Patna jathedar not to attend RSS function

Jathedar of Sikh temporal seat Takht Patna Sahib, Giani Iqbal Singh, will not attend a convention being organised by the Rashtriya Sikh Sangat in New Delhi on Wednesday.

NEW DELHI: The Rashtriya Sikh Sangat has rejected allegations that the RSS is involved in a subversive campaign to merge the Sikh identity with Hinduism.

“We do not shy away from accepting our connection with the RSS. They support and nurture us, but also respect our gurus and our faith as a separate religion,” Gurcharan Singh Gill, national president of the Sangat, told HT on Tuesday. It also criticised the Akal Takht, which has called for the boycott of an event being held by the RSS affiliate to mark the 350th birth anniversary of Guru Gobind Singh (the tenth Sikh saint), in New Delhi on Wednesday.

RSS leader Mohan Bhagwat will be the main speaker at the event. Leaders of various sects, including Namdhari, Nirankari and Nirmal saints, are expected.

The Sangat works in Punjab, Haryana and parts of Rajasthan to consolidate RSS ideology. It also shares the Sangh’s concerns over “forced conversions” being carried out by missionaries.

However, hardline groups such as Dal Khalsa have accused the Sangat of colluding with the RSS in attempts to blur the line between Hindus and Sikhs.

Akal Takht jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh had referred to an earlier decree that prohibits Sikhs from associating with the RSS to make the boycott call. “Sikhs are a separate qaum (ethnic group)... When they don’t interfere in the rituals, beliefs

I don’t want to comment on what the RSS feels about other minorities, but it respects our faith (Sikhism). GURCHARAN SINGH GILL, president, Rashtriya Sikh Sangat

and code of ethics of any other religion, how can they tolerate interference from others in their own?” he asserted.

The accusation is denied by the Sangat, which runs as many as 500 ekais (branches similar to RSS shakhas) across India. “This is a deliberate attempt to create confusion, and portray the Sangat in a poor light,” Gill alleged.

He said the Sangat was aided by the RSS in clearing misconceptions regarding the community in the aftermath of the 1984 antiSikh riots. Gill asserted that the Sangat follows all the tenets of Sikhism. “I don’t want to comment on what the RSS feels about other minorities, but it respects our faith,” he added.

The Punjab RSS unit also issued a statement reiterating that it considers Sikhism a separate religion.