On July 26, one such group, ‘Tarna Dal 96 Crori’, went around a prominent public garden in Ludhiana doing a “raid” streamed on Facebook Live, to stop “bhoond aashiq (swarm of lovers)”. “Gand paaya hoya hai Punjab ch (They have polluted Punjab),” they said in the live video, and went on to accost women for wearing sleeveless dresses, dancing and making reels, and to attack couples.
They warned that next time, they would come with their “woman fauj (army)” and beat up people with shoes and sticks.
When the mother of one of the girls objected, adding that they are from Uttar Pradesh’s Gonda district, group “leader” Kuldeep Singh Khalsa said: “Is this how you dance in Gonda also, wearing these half-naked clothes?” The mother and daughter were finally made to apologise, after their phone was taken and some photos deleted.
Social media influencer Ranjit Kaur and her husband Jinda Hans who were forced to apologize by Nihangs.
Kuldeep Singh Khalsa, who claims to be “jathedar” of Tarna Dal 96 Crori, told The Indian Express that he and his “fauj” only “counsel” women who are on “the wrong path”. “These women roam around wearing half-naked clothes, dance and make reels, sit with their lovers. We won’t allow all this in Punjab… If sugar is kept uncovered, flies will get attracted.”
Days before the park incident, another Nihang group, led by Manpreet Singh Khalsa, entered the house of Ludhiana-based Ranjit Kaur, a social media influencer, and questioned her and her family over her “obscene reels on Instagram”. Kaur mostly posts reels with her family.
Kaur said: “Around 15-20 people stormed into our house… These reels are the only source of our livelihood and now they are targeting us because we are poor. My husband was a palledar (labourer) but, after he started having health issues, we started making TikTok content. After Tiktok was banned, we shifted to Instagram and YouTube. When the government and law of this country don’t stop us from doing this work, who are they (Nihangs)? Can they stop rich people from uploading content?”
Kaur added: “They said we should wash utensils, clean toilets and collect garbage to run our house… Can they give us Rs 50,000 a month to buy groceries? We will stop then.”
Kaur and her family were forced by the group to issue a video apology, promising they will stop “posting reels”, and they later filed a police complaint against Manpreet and his aides.
While police are yet to act on their complaint, an FIR has been filed on Manpreet’s cross-complaint against Kaur and her husband under the IT Act for “posting obscene content”. The couple have got bail in the case.
Her husband Hans said: “Punjab belongs to us too, as much it belongs to them. The government should probe from where they (the Nihangs) have got so much money that they are raiding people’s houses, travelling in big cars?”
Ludhiana DCP (Law and Order) Jaskiranjit Singh Teja said no one had the right to object to anyone’s clothes or stop them from uploading reels on social media, or sitting in a park. “We will verify these videos and take action accordingly.”
Manpreet Singh Khalsa in argument with Ranjit Kaur when he reached her house in Ludhiana.
Manpreet, who runs a self-styled ‘Pakhand Bhajao, Punjab Bachao’ organisation, said the video posted by them of Kaur’s apology was “a warning to all such girls and boys from dear armies of the guru that if you won’t mend your ways, we will get an FIR registered against each one of you”.
On forcing their way into houses, Manpreet said: “We can go to anyone’s house if they are giving a wrong message to society… We can’t stop anyone from making videos but we can stop those who will put a blot on Punjab’s culture.”
On June 10 last year, a Nihangs group led by Amritpal Singh Mehron were accused of murdering a social media influencer, Kanchan Kumari alias Kamal Kaur, in Bathinda over “spreading obscenity and vulgarity”. Police had then accused Nihangs of “indulging in moral policing”.
Mehron, who ran a self-styled vigilante group called ‘Quam de Rakhe’, fled to Dubai after the murder as his accomplices were held. Three days after the murder, Mehron posted a video message claiming responsibility for the murder and saying he had “warned” Kanchan several times.
In the same video, he threatened another social media influencer, Amritsar’s Deepika Luthra, and said: “It is not necessary that a body is found every time.” Luthra, who had been threatened earlier too, filed a complaint with the Amritsar police.
In April, Mehron was deported from Dubai, and arrested by the Punjab Police.
In 2020, Mehron had been booked for vandalising some statues near the Golden Temple premises in Amritsar, over the fact that they “displayed dancers… violating Sikh sentiments and religious code”.
Sukhjeet Singh Kanhaiya, “mukh parcharak” of the Nihang group Baba Budha Dal, which is considered the most revered Nihang jathebandi, said no real Nihang Singh indulges in such acts of moral policing. “It is difficult to identify authentic Nihangs now”, he said, as anyone can “wear a bana (Nihang attire) and claim to be one”.
“Whenever someone gets caught doing such acts, they claim to be associated with Budha Dal or other Nihang groups just to save their skin,” Kanhiaya said, adding: “In today’s times, everyone has a choice to lead their own life and dress how they want.”
Nihangs have also been in the news recently for violent incidents such as the April 2020 attack on a policeman in Patiala, with his hands chopped off after he asked them for a curfew pass during the Covid lockdown.
In October 2021, Nihangs were accused of lynching a man at the Singhu border between Haryana and Delhi, chopping off his one hand and a foot, claiming he had been “taught a lesson” for desecrating a Sikh holy book.
In September 2022, two Nihangs were accused of murdering a young man in Amritsar for “chewing tobacco and consuming alcohol” in the holy city.
In January 2024, a murder in Kapurthala was blamed on a Nihang over “suspicion of sacrilege”.
Most recently, in June this year, a group of Nihangs clashed with locals in Uttarakhand’s Karnaprayag over a parking dispute, leading to injuries to four locals in a sword attack. After four of them were arrested, the Nihangs took people hostage at a gurdwara demanding release of their men.
In July this year, Patiala Police booked at least 15 Nihangs after they allegedly held a woman by her hair and dragged her out of the house in Sanaur, in an attempt to forcibly take possession of a disputed property.
Kuldeep Singh Khalsa (extreme right) and his associates who moral policed women at Rakh Bagh (Express Photo/ Image enhanced with AI) 
Social media influencer Ranjit Kaur and her husband Jinda Hans who were forced to apologize by Nihangs.
Manpreet Singh Khalsa in argument with Ranjit Kaur when he reached her house in Ludhiana.
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