RSS and Sikhs

THE BJP may be in coalition with the Akali Dal in Punjab, but its parent, the RSS, has been stoking the fires of communal discord between Sikhs and Hindus. Chander Suta Dogra reported in The Indian Express of December 15, 2014, that RSS shakhas have sprouted in Punjab and its pracharaks boast, “Our time has come”, thanks to a pracharak-headed regime at the Centre. It says: “In sub-clause of clause, the reference to Hindus shall be construed as including a reference to persons professing the Sikh, Jaina or Buddhist religion, and the reference to Hindu religious institutions shall be construed accordingly.” There is a history behind this resentful assertion of a separate identity which Khushwant Singh set out in his book A History of the Sikhs. All those who live in India are “Hindus”, it claims at times; yet refuses to enrol non-Hindus as members and constantly speaks of Hindus as India’s “majority community” which has been wronged by its minorities. Over a dozen Sikh organisations held a protest demonstration alleging an “RSS agenda of assimilation of Sikhs into Hinduism and demanding a ban on the RSS”, The Statesman reported.