Friction emerges after Akal Takht issues call for boycott due to old fear of Sikh subversion by RSS; BJP’s Sikh leaders say they’re miffed with partners.
New Delhi: The long-running partnership between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) is under pressure.
Since the SAD-BJP combine’s defeat in the Punjab assembly elections earlier this year, there is a feeling in sections of the Sangh Parivar that the Sikh party could be on the decline. And in what seems to be an attempt to create a new leadership in the community and fill the perceived vacuum, the BJP’s ideological parent, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), wants its affiliate Rashtriya Sikh Sangat to play a frontal role.
The Sangat has begun working in this direction and is trying to increase its outreach among the community through a series of programmes, the latest of which was the 350th birth anniversary celebration of Guru Gobind Singh in New Delhi Wednesday. The function was attended by senior Union ministers including Home Minister Rajnath Singh and RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat – seen as a clear attempt to raise the profile of the Sangat.
This has naturally not gone down well with the SAD, which skipped the function. The Akal Takht, the temporal seat of Sikhism, also gave a call to Sikhs to not take part in the event.
Fear among the Sikhs
The Rashtriya Sikh Sangat was formed on 23 November 1986, to bridge the divide between Sikhs and Hindus after the 1984 riots. The Sangat calls itself a socio-cultural organisation which aims to promote Gurbani among non-Sikhs as well, and organises community programmes outside gurudwaras.
But it hasn’t gained much traction among Sikhs because of a deep-seated fear among the followers of the Akal Takht that the RSS will subvert their religious identity and try to assimilate it into its Hindu fabric.
Manjit Singh G.K., president of the Akali Dal in Delhi and head of the Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee, said the order of Akal Takht was supreme, and that the RSS was not the Akalis’ ally.
“Even if there is a question of a problem with the alliance, for us, religion is foremost,” he said.
This is despite top RSS functionaries maintaining that they too consider Sikhism to be a separate religion, and had no intention to bring it within the Hindu fold. Bhagwat reiterated this at Wednesday’s function.
Yet, one of the BJP’s top faces in Delhi, vice-president Kulwant Singh Baath, was missing from the event. He cited the Akal Takht’s directive as the reason for not attending the function, and insisted that “religion was bigger than party” to him.
However, other prominent leaders such Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri and BJP national secretary Sardar R.P. Singh were present.
Ignored for too long
ThePrint spoke to several Sikh leaders in the BJP, and the general consensus was that the relations between the SAD and the BJP were likely to change drastically in the future.
“We (Sikhs in the BJP) have been sidelined over the years, for the sake of the alliance with the SAD, and the Sangh didn’t interfere in that despite our repeated complaints,” said a senior BJP leader involved in organising the event, who did not wish to be named.
“Yesterday’s event has made everyone take note that the BJP too needs to strengthen its base among Sikhs. It was embarrassing for us as the Akalis gave the programme a miss, and even our own leader (Baath) didn’t turn up,” he said.
Another Sikh leader present at the event added that Bhagwat had been informed about the boycott, and about the need to develop a Sikh leadership within the BJP.
“The BJP has always been showering posts and tickets on Akali leaders in Delhi, and has neglected its own Sikh leadership. We have been alerting them about this issue, but no one understood it – until today. Things have changed today,” said the leader.