New Delhi, India (September 07, 2014): Sikhs in large numbers, led by Shiromani Akali Dal (Delhi) leadership, on Saturday (Sept. 06) held a protest outside Hindutva fountain-head Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) office in Delhi. Sikhs, primarily from Delhi, expressed their outrage over RSS head Mohan Bhagwat’s statements terms Sikhs as part of Hindu religion.
It is notable that Mohan Bhagwat had claimed that the RSS do not recognize Sikh religion as a separate and distinct religion. He had said that RSS considers Sikh religion as a part of Hinduism.
The protesters said that Sikh need not to get any certificate from Hindutva body with fascist tendencies and they just wanted to make it clear that such offensive statements against the Sikhs or the Sikh religion will not be tolerated.
Protesters were holding black flags and they were raising slogans condemning RSS chief’s statement.
The Delhi police had placed barricades to stop the protesters from reaching out at RSS office. Tarsem Singh Khalsa, Bhajan Walia and other SAD (Delhi) workers were arrested by the police, when they tried to cross the barricades. The arrested persons were later released by the police.
Besides SAD (Delhi), various other Sikh bodies of Delhi took part in the demonstration but the Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) completely stayed away from joining the protesters.