Chandigarh: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Punjab might have remained silent on self-styled Sikh preacher Amritpal Singh Sandhu openly espousing the cause of Khalistan — an independent autonomous Sikh state — but politicians cutting across parties, Sikh preachers and even common Sikh men and women are rising up to question the controversial preacher’s conduct and utterances.
Little is known about 29-year-old Sandhu who was made the head of a faction of Waris Punjab De, a social organisation founded by late Punjabi actor and lawyer Deep Sidhu. In October, Sandhu told media persons that he had been living in Dubai for the past 10 years and had decided to come to Punjab to serve his religion.
Sandhu started a Khalsa vaheer, or religious march on 23 November from the Akal Takht in Amritsar, ostensibly to spread Sikhism and urge Sikh youths to give up drugs. After marching through districts of Majha and Doaba, the first phase of the vaheer ended at Anandpur Sahib last week. The vaheer, now in its second phase, will be marching through districts in Malwa.
In several videos of the vaheer circulating on social media, Sandhu can be seen surrounded by a posse of heavily-armed men, openly advocating the cause of Khalistan, raising Khalistani slogans and encouraging the Sikh youth to weaponise themselves.
During the vaheer, Sandhu and his supporters vandalised two gurdwaras earlier this month, alleging that their managements were not conducting the affairs of the gurdwara in accordance with the Sikh Rehat Maryada (Sikh code of conduct).
Following the incidents, Sikh preachers criticised Sandhu for the move and Sikh visitors to these gurdwaras termed his men “hooligans”, adding that the vandalism was an “act of sacrilege”.
Prominent Sikh preachers also pointed out mistakes in Sandhu’s understanding of Sikh religion, leading to slanging matches on social media.
Responding to the question over the sudden rise of Sandhu in Punjab at a press conference last month, Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri had said that the central government was keeping a close watch on the deteriorating law and order situation in the state. “We all know that he (Sandhu) is from Dubai but has anyone checked his track record there? … It should not happen that such a phenomenon is encouraged…,” Puri had said.
Meanwhile, Punjab BJP leader Laxmi Kanta Chawla alleged last month that Sandhu was “an agent of foreign intelligence agencies who wants nothing but trouble in India”. In response to Chawla, Sandhu told an interviewer that she should ask him questions in Punjabi because he will not answer any questions asked in Hindi.
Another BJP leader and former chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh said he is watching the situation in Punjab “with growing concern” and that the law-and-order situation should be controlled by the state government.
“I have seen the dark days of terrorism in Punjab and do not want a repeat of those times,” said Amarinder Singh.
Senior Shiromani Akali Dal leader Bikram Singh Majithia has been speaking about a “duplicate Bhindranwale” (referring to the Khalistani militant Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale) doing the rounds, dividing Hindus and Sikhs.
Addressing media persons last month, he had said that it would not serve any purpose to spoil the atmosphere of Punjab, not allowing the state to flourish.
Maninderjeet Singh Bitta, chairman of the All India Anti Terrorist front, has challenged Sandhu to go to Pakistan and Afghanistan where the Sikhs were being mistreated and the gurdwaras needed protection.
“If he and his men are really as brave as they claim to be and want to do something for their religion, then they should take on the Pakistani government that has vandalised not just historically-significant buildings of the Sikhs but also gurdwaras,” Bitta said talking to a media person in October.
Professor Manjit Singh, former head of the department of sociology, Panjab University, Chandigarh, told ThePrint that Sandhu’s rise in Punjab can be understood in the context of rising Hindu and Islamic extremism.
“Every 25-30 years, the Sikhs of Punjab put their valour and religious fervour to test. That cycle keeps repeating itself. Although much is not known about Sandhu, it is clear from what he is saying that he wants Sikhs to follow in the footsteps of Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. His statements regarding Khalistan can be seen in the context of Hindu extremists demanding the Hindu rashtra,” he said.
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Criticism from people, politicians for vandalising gurdwaras
On 9 December, Sandhu and his group of armed men removed settees from the sanctum sanctorum of a gurdwara in Biharipur village of Kapurthala district and set them on fire.
Sandhu said that no member of the sangat (congregation) is allowed to sit on a raised seat or platform in the presence of the Guru Granth Sahib (considered to be a living Guru by the Sikhs).
On 13 December, they removed chairs and benches and set those on fire at the Gurudwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha at Model Town in Jalandhar citing the same reason.
Initially, the Jalandhar gurdwara management did not protest against Sandhu but after he and his men left, an upset management went public about the manner in which Sandhu had behaved.
Granthi Paramjit Singh told media persons that Sandhu and his men had committed “sacrilege” by interrupting the proceedings inside the gurdwara.
Some of the gurdwara visitors were more sharp in their criticism of Sandhu and said his actions were not borne out of religious fervour.
A group of elderly Sikh women, who frequently visited the Jalandhar gurdwara, criticised Amritpal and his men for removing the chairs and said that because of their age they were unable to sit on the floor anymore.
A woman in her 80s, who wished to not be named, in an interview said her knees didn’t allow her to sit on the ground and that there was no harm in sitting on chairs. Wife of a former director general of police (DGP), she pointed out that Sandhu should not be allowed to become a law unto himself and that there was a rule of law that existed which everyone needed to follow.
Later, addressing a press conference at Anandpur Sahib on 20 December, Sandhu said the woman was arrogant and wanted to sit as an equal to Guru Granth Sahib. “She has no problem with her knees when dancing at weddings,” Sandhu quipped, mistaking her for a Sikh woman from a viral video who was seen wearing a saree and dancing at a wedding.
On 18 December, Sandhu and his supporters destroyed memorial structures (marhi) in a gurudwara in village Garcha in Shahid Bhagat Singh Nagar district. He said that there was no place for any individual setting up a structure in the gurdwara in the memory of his ancestor.
Following the Jalandhar gurdwara episode, Congress MP Ravneet Bittu termed Sandhu and his men “goondas”, adding that they had no right to enter the premises of a gurdwara and remove furniture. He said that this was sacrilege and asked why an FIR had not been lodged against him by gurdwara committees.
Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, who has been criticising Sandhu for his activities, told media persons that Sandhu and his men shouldn’t have vandalised the Gurdwara at Model Town in Jalandhar and that the people of every community were worried about the situation developing in Punjab.
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Sikh preachers take on Sandhu
Popular Sikh preacher Ranjit Singh Dhadrianwale has also taken on Sandhu over his group burning chairs. “Sitting on a bench or a chair is not sacrilege. Sacrilege is when people make money and land in the name of Guru Granth Sahib. The old people sitting on chairs at the back are not enemies of Guru Granth Sahib, they are only there to seek the blessings,” said Dhadrianwale in his address.
During an address in Tarn Taran district’s Dhunda village, Sandhu retorted sharply to another popular preacher Sarabjit Singh Dhunda’s statement over Khalistan.
“Even if Khalistan is created, various groups among the Sikhs would fight over who would become ministers and who would become PM. Those who are demanding Khalistan should first find out who all want to really live in Khalistan,” Dhunda had said.
Sandhu responded saying that none of Sikh preachers had bothered to raise awareness about the atrocities on Sikhs and rather for 20 years they had continued to hold innocuous discussions on the way of life of a Sikh.
In early December, several residents of Dhunda village, led by the sarpanch Swaran Singh, denounced Sandhu’s comments.
Prof Manjit Singh said that although a lot of noise was being made about Khalistan, there was no clarity on how it would be created, what will be its form and what will happen to the lakhs of Sikhs living in the rest of India. “Will it be a theocratic state or secular state?” asked Prof Singh.
“If he is spreading Sikhism then where does destruction and hatred for others come in? The manner in which he refers to migrant labourers coming in from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar (whom Sandhu had called ‘bhaiyas’) to work in Punjab or elderly men and women does not behoove someone who claims to be on a path of piety,” he added.
Sikh preacher Sant Banta Singh, too, had questioned Sandhu without taking his name that there was a lot of thuggery going on in the name of religion. “Anybody with an arrow in his hand and speaking about extremism on social media does not necessarily become Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale,” Singh said.
He said the Sikhs should not allow themselves to be carried away by such people because there is always a big difference between what they say and what they finally do.
Last month Sikh leader Dr Gurinder Singh Rangreta had lashed out at Sandhu via video, saying that as an upper caste Jat Sikh, Sandhu was trying to rewrite history negating the role played by the mazhabi Sikhs in Sikh history, even while Jat Sikhs had only a limited role to play.
(Edited by Anumeha Saxena)
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