Sindhi temples made to choose between Hindu deities and Guru Granth Sahib [ Madhya Pradesh, India ]

[ Reported as seen]

In a video that surfaced on social media showed Nihang Sikhs removing idols from a Sindhi temple in Indore. The videos are undated and are of ‘Poonam Didi Ka Gurudwara’ located at 65 Ex Rajmahal Colony, Indore, Madhya Pradesh.

According to the social media posts, the incident took place on December 19, 2022.

It is notable that a group of Nihang Sikhs had visited several Sindhi temples in Indore, and objected to the presence of both idols of Hindu deities and the Guru Granth Sahib in those temples. After that, they demanded that the idols should be removed if the Sindhi community wants to keep the Granth in their temples, or else the Granth should be removed from the Sidhi temples and deposited with a Gurudwara by January 12.

The Sindhi community decided to return the Granth, and submitted over 80 Shri Guru Granth Sahib at Gurudwara Imli Sahib at Jawahar Marg in Indore on January 11, a day before the deadline.

Recently, it has come to light that the Nihang Sikhs did not only demand the removal of the idols of the deities alongwith the Guru Granth Sahib but also proceeded to forcefully remove the idols from various temples.

In the video, Nihang Singhs of Sarkar Committee, Punjab, are seen removing Hindu idols and asking the family to stop following Hindu practices if they want to worship Sikh Gurus.

As per the reports, when members of the Satkar Committee reached the Sindhi Temple, they found multiple Swaroop of Shri Guru Granth Sahib and Hindu idols in the same room. Nihang Sikhs asked the family that is administering the Temple to follow Maryada (Dignity) and maintain the sanctity of Shri Guru Granth Sahib as per the regulations set by Akal Takht.

Meanwhile, some of the members of the Satkar Committee started to remove the idols of the Hindu deities. The members of the Sindhi family can be seen opposing the step and repeatedly requested them not to remove the Hindu idols. One of the senior Nihang, who was part of the team, asked the other Nihangs not to remove the idols as the family promised they would remove themselves.

A senior member of the team also asked the Sindhi Hindu family not to “ride on two boats”. He told them if they had faith in Sikh Gurus, they should stop following “Pakhand” or Imposture, that is, Hinduism. The remarks by Nihang Sikh are being criticized over social media.

In the further videos of the incident, the members of the Satkar Committee can be seen asking the family not to follow the Hindu rituals if they want to follow Sikhism.

Another video shows that, the team of the Nihang Sikhs visited the temple again to check if the directions they provided were followed or not. However, upon seeing some Hindu idols, including Bhagwan Ganpati and Sindhi Bhagwan Jhoolelal, still in the room, they decided to take away copies of Shri Guru Granth Sahib. While leaving the premises with Guru Granth Sahib, they again told the Sindhi Hindu family to stop following the rituals of Hinduism.

Reportedly, the extremists visited other Sindhi Temples in Indore and took away copies of Shri Guru Granth Sahib with them. All the copies were submitted to Shri Imli Sahib Gurudwara. Following that, many Sindhi Temples have submitted copies of Shri Guru Granth Sahib after multiple meetings were held between a 5-member committee from the Sindhi community and Sikh religious leaders.

The Sindhi community has said in multiple statements that they can’t follow the regulations laid down by the Nihang Sikhs to ensure the sanctity is maintained while keeping Guru Granth Sahib at Tikana or Sindhi Temples.

When the Nihang Sikhs many Sindhi temples gave up the Guru Granth Sahib saying that only an Amritdhari Sikh can do Sewa, whereas Guru Granth Sahib is ‘Virajmaan’ ( Placed). It was not possible for the Sindhi families who had Guru Granth Sahib at their temples to follow all the regulations; thus, they decided it would be better to give Guru Granth Sahib to the Gurudwara.

After multiple such incidents in Indore, Sindhi Temples in other cities started giving up Guru Granth Sahib.

According to a media report, Baba Karandas Darbar, Raipur, Chattisgarh, has also submitted a copy of Guru Granth Sahib to the Gurudwara. Naresh Vasvani of Sindhu Prabhat News said, “The Sindhi Temples in other cities have started the process, and it appears every Temple will submit their copies in 2023 itself”. He further said that over 70 copies of Guru Granth Sahib had been given up by the Sindhi community.

The Sindhi community is keeping the Granth in their temples for a long time, and it has become a part of their ritual to worship the Granth. The reason for it goes back several hundreds of years, when most of the Sindh community used to live in present-day Pakistan.

The Sindhi Hindus were greatly influenced by Guru Nanak’s teachings as he had visited the Sindh region and had spread his philosophy in the area. From that period onwards, Sindhi people have been following Guru Nanak and Guru Granth Sahib in their temples. They keep the Granth along with other Hindu scriptures in their temples. But now the Nihang Sikhs have started to object this, and as a result, the Sindhi community is having to give up an ancient tradition.

https://youtu.be/IwHHWnzBiNg