A former Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) top official has termed the deputation of the Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee in Kolkata against the West Bengal police—who are accused of removing the turban from the head of a Sikh community member in BJP’s protest rally last week—as a joke.
The incident concerns Balwinder Singh, who was reportedly the security guard of a BJP leader in the state. Singh had fallen in the melee at the rally and the police caught him. Then, the police allegedly removed his turban from his head while detaining him. Singh’s fire-arm, which he was carrying, was also confiscated as it was not for use in Kolkata and had license for Jammu and Kashmir. He was then arrested and is currently in custody of the Howrah city police.
A former army jawan, Singh was a Kargil war veteran who had served in the special forces of Jammu and Kashmir. He had taken part in Operation Parakram, the mobilisation launched in the wake of parliament attack in 2001. The insult to the ex-Armyman, through removal of turban, met with much condemnation, including from Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh and cricketer Harbhajan Singh—who took to Twitter to come down heavily on the Mamata Banerjee government.
Plz have a look into this matter @MamataOfficial this isn’t done 😡😡 https://t.co/mKrbQhn1qy
— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) October 9, 2020
Days after the visit of the Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee, which comes under the SGPC (the highest body of the Sikh’s religious group), Balwinder Singh Jaura, former Religious Committee head of the SGPC, told THE WEEK that the issue had been utterly politicised.
“The visit of Delhi Gurdwara Management Committee is nothing but with political aim. Of course we condemn the incident in which the turban was removed. But none should politicise it,” Jaura told THE WEEK.
When asked to be specific about the issue of politisation, Jaura said, “The involvement of Akali Dal in the delegation has politicised the entire issue. [The] Akalis wanted to score political brownie points by visiting Kolkata.”
Jawara, who was secretary of the Dharma Prachar Committee of the SGPC, said that though Akali Dal has come out of the NDA protesting the farm bill, they are still very involved in the NDA in Punjab.
“This is just show off. They are very much part of BJP,” he said.
The delegation by the Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee was headed by its president Maninder Singh Sirsa, who visited the police station where Balwinder Singh was being kept and later gave deputation to the governor of West Bengal, Jagdeep Dhankhar.
Dhankhar termed the incident a grave injustice to a Sikh community member and a violation of human rights.
“He was thrashed and beaten up in the public eyes,” Dhankhar wrote to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
Reacting to it Jaura said that Akalis should have learned to differentiate between politics and issues of Sikhs.
“This is such a grave incident, but Akalis themselves decided to act without waiting for SGPC’s resolution. They should differentiate between religion and politics,” said Jaura.
The minority commission has sought a report from the government of West Bengal on the turban issue.
Over one lakh BJP workers hit the streets in protest on October 8—which turned violent as the police resorted to heavy force. According to the BJP, around 150 workers were gravely injured and many are still recuperating in hospitals in Kolkata.
