Majoritarian aggression continued unprovoked and unquestioned. After allegedly hitting at the Muslims, Christians and even the Dalits for the past three years, the Hindutva forces have, it is said, decided to cast their net a bit wider.
Now facing the brunt are the Sikhs of Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. The community, which many believe to be merely an off-shoot of Hinduism, is now being attacked by Hindutva agents. Over the past few weeks, Sikhs have a period of time been targeted in low-profile but constant attacks in Rajasthan with complaints ranging from a Sikh boy being forced to trim his hair by a policeman to an elderly gentleman being kicked around by a mob in Chainpura village in Ajmer district on mere suspicion of child trafficking.
Akhlaq Lynched
Less than two years after Akhlaq was lynched following an allegation of storing beef in his fridge in Dadri, it completes the circle of violence against the minorities. Across North India minorities are being punished for being minorities. No questions asked. No evidence provided for any allegation.
While it exposes the thugs masquerading as avatars of Hindutva, it surprisingly runs contrary to the core belief of the Bharatiya Janata Party and its ideological parent, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. It demolishes too the strategy the Sangh ideologue M.S. Golwalkar painstakingly built when he helmed the RSS between 1940 and 1973. In his documents of Hindu fascism, We or Our Nationhood Defined and The Bunch of Thoughts Golwalkar had made a plea for a Hindu Rashtra being exclusively for those whose janambhoomi (motherland) and punyabhoomi (sacred land) was the same. The best he could offer Muslims and Christians was a guest status or citizens who could stay on condition of good behaviour at the mercy of the majority.
It translated into India for Hindus, besides Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs; who were at various times considered a mere off-shoot of Hinduism rather than an independent faith. With both their place of birth and place of pilgrimage being in India, they were considered part of Hindu Rashtra. It excluded Christians and Muslims as their sacred land lay in West Asia. But there was never a doubt about the indigenous roots of Sikhism. That is until now when the Hindutva forces have started manifesting their Brahmanical tendencies, first in attacks on Dalits, now through assaults on Sikhs in Rajasthan, and even Uttar Pradesh where Gurdwara Sahib was looted in Saharanpur in Thakur-Dalit clashes forcing the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandak Committee to seek the intervention of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
More facts
Incidentally, in Ajmer a group of Sikh Sewadars from a gurdwara who had stopped by to ask for directions, was attacked. Two men, including a 70-year-old were mercilessly beaten up as rumours of child trafficking surfaced. Allegations of molestation were also hurled at the sewadars. The state police stayed in a state of denial in the initial days after sewadars were brutally kicked and thrashed. The incident came to light only after a 51-second video showing the attacks went viral. As in cases elsewhere, a complaint was filed against the victims and the culprits were allowed to roam free. The Rajasthan State Commission for Minorities has sought a factual report from the local police. “The matter has come to my notice. The incident location was unidentified….,” Chairman State Minorities Commission Jasbir Singh told news agencies.
The attacks on the community had been happening much earlier. Last year, an assistant sub-inspector took off the turban of a Sikh boy and forced him to chop off his hair in Alwar. Before that there were allegations from the community about the desecration of Guru Granth Sahib in Hanumangarhi. Some pages of the sacred book were found littered on the road.
Long alliance
All this runs counter to the widely perceived notions of the BJP enjoying good relations with the community – the party has a long standing alliance with Akali Dal in Punjab. Incidentally, in the latest instance also, the Chief Minister of Punjab had to come to the rescue of the Sikhs in Rajasthan by dialling his Rajasthan counterpart. The attacks left the community seething, and academics angry.
Shamsul Islam, a seasoned academic who is widely respected for his writings against the RSS, says, “One should never miss a fundamental fact about the RSS worldview regarding Indian society. Islam and Christianity are foreign religions as the Hindutva forces claim their holy places are outside India. It is a hoax as one of the Sikh holy places, Panja Saheb is in Pakistan and an important holy place of Hindus, Kailash Mansarovar is in China. The fate of Sikhism, Buddhism and Jainism is far more precarious. These are not considered independent religions by Hindutva forces. They are said to be part of Hinduism. There cannot be a worse lie. It is a myth to believe that the RSS/BJP loves Sikhism.”
Incidentally, this myth is pretty recent, having been created by the BJP joining hands with the Akali Dal in Punjab. What should not be glossed over is the fact that first divisions between Hindus and Sikhs were initiated by a precursor of the RSS in Punjab, Arya Samaj; the latter stressed the Hindu character of Sikhs and asked Punjabi Hindus to declare Sanskrit/Hindi as their language.
Savarkar’s Offer
Savarkar then offered a Sikhistan to Sikhs if they were willing to teach a lesson to Muslims who were demanding Pakistan. In fact, this idea just prior to freedom was introduced by Savarkar.
Not often in public eye, but the struggle between the Sikh community and Hindu votaries has been brewing for a long time. For instance, in the run-up to Independence, when Hindus opened Arya Samaj schools and colleges, the Sikhs opened Khalsa chain of educational institutions. A (principally) Hindu (read Hindutva) party like the BJP and its (ideological) parents would be very happy if Sikhs accept themselves as militant Hindus. The BJP will have huge issues when Sikhs assert themselves as an independent religion. This was acutely evident in the 1950s/60s when the Congress used the Jan Sangh against Sikh interests in Punjab and became one of the reasons to lead to the call for Khalistan.
However, for all the political stakes, these attacks go against Golwalkar’s idea of India being the home of those whose janambhoomi and punyabhoomi lies here.
Bhakti tradition
And contrary to what the RSS would have us believe, Sikhism as the youngest religion based on Bhakti tradition of Hinduism and Islamic philosophy of equality. It denounced casteism and exploitation by the priestly classes. Sikhism started common sabeel or piao (watering holes) in order to break the caste barriers. This would be sheer nonsense to equate Sikhism with Hinduism of the RSS when Guru Golwalkar defines, Hindus and Hindu nationalism in the following words in The Bunch of Thoughts: “The Hindu People [sic]… is the Virat Purusha, the Almighty manifesting Himself. Though they did not use the word “Hindu”, it is clear from the following description of the Almighty in Purusha Sukta wherein it is stated that sun and moon are his eyes, the stars and the skies are created from His nabhi (navel) and Brahmin is the head, Kshatriya the hands, Vaishya the thighs and Shudra the feet. This means that the people who have this fourfold arrangement, i.e., the Hindu people, is [sic] our God. This supreme vision of Godhead is the very core of our concept of “nation” and has permeated our thinking and given rise to various unique concepts of our cultural heritage.”