On a recent visit to the US, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had many interactions with the Indian community there. In one such meeting, he asked a Sikh man sitting in the audience what his name is. Gandhi was talking about two poles of politics in India, hinting at the narrow sectarian politics becoming more assertive and aggressive in India. He told the audience that in India, “The fight is about whether he, as a Sikh, is going to be allowed to wear his turban or his ‘kada’ in India. Or he, as a Sikh, is going to be able to go to a gurdwara. That’s what the fight is about. And not just for him, for all religions,” Gandhi said.
While the example Gandhi chose was incidental and he was hinting at a broader trend of intimidation of religious minorities in India, some Sikh and other leaders from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) pounced on Gandhi, calling him anti-national and divisive among other things. The simple point of religious and cultural rights and practices of diverse sections of society was deliberately undermined in these criticisms. This occasion, yet again was used by the BJP to further attack Gandhi, who has been a regular recipient of vitriol from the BJP.
Gandhi, in a tweet, clarified his understanding of the vision of India, “As usual, the BJP is resorting to lies. They are desperate to silence me because they cannot stand the truth. But I will always speak up for the values that define India: our unity in diversity, equality, and love,”
Unmindful of the spirit of Gandhi’s comments, Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri in an article in Indian Express wrote that the only time Sikhs went through a crisis was the decade of 1980s, hinting at violence against Sikhs in many parts of the country, particularly Delhi in 1984. He said Gandhi’s attitude was like that of Muhammad Ali Jinnah Jinnah, who was out to divide the country. Puri did not seem to register that it was the BJP government which totally ignored the demands of farmers, many of them Sikhs, for months before the anti-farmer bills were withdrawn. Meanwhile the Sikhs participating in this massive protest were labelled as Khalistanis.
As far as the violence in 1984 is concerned, those leading the pogrom can never be pardoned. Congress’s Manmohan Singh, who was prime minister for a decade, apologised for the same and one hopes that those guilty of the violence will be brought to justice, as soon as possible. The lapse of decades in not punishing the guilty of the targeted violence is highly condemnable.
It is never realised that Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh-BJP did not come to protect the Sikh community when they were being brutalised. On the contrary, Shamsul Islam, a scholar on the rise of fundamentalism in India, points out that RSS also colluded in this ghastly pogrom, “A crucial proof of this criminal collusion in the massacre of Sikhs is a document circulated by Nana Deshmukh, a prominent ideologue of the RSS (now deceased). Titled as ‘Moments of Soul Searching’ it was circulated by Deshmukh on November 8, 1984. It was also published in George Fernandes’s edited Hindi magazine, Pratipask. This should help in unmasking a number of criminals involved in the massacre and rape of innocent Sikhs who had nothing to do with the killing of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. This document may also throw light on where the cadres came from and who methodically organised the killing of Sikhs. Nana Deshmukh is seen outlining the justification of the massacre of the Sikh community in 1984.”
There is another angle regarding these comments about Gandhi. Some Sikh Groups are seeing it as welcome recognition of their Sikh identity. Former RSS chief K.Sudarshan, in a statement, had said that Sikhism is a Panth (Sect) of Hinduism and that Khalsa was created to protect Hindus from Islam. In 2019, RSS chief Mohan Bhawat said that India is a Hindu Nation. There was a strong protest against both these statements. These outpourings also show the RSS’s mindset. One knows that Sikhism is not just a sect but a religion in its own right; it has its founder, Guru Nanak Devji. Who said, “Na hum Hindu na hum Musalmman. (I am neither a Hindu nor a Muslim).”
Editorials in prominent Punjabi newspapers like Punjabi Tribune and Nawa Zamana criticised Bhagwat’s statement in strong terms. The Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), which is a constituent of the NDA and has been a BJP ally, also reacted strongly to Bhagwat’s statement. Giani Harpreet Singh, the acting Jathedar (head priest) of the Akal Takht said that he believes the RSS’s actions will create divisions in the country. “The statements being made by RSS leaders are not in the country’s interests…”
A book by Kahan Singh, Hum Hindu Nahin, also counters what the Sangh parivar might want others to believe. If we see Sikhism’s traditions, there is rich syncretism. The foundation of the Golden Temple was laid by Miyan Mir, Baba Farid and other Sufi saints are respected along with Bhakti Saints like Kabir Raidas and the Guru Granth Saheb has writings not only of Sikh Gurus but also of Sufi and Bhakti saints. Its main focus is to shift away from the rigidities imposed by Maulanas and Brahminical teachings of caste and gender inequality.
The religions originating from the Indian subcontinent – Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism – all preach the equality of people and, in a way, are away from the caste and gender hierarchies. Many Sikh leaders try to join BJP merely for the sake of power, unmindful of the contradiction between the humane values of Sikhism and the orthodoxies of Brahmanism. As Ambedkar pointed out, Brahmanism is the most dominant tendency within Hinduism. This is what led him to renounce Hinduism and embrace Buddhism.
Sikhism as such flourished during the so-called Muslim period of Indian History. Seeing the strong reaction of many Sikh organisations, the RSS has to now concede that Sikhism is an independent religion. Gandhi’s statement in no way is divisive and represents the values of the Indian Constitution.
Ram Puniyani is president of the Centre for Study of Society and Secularism.
