THROWBACK TO THE BLOODY SIKHNIRANKARI CLASH OF ’80s

It all began on Baisakhi Day (April 13) in 1978 when the Sikh-Nirankari row which had simmered for years took a violent turn during a sammelan held by Nirankari head Baba Gurbachan Singh in Amritsar. A group of 200 Sikhs protested against the congregation. In the ensuing clash, 16 people, including 13 Sikhs and three Nirankaris, were killed.

While the genesis of the hostility between the two lay in two books of the Sant Nirankari Mission, which outline its philosophy, to which the Sikhs objected as “blasphemous”, the clash was a flashpoint that deepened the feud. And, a cycle of violence ensued, triggering a series of killings that left the border state blood-splattered.

The most prominent was the killing of Baba Gurbachan Singh who was shot dead at his palatial headquarters in north Delhi by Sikh assassins on April 24, 1980. Among those named for the killing was Ranjit Singh who was convicted and jailed. Serving life term, he was appointed as jathedar (head priest) of the Akal Takht.

The sect leader’s killing was reprisal for the 1978 clash and a critical moment in the rise of militancy in Punjab.

In 1981, IAS officer Niranjan Singh was shot at in Punjab Civil Secretariat. Niranjan, who was associated with the Nirankari Mission, survived but his brother Surinder Singh was killed.

The Akal Takht, the highest religious body of Sikhs, also issued a hukamnama (edict) prohibiting Sikhs from dining with or marrying Nirankaris. Though there has been no violent incident in recent years, the relations between the sect and Sikhs have remained turbulent since.