have spoken to the family of Lakhbir and it is after discussion we decided that a few of us want to give tribute to where he was killed and his body hung. We cannot let things like that happen here. This is not in our Constitution, and we cannot allow it,” a man from the group said.
The men had tried to break the barricade after the police used mild force to disperse the protesters.
It has been almost one year since farmers from Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and other states have been protesting against the three farm laws at various borders of Delhi.
