It is difficult to say how much Rahul’s recent irresponsible comments will serve his political purpose, But two things are clear. First— His statement is being used by anti-national forces, This will be done to tarnish India’s global image. Second— This will also strengthen the Khalistan movement which is limited to foreign countries, Which has very little base within the country.
Recently, Leader of Opposition (Lok Sabha) and top Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was in the news due to his controversial statements in America. His most dangerous statement was about Sikhs. Addressing a group of Indian immigrants in Washington on September 10, Rahul said, “The fight is about whether being a Sikh, will he be allowed to wear a turban… a bracelet in India? Being a Sikh, can he go to the Gurudwara in India? This fight is not only for them, but for all religions.” This is not the first time. Earlier, during his visit to the United Kingdom in March 2023, Rahul had said similar things. These comments of Rahul have no connection with reality. He has made a baseless statement to further his political agenda. His aim is to tarnish the image of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is leading India at the global level, and to garner support for himself from anti-national forces.
Do Sikhs face any kind of religious discrimination in independent India? Sikhs constitute about two percent of the country’s total population and they have many prominent positions in the political and social fields of the country. Dr. Manmohan Singh has been the Prime Minister of the country twice in a row (2004-2014). (Late) Giani Zail Singh was also the President of the country from 1982-87. Countless Sikhs have played important roles in various courts of the country as well as constitutional posts like Election Commission and in various fields like army, business, administration and sports etc. and this is the case even today. The country is proud of them. There are many times more Gurudwaras in the rest of India than in Punjab, towards which Hindus also have natural reverence.
In fact, the period of Sikh persecution that Rahul Gandhi is talking about in the country, in which it became impossible for Sikhs to wear turbans, keep long hair and even wear a bracelet – was actually the time of November 1984. On October 31 of that year, after the brutal assassination of the then Prime Minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi by her two Sikh bodyguards, thousands of innocent Sikhs were killed (including being burned alive) in Delhi-NCR and some areas of the country in response. According to senior advocate and writer Harvinder Singh Phoolka, the then President Giani Zail Singh and his press secretary Tarlochan Singh were among the first persecuted Sikhs who were attacked by the violent mob.
The Sikh massacre of 1984 was completely sponsored, and Rajiv Gandhi justified it directly or indirectly by saying, “…whenever a big tree falls, the earth shakes a little.” The Congress’ campaign in the Lok Sabha elections of that time was based on demonizing the Sikh community. Rahul Gandhi himself admitted in a TV interview in January 2014 that “some Congress people were involved” in the 1984 Sikh massacre. The same Rahul is spewing venom abroad.
It is difficult to say how much Rahul’s recent irresponsible comments will serve his political purpose, but two things are clear. First, his statement will be used by anti-national forces to tarnish India’s global image. Second, this will also strengthen the Khalistan movement, which is limited to foreign countries, but has very little base within the country. As soon as Rahul’s statement came out, US-Canada based Khalistani extremist and India-declared terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannu supported it and justified his demands.
It is an irrefutable truth that Hindus and Sikhs are two sides of the same coin in the Indian subcontinent. The Sikh Guru tradition contains the message of love, brotherhood, service, justice, compassion and humanity. When religion was threatened and persecuted by foreign invaders in medieval India, the Sikh Guru tradition also took up arms. Guru Sahib Hargobind Singhji, Guru Tegh Bahadurji, Veer Banda Singh Bahadur along with Guru Gobind Singhji, Maharaja Ranjit Singh, Hari Singh Nalwa etc. are prime examples of this. The people for whose protection Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib made the supreme sacrifice were not from Punjab, but from Kashmir, they were Hindus.
This incident was described by Shri Guru Gobind Singh Ji in ‘Bachitar Natak’ thus- “To protect the Tilak and Janeu of the Hindus, Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji gave up his head, but did not give up his religion.
There has been a flesh and blood relationship between Hindus and Sikhs in India for centuries. When the British came to India and adopted the divisive policy of ‘divide and rule’, looking for weak links in the Indian society to maintain their rule forever, they conspired and tried their best to create a rift in the Hindu-Sikh brotherhood. When the British, keeping Sir Syed Ahmed Khan in front, later inspired a large section of the Muslim society with the help of the leftists to divide the country in the name of religion, the Sikh community remained dedicated to India, foiling the evil plans of Max Arthur Macauliffe. But to fulfill narrow political interests in Punjab, Indira Gandhi and Sanjay Gandhi etc. gave impetus to the same poisonous Macauliffe thinking from the year 1978, which later engulfed Indira herself.
Unfortunately, Rahul is trying to make his political bread by following the footsteps of his grandmother Indira Gandhi, father Rajiv Gandhi and uncle Sanjay Gandhi. Blinded by the hunger for power, the fire they lit scorched Punjab and some parts of the rest of the country. Punjabis should not be misled by the narratives created by the British and then the selfish politicians of independent India and should follow the path of Satkaryoga shown by the Sikh Gurus. The welfare of India, Punjab and humanity lies in this.