SHIROMANI GURDWARA PARBANDHAK COMMITTEE (SGPC), the apex religious organisation of the Sikh faith, is now alarmed over the conversion of the people belonging to the Sikh community to Christianity. In the last few years, Christian missionaries have become very active and targeted the vulnerable population of the community (Dalit Sikhs who constitute around one of third of the community’s population) for conversion.
SGPC launched a campaign named “Ghar Ghar Andar Dharamsaal (sacred shrine within every home)”, under which 150 teams would spread the message of Sikhism across the state and distribute the traditional literature – the method used by Christian preachers.
“The campaign will not only bring firmness among Sikhs toward their faith, but also make the young generation take pride in their history and culture,” said SGPC chief Bibi Jagir Kaur.
SGPC is adopting the tool of Christians to defeat them in the game, but its efforts are ‘too little and too late’ given the fact that Abrahamic religions are now very organised and sophisticated in their work and have spread wings throughout the state.
Officially Christians constitute only 1.26 per cent of the population, but there are a large number of people who are officially Sikhs but follow Christianity, as is the case of incumbent CM Charanjit Singh Channi.
Like other Indic religions, Sikhism is also under attack from Abrahamic religions – Islam and Christianity. In the last three decades, the number of Sikhs has consistently declined. In 2001, the decline was 3.04 per cent and 2.22 per cent in 2011. The census of 2021 is yet to be conducted, but the decline is expected to be even sharper even if the number of closet Christians are not revealed.
Across India, Christians and Muslims are adopting different means and strategies to increase their population. While the Muslims adopt methods such as having more kids and Love Jihad, Christians mainly focus on monetary resources donated to them from western countries through NGOs to convert people, especially the poor and downtrodden communities like Dalits.
Akal Takht acting jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh alleged that the religious conversion drive is being run in Punjab with funds from foreign countries. “Converting Sikhs to another religion is worrisome. When we don’t force anyone to join our religion by greed, then no one has the right to ask the followers of our religion to convert by greed or pressure,” he said.
However, Emmanual Masih, Bishop of the Punjab region, outrightly rejected all these allegations. “The Constitution of India gives its citizens right to preach their religion. Second, the allegations that Sikhs are being lured or they are being forced to become Christians are totally baseless,” he said.
Masih also said that Christians are a minority in Punjab while Sikhs are a majority. “How can we make any Sikh convert forcibly? Majority of Christians are poor in Punjab. How can we give money to anyone? Actually, some forces want to divide various communities in the state,” he further added.
But what the Bishop did not reveal is that billions of dollars of foreign funds were spent by the Christian missionaries to convert people. Now they have become so powerful that their person sits in the most powerful position in the state, and conversion activities are expected to increase manifold. Channi and his wife have openly admitted to following the Christian faith, and these videos went viral over social media after he took over as the Chief Minister of Punjab.
दलित सिख नहीं बल्कि इसाई मुख्यमंत्री दिया है पंजाब को कॉंग्रेस ने ? उनकी पत्नी हमको प्रतिक्रिया दे रही हैं तो पीछे दिवार पर क्रॉस लटक रहा है ! pic.twitter.com/IKDINJAckv
— Dr. Suresh Chavhanke “Sudarshan News” (@SureshChavhanke) September 19, 2021
Channi and siddhu … in church, whole game is about christian conversion …nothing else !!! pic.twitter.com/8yM4WxR9IO
— No Conversion (@noconversion) September 20, 2021
The SPC preachers expect this campaign drive to bear the results. “The drive is aimed at countering the impact of the mission being run by Christian preachers. We also approach families that have converted to have a dialogue with them and make them take pride in Sikh beliefs,” said Sarabjit Singh Dhotian, SGPC’s head preacher.
Read more: Sidhu and Channi’s mysterious Christian connection and the menace of conversion in Punjab
However, given the current power equation in the state and the lack of will among the top leadership of Sikhs, one can say that it is a little too late as Sikhs in Punjab are turning into Christians at a breakneck pace.
