Rashtriya Sikh Sangat

The Rashtriya Sikh Sangat is an affiliate of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) that works among Sikhs, based in New Delhi. The Caravan says the RSS floated it in 1985, at the height of the crisis in Punjab; Wikipedia dates its formation to 1986. According to the Caravan it was meant to promote a shared Sikh and Hindu heritage, and its real aim was to promote the idea that Sikhs and Hindus are inseparable.

Its leaders: Wikipedia names Shamsher Singh as founder, then Chiranjeev Singh, then Rulda Singh, who was killed in 2009, and Gurcharan Singh Gill since then. The Caravan calls Rulda Singh the Sangat’s chief and the Tribune calls him president of its Punjab unit, so the list may mix national and state heads.

Its part in this history

The Caravan reports that a Punjabi booklet from its Ludhiana office claimed Sikhs “considered themselves Hindus” and that a British “conspiracy” created a separate Sikh identity. After a BJP-Akali government took office in 1997 the Sangat passed a resolution for a temple to Ram, and it marched 300 sadhus to Amritsar during the Khalsa tercentenary. In December 2002 it planned to recite the Guru Granth Sahib in Hindu temples and cancelled the plan when Sikh bodies objected.

Key moments

• 23 July 2004: Sri Akal Takht Sahib issued its hukamnama. The Tribune quotes it as calling RSS activities a “deep-rooted conspiracy against the Sikhs.” The Caravan reports that, as the Sangat planned a nationwide march for the 400th anniversary of the Guru Granth Sahib, the Akal Takht named it an anti-Panth organisation and told Sikhs and Sikh bodies not to back its Sikh wing. The Sangat then scaled back its work for several years, the Caravan says.
• 28 July 2009: Rulda Singh was shot at his shop in Patiala and died 18 days later. In December 2010 the Tribune reported that four British men of Punjabi origin had been arrested in the UK and would stand trial, and that police alleged the Babbar Khalsa International plotted the killing because Sikh bodies accused his group of diluting Sikh identity. These are police allegations, and no published report gives the outcome of the trial.
• 23 October 2017: Jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh told Sikhs to follow the 2004 hukamnama, and the Akal Takht boycotted a Sangat event in Delhi on 25 October for the 350th birth anniversary of Guru Gobind Singh, at which RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat was to speak. Dal Khalsa called the Sangat’s activities a scheme to infiltrate ordinary Sikhs.
• October 2019: the Caravan says the Akal Takht warned against the Sangat again, in its call to ban the RSS.

Where it stands today

The Caravan reports that the Sangat lay low for about five years and revived its work after Narendra Modi came to power, with Mohan Bhagwat taking a direct interest. Wikipedia says it has about 450 units across several states. No published report says the 2004 hukamnama was withdrawn.