A day after pro-Khalistan separatists targeted the Hindu Sabha Mandir in Brampton in Canada during a visit by Indian consular officials on November 3, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) came out along with the Indian community in the Ontario city to protest this attack. Their event had members from both the Hindu and the Sikh communities, VHP sources said.

Following the Brampton incident, Prime Minister Narendra Modi condemned the “deliberate attack on a Hindu temple” and “cowardly attempts to intimidate our diplomats”, asking the Canadian government to “ensure justice and uphold the rule of law”.

On November 10, the Hindu Sikh Global Forum, which is led by BJP leader Tarvinder Singh Marwah, staged a demonstration outside the Canadian Embassy in New Delhi to protest against such attacks on temples in Canada allegedly by Khalistan supporters. This protest also had members from both the Hindu and the Sikh communities, some of whom carried placards saying: “Awaz Do, Hindu Sikh Ek Hain” (Raise the voice that Hindus and Sikhs are united) and “Hindu Sikh Ekta Zindabad” (Long live the Hindu-Sikh unity).

in the backdrop of a growing chasm between the Hindutva politics and the Sikh community.

Since the year-long farmers’ agitation against the now-repealed three central agricultural laws in 2020-21, a section of the Sikh community in Punjab has increasingly viewed the BJP with suspicion. This has been reflected in and exacerbated by a rise in activities of certain radical Sikh groups in parts of the state.

The rise of Khalistani radical Amritpal Singh was checked, with authorities arresting him in April last year under the National Security Act. Amritpal has since been in the Dibrugarh prison in Assam. However, he went on to win the recent Lok Sabha polls from the Khadoor Sahib constituency as an Independent while being lodged in jail, defeating the Congress candidate by 1.97 lakh votes.

Going solo in these polls in Punjab in the wake of its break-up with its oldest ally Shiromani Akali Dal, the BJP failed to open its account in the state, although it had won two seats in the 2019 polls. Though the BJP’s vote share improved, it was said to be on account of the party contesting more seats besides a consolidation of Hindu votes in the party’s favour.

“Hindus and Sikhs have always been together. But some elements who have support of the ISI have been trying to drive a wedge between the two communities. The true Sikhs in Punjab or in Canada have no ill will against Hindus. Some Khalistanis who fled from here in the 1980s have opened gurdwaras there (in Canada) and are behind all the trouble. Our Gurus have always protected the religion, be its Sikhism or Hinduism. Those who attack Hindus are not true Sikhs,” Marwah told The Indian Express.

He said his organisation has been working for the Hindu-Sikh unity for the last 10 years and that it regularly holds programmes aimed at fostering amity between the two communities.

VHP spokesperson Vinod Bansal insisted that Hindus and Sikhs are part of the “same culture” and “sons of the same Gurus”.

“Both the communities think alike on nationhood and religion. Guru Granth Saheb is inspired by the Vedas and Bhagwat Gita. Our Kendriya Margdarshak Mandal has representation from the community. The song we sing talks about the sacrifices made by Sikh Gurus to save Hindu religion. We celebrate the anniversaries and sacrifices of all Sikh Gurus. Certain powers are trying to alter this narrative, but we will not let that happen,” Bansal told The Indian Express.

In the Sangh’s outlook, Islam and Christianity are considered “foreign religions” in the country, with Sikhism, Buddhism and Jainism regarded as part of the larger Hindu culture. Politically, the Sangh has always considered it important to engage with Sikhs in a bid to put a check on the “foreign religions”, given the community’s socio-economic influence in India and abroad.

Notably, in the 1980s, the RSS had constituted the Rashtriya Sikh Sangat to work among the Sikh community and bridge the schism created between Hindus and Sikhs due to militancy in Punjab. However, as militancy waned in the state, the Sangat’s work was also curtailed. An attempt to revive it was made during the farmers’ stir, which the Sangh has held as one of the reasons for the increasing disconnect between Sikhs and the Centre.

Sources said the RSS is “carefully handling” the Sangat’s work now as it believes that the current atmosphere in Punjab is not conducive to any assertive action on its part. “In some quarters Sangat is being confused with another grouping of the Sikhs, which can irritate them. But there are other ways of engaging with the community and the cadres are doing that,” an RSS leader said.