A crisis of identity

7 May, 2000
Sunday Hindustan Times

Rajesh Ramachandran

Maans gau ka khayenge
Hindu nahin akhwayenge
(We’ll eat beef;
We don’t want to be called Hindus)

When Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) boss KS Sudarshan stepped into Chandigarh’s Sharda Sarv Hitkari School to inaugurate the national executive meet of the Rashtriya Sikh Sangat, hundreds of Sikhs took to the streets in a show of solidarity. Marching from the Sector 34 Gurdwara, and vociferously shouting “Sudarshan, go back”, the protesters were eventually stopped 500 metres from the venue. Pinned to the shirt of one of the agitators was this
threat about eating beef.

The April 29 protest ostensibly ended tamely, the protesters courted arrest, and the throng was dispersed. But the more politically savvy of observers knew it was more than just a revival of the trite debate:

Are Sikhs Hindus?

Indeed, for the first time an RSS sarsanghchalak had been publicly hooted in Punjab; it was also perhaps the first instance in the last two years of the Bharatiya Janata Party rule at the Centre that the country had witnessed protests against an RSS meet (The Rashtriya Sikh Sangat is an RSS affiliate).

Later in the evening, the leaders of the 19 political, social and religious organisations that had participated in the protest regrouped at a local gurdwara. With a joint action committee already in place, its spokesman Rajinder Singh Khurana promptly announced a plan of action; it was decided to submit a memorandum to the President, assemble other religious minorities
on a common anti-RSS platform, and hold Sunday meetings in gurdwaras for educating the Sikh community against the “evil design” of the RSS.

It was then that a Sikh youth leader stepped forward to propose: “Why don’t we slaughter a cow and serve beef in a gurdwara langar.” The idea was endorsed immediately. Those present there thought that this move could, without violating their own religion (Sikhism evidently does not proscribe beef), counter the propaganda that Sikhs are Hindus.

Indeed, Punjab is simmering. And driving a wedge between the Hindus and Sikhs this time round are a clutch of RSS leaders who want to assimilate (or integrate) the community into the fold of Hinduism and dissipate its distinct religious identity. But such initiatives worldwide usually manage to elicit a dramatic assertion from the community targetted for integration.

This is already happening in Punjab. For instance, the agitating organisations have now planned to press the local civic bodies statewide for granting separate cremation grounds for Sikhs (this is currently shared with the Hindus). More important, the Akali Dal (Mann), Dal Khalsa and the Human Rights and Democracy Forum, the most political of the 19 organisations, met the Akal Takht jathedar and beseeched him to accede to their demand.

Responding to the request with tremendous alacrity, the jathedar has now convened a meeting at Amritsar on May 14. The agitating leaders feel the issue would be clinched in their favour considering that powerful Sikh religious institutions like the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) cannot but oppose the RSS’ attempts to integrate them into the Hindu fold.

Cause for worry

These developments have the moderates in Sikh politics palpably worried. The fact that the hardliners are back in business, that they have latched on to what is an extremely emotive issue, obviously does not augur well for Punjab.

Says finance minister and senior Shiromani Akali Dal leader Capt Kanwaljit Singh, “There is no contradiction between a minority religious identity and the national identity. But when the RSS claims that Sikhs are Hindus, then you’re providing fresh propaganda material for those who prescribe to the militant ideology. If the RSS persists with its campaign of assimilating the
Sikhs into the Hindu mainstream, then the position of moderates will only be undermined.”

Indeed, radical or militant Sikh organisations had been on the fringes till the RSS suddenly decided to become active during the year-long (April 1999-April 2000) tercentenary celebrations of the Khalsa. Says Gurtej Singh of the Institute for Sikh Studies, “The RSS has deliberately attempted to indoctrinate the masses and distort the Sikh scriptures. The thrust of its campaign is that Sikhism is an offshoot of Hinduism, and even today remains its sword arm. The RSS quotes the Dasamgranth for this purpose, ignoring the fact that it still remains a matter of debate whether or not Guru Gobind Singh wrote the entire text.”

Leading the RSS charge was the Rashtriya Sikh Sangat (formed in 1986), which along with the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) led a Khalsa Tercentenary Sant Yatra from Patna Sahib to Anandpur Sahib. When the yatra reached Delhi last year, the route-in-charge BL Sharma Prem, the controversial former East Delhi MP and VHP leader, converted to Sikhism. Conversion without conviction, declare Sikh leaders, is aimed at emphasising the Hindu-ness of Sikhism and
diluting the separate identity of the community. The refrain here is: Once the Sikhs become followers of the RSS, it will ask them to remove even their turbans.

The initial positive response to the yatra inspired RSS activists to fan out in rural Punjab. Gurtej Singh alleges, “It started distributing questionnaires with answers; these emphasised the Sikh-Muslim enmity. Calendars showing Luv and Kush blessing Guru Nanak also surfaced. And the
religious symbol of “Ikoankar”, which is distinct from the Hindu “Om”, on our prayer books began to be distorted. The Guru Granth Sahib mentions Ram, but it also talks of Rahim, Karim and Allah. Does that make us Muslim?”

The activities of the RSS in rural Punjab have only revived bitter memories and imparted credence to real and imaginary hurts. In the ensuing scenario the rhetoric of Sikh leaders has become increasingly acrimonious. And often, facts mingle with fiction. Thus, in order to counter to the claim that Sikhism is the “sword arm” of Hinduism, the hardliners have started
complaining about the discrimination that the Sikhs face in the Armed Forces; that their percentage has been systematically reduced from 20 per cent in 1947 to just six per cent now; that Operation Blue Star and the 1984 riots were brazen attempts of the Hindus to force the Sikh community into submission.

These developments have enthused the hardliners. Preens Jaspal Singh Dhillon of the Human Rights and Democratic Forum, “We had taken a massive thrashing and were licking our wounds. But the RSS has compelled us to demarcate the religious boundaries clearly. Its campaign will only bolster our separate identity and reinforce our belief that we are a nation.”

Indeed, what appears to have exacerbated the crisis of identity among the Sikhs is that RSS activists have been roaming the countryside and proclaiming that since the very rationale of Khalsa --- that it came into existence as the sword arm of Hindus against the Muslim invaders --- no longer exists, the community should return to the Hindu fold.

Counter propaganda

In response, on Baisakhi celebrations at Anandpur Sahib, Dhillon and others distributed 10,000 copies of a booklet that sought to counter the questionnaires of the RSS. Says Dhillon, “We have been compelled to discard a portion of the Dasamgranth, that which allows the RSS to inject confusion among the Sikhs. I’m in search of another Bhindranwale, a charismatic leader
who can overnight galvanize the people into action against the RSS.”

For the moment, though, the Sangh parivar is in a win-win situation. With the Akalis mired in power struggle, many here feel that the RSS is trying to gain a foothold into the Sikh votebank. Since chief minister Prakash Singh Badal faces the threat of a split in the party, he cannot take a strident stand against the RSS and alienate the 18 BJP MLAs in his Assembly. Similarly, the
Tohra group wants to endear itself to the BJP in the hope of winning their support in any future toppling game.

The Congress, too, is not in fine fettle. Its leader Amrinder Singh has issued statements against the RSS, but the latter feels that the Congress can’t be seen to be interceding on behalf of the Sikhs in the controversy. It’s precisely into this political vacuum that the radicals (or
fundamentalist) leaders have stepped.

Says SGPC member from Chandigarh Amrinder Singh, “The gameplan of the RSS is to control Sikh politics. In the name of Sikh Sangat, it might even contest the coming SGPC elections and seek control over our religious institutions, and consequently influence the political and social agenda of the community. We’ll know for sure what their designs are when the SGPC holds its elections in September, 2001.”

Indeed, the RSS call to Hindus to take to Sikhism will only accentuate the existing controversy over the SGPC electorate: Should it comprise only the Keshdharis (those who wear turbans and sport beards) or also include the Sahajdharis (who have cut their hair)?

Argues the SGPC leader, “This controversy will enable separatist groups to aggravate the sense of hurt among the masses. Don’t dismiss the separatists as fringe groups, remember, the radicals had swept the 1991 general elections. The disillusionment with the Akalis was demonstrated in the last Lok Sabha elections, and with the Congress still weak, it could pave the way for the emergence of a Third Force.” In other words, the RSS controversy is ideal for the radical elements to create mischief.

Most here discount the possibility of armed militancy rearing its head again. “As of now, Punjab is not communally divided,” says former attorney general Gurdarshan Singh Grewal. “But if the RSS does not relent, it will unwittingly bring about a revival of Sikh fundamentalism. Its counter-propaganda against the RSS will eventually turn against the entire Hindu community, undermine communal harmony, and marginalise the moderates in Sikh politics.”

Many here fear that even a small incident, such as a fight over a small boy attending the RSS shakha, could become a catalyst for a major confrontation. And if that happens, the RSS would have achieved just the opposite of its avowed goal of national integration.