Sahibzade martyrdom: SGPC says Veer Bal Diwas ‘plot to distort Sikh history’

“The Government of India is on the path of concocting Sikh history and it is unfortunate that the president of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) is supporting this. Going against the traditions of the Sikh community, observing the martyrdom day of Sahibzadas as Veer Bal Diwas by the Government of India is a mischievous conspiracy to undermine the greatest martyrdom and valuable heritage in the world’s religious history,” Harjinder Singh Dhami, the president of the SGPC (Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee), said.

The Akal Takht, the highest temporal body of the Sikhs, is also opposed to the government’s initiative and passed a resolution earlier this year seeking that the day be celebrated as the Sahibzade Shahadat Diwas.

December 26 marks the killing of four “Sahibzadas” of the Tenth Sikh Guru, Gobind Singh. Both the Akal Takht and SGPC argue that “limiting” the martyrdom of the Sahibzadas to ‘Veer Bal Diwas’ is not befitting of the Sikh sentiments attached to their killing, and that their incomparable sacrifice put them in the same league as great warriors.

In Sikh history, the Sahibzadas are given the title of ‘Baba’, and the SGPC has said that any nomenclature of the day must be in keeping with Sikh history, Gurbani, Sikh doctrine, and beliefs.

Ever since the parting of the BJP with the Akali Dal, which controls the SGPC, the Sikh body has been apprehensive of the government’s intentions regarding running of religious affairs of the community. PM Modi has been meeting Sikh leaders, there is a Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee now, whittling the powers of the Punjab-based body, while the DSGMC is under the BJP’s influence.

Responding to claims of the SGPC, BJP leader and former DSGMC president Manjit Singh Sirsa tweeted, “It is a widely accepted & admitted fact that no government has done as much as the @NarendraModi Government to preserve, protect & propagate the rich culture & heritage of Sikhism. From the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor to bringing back the Guru Granth Sahib, we’ll let facts speak!”

It was at a conclave organised by the DSGMC on January 16, 2018, that a recommendation was made to the Union government that the martyrdom day of the Sahibzade be observed as Bal Diwas. Sirsa, then DSGMC general secretary, and Manjit Singh G K, then president, who were at the time in the Akali Dal, were at the conclave along with Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal.

While Badal is now a BJP rival, Sirsa is in the BJP and G K is no longer with the Akali Dal.

In January this year, on Guru Nanak’s birth anniversary, Modi announced that December 26 would henceforth be celebrated as Veer Bal Diwas. Soon after, the Akal Takht formed a committee of scholars to discuss the “objectionable nomenclature”, and soon after it submitted its recommendations, asked for the day to be known as ‘Sahibzade Shahadat Diwas’. This was later backed by the SGPC through a resolution in October.

Both the developments were ignored by the government.

Sirsa said that while Akali Dal president Sukhbir Badal too had earlier cleared the new name for the day, the change of heart was on account of their altered equations with the BJP. “Have you ever seen this chapter of Sikh history getting such a recognition at the national level?” Sirsa said. “What is the point in opposing the nomenclature except politics?”

Akali Dal spokesperson Daljit Singh Cheema said it was not about one party or the other. “Our party made efforts to get the history of the younger sons of Guru Gobind Singh recognised at the national level. But that doesn’t mean that SAD or any party has the right to decide the nomenclature. Only the Akal Takht can take a call on such issues… The Union government should have listened to what the Akal Takht suggested.”