The ground reality of Punjab is not very much different from that of Kashmir valley. Hindus are being targeted frequently at the behest of radicalized organizations. The seeds of radicalization were sowed long before Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale rose to prominence. The peak of insurgency was undoubtedly triggered by Bhindranwale but the merciless targeting of Hindus owes it to the devilish seeds sown by Akali Dal.
In the aftermath of the electoral defeats in 1972, the Akali Dal adopted the ‘Anandpur Sahib Resolution’ in 1973. The party vowed to attain a “radical devolution of power from the center to the states.”
Nihangs getting radicalized
The kernel of radicalization culminated in the most devastating tragedy of Operation Blue Star in June 1984. The incident dented the Hindu-Sikh brotherhood in Punjab region. Despite the elimination of Bhindranwale and numerous other Khalistani terrorists, the Khalistani insurrection hasn’t stopped in the region.
After decades of harmony, the Khalistani movement has once again started to corrupt the roots of the ‘land of Gurus’. The Nihangs who are historically the most revered warrior clan of “Guru Gobind Singh Ji” are leaving no stones unturned to fall prey to the Islamo-Khalistanis propaganda.
It is not accurate to say that all Nihangs are radicalized. But an increasingly large faction of the Nihang community has forgotten that the blood they are spilling under the garb of their ill-formed Khalistan vision, is that of the descendants of the populace for whom their highly revered ‘Gurus’ sacrificed their lives.
Nihangs, a warrior sect within Sikhism, have been involved in various instances of violence in recent times. Further, the community has been a part of various pro-Khalistan processions as well. The recurrent acts of terror have made it imperative on the part of the Sikh community to come out in open and condemn the acts of violence and extremism. The move is necessary as the entire nationalist Sikh community is seen in a bad light, owing to generalized stereotyping.
Also read: Religious fanatic Nihangs threaten to raid police station
Anarchy of Nihang radicalization
The anarchy of the Nihang groups can be gauged by the fact that targeted killings of Hindus by fellow Nihangs have significantly increased in the post covid period. On October 15, 2021 a group of Sikh Nihangs slaughtered a man inhumanely and hanged his body along with a severed leg in order to brag about their deed.
The lifeless body of poor Lakhbir Singh with severed hand was hung on the police-erected metal barricade at the Singhu border, sending a loud and unambiguous message about the inhumane flaunting of the “rule of law”.
In an act of religious belligerence, miscreants dressed as Nihang Sikhs damaged a Shiva idol at a Jagran close to Harmandir Sahib in Amritsar on March 7, 2022. The alleged incident took place after the conclusion of the Jagran around 5:30 AM. Thereafter, five miscreants were caught attacking the idol of Bhagwan Shiv on CCTV footage.
Further, on April 29, 2022 a hysterical crowd of Khalistani followers destroyed a Kali temple, following which a Nihang Sikh made derogatory and appalling remarks about Hindu Goddess Durga.
Also read: Who are Nihangs: Warriors or Rebels without a cause?
In another vicious attack, the Nihang Sikhs purportedly murdered a 29-year old food delivery manager of Zomato over apparently smoking on the street. The incident took place on June 15 in Delhi’s Tilak Nagar neighborhood. In another treacherous event, on the intervening night of September 7 and September 8, 2022, over an altercation about smoking, two Nihang Sikhs fatally chopped off a boy, outside a hotel close near the Golden Temple.
Moreover, the religious extremism of the Nihangs can be highlighted from the incident of September 4th, 2022 wherein the Nihang Sikhs and Radha Soami Satsang Beas adherents got into a fight. The altercation which ended in wielding swords, pelting stones and exchanging fire arms, took place after the Nihang Sikhs of the Tarna Dal Baba Bakala (Baba Pala Singh) sect allegedly sought to enter the Dera premises to graze their livestock.
In a recent incident, the armed Nihangs intruded in a Sindhi Mandir in Indore and removed the hindu deities from the temple. They alleged that keeping idols of Hindu deities with their holy book amounts to ‘beadabi of their faith’. Such radicalized beliefs can therefore, be said to be eroding the secular fabric of the nation and is a clear violation of the rights of Hindus which finds little significance in the biased political discourse of India.
Also read: It wasn’t just any Sikh who killed a Dalit Sikh. It was a Nihang. And that makes it a caste war
These incidents categorically highlight the increasingly surmounting hatred and radicalization of the Nihang Sikhs. The community that has historically placed a key role in protecting the North West frontier from foreign invasions has, of late, fallen in the trap of Islamo-Khalistani agenda.
Numerous Khalistani supporters have been working behind the scenes with Pakistan to break the Union of India and carve out the state of Khalistan. However, the move has little support amongst the nationalist Sikh community but a faction of the Nihang Sikh is getting radicalized in recent times, which needs to be categorically condemned by the Sikh community.
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