On the evening of December 19,2022, some Nihangs from the Fouz96 crori (‘Army of 96 crore’) armed with swords entered the Sindhi temple Shri Gurudham Sanatan Mandir in Indore, MP and began videotaping and misbehaving with women and other family members. They accused the Sindhi family of ‘disrespecting’ Guru Granth Sahib as the Sindhi family has kept Hindu Devi-Devtas Murtis alongside with Guru Granth Sahib.

A video of this incident went viral on Twitter, with women castigating the Nihangs for illegally entering their property without permission. In one video, a woman can be seen shouting at a Nihang for touching her.

Inside Sindhi Hindu temples, the Nihang extremists abused Hindu rituals as ‘Pakhand’ (fraud), called Vigrahas/Murtis of Devi Devtas as ‘But‘ (stones). They demanded that Sindhis remove Hindu Devi-Devta murtis or they would seize the Guru Granth Sahib.

Nihangs entered another Sindhi temple, “Poonam di ka Gurudwara,” on January 8, where they disrespected the Hindu Devi Devta vigrahas and took Guru Granth Sahib, because the Sindhi family refused to remove the murtis of Hindu Gods.

On the same day, Nihangs filed a complaint against Sindhis with the Indore Police and issued an ultimatum to Sindhis to return Guru Granth Sahib to their local Gurudwara by January 12, 2023, or else they would come and take it over.

According to Akhil Bhartiya Sindhu Sant Samaj Trust’s three-page letter to the President of Bharat, Indore Police refused to register a Sindhi community complaint against the Nihangs for misbehaving with Sindhi community members, including women, inside a mandir, and imposing their set of rules.

In their letter, the representative body of Sindhi Hindu saints also highlighted the interference of Sikh extremists in Sindhi community rituals since year 2000.

Before the Indore incident, in Oct 2022 a Sindhi family in Nagpur was humiliated and the Guru Granth Sahib taken away on allegation of doing mundan ceremony (shaving of child’s hair) outside the temple. The Sindhi temple caretaker had to apologize in Sikh Gurudwara, before he was given back the Guru Granth Sahib.

After Indore Police allegedly refused to lodge their complaint, the Sindhi community formed a committee of five members, including local Sindhi Panchayat members, and decided to hand over Guru Granth Sahib on January 11, one day before the ultimatum, after consulting with Akhil Bhartiya Sindhu Sant Samaj Trust members.

More than 90 swaroops of Guru Granth Sahib were handed over to Guru Singh Sabha Indore on January 11, 2023.

The Nihangs main demand was that Guru Granth Sahib be kept in accordance with ‘Sikh Rehat Maryada’, which was introduced by the SGPC in 1945 and describes rules for keeping Guru Granth Sahib, among which one of the rules is not to keep Hindu Devi-Devta Vigrah & Hindu scriptures along with Guru Granth Sahib, and celebrating other faith festivals.

The Sindhi community objected because they have kept Guru Granth Sahib (previously Adi Granth) since Guru Arjan Dev’s time and have their own traditions. Accepting Rehat Maryada means abandoning Hindu Dharma.

According to Sant Samaj, Hindu/Sanatan Dharma is the primary identity of Sindhis, so we should not accept this rigid demand to observe ‘Rehat Maryada’. Hence, it was decided to hand over Guru Granth Sahib with due respect to local Sikh Gurdwara.

In a statement given to Dainik City Blast on January 13, Mr. Gopal Kodwani, who is associated with Sindhi Panchayat, said that the Sindhi society is feeling humiliated after they were called ‘Pakhandi’ (frauds/hypocrites) and the society is also hurt by the allegations of ‘sacrilege’. Mr Kodwani further said that in this matter the group from Punjab had complained even after reaching the Police Commissioner’s office, which was not necessary – this could have been said directly to the Sindhi community. Sindhi community is hurt by these developments, he added.

In an address to Sindhi community on January 19, Baba Swaroopdas Udasi Ji said,” I am deeply hurt to hear news of misbheaviour with the wife of mahant of Temple (where Nihangs entered on 9 December) and taking away Guru Granth from temple is insult of our community, community must not tolerate it. Keeping this in mind community should stay firm on Sanatan Dharma, we were practicing Sanatan Dharma in past, are practicing and would continue to practice it.”

In response to allegations that the Sindhi community was disrespecting Guru Granth Sahib, Mahamandleshwar Sai Hansram Maharaj said in an interview with thesootr.com, “Scriptures and saints are not anyone’s private property. The sacred speech of 36 great men is known as the Sri Guru Granth Sahib Sahib. This is not written by anyone, Guru Arjandev Maharaj ji has compiled it. Sindhi community is worshipping it for years. The vigrah of our deity and gaddi (seat) of our Gurus are also enshrined in the Temple.”

On 16 January 2023, an SGPC (Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee) committee met members of Sindhi community to resolve issues but in the meeting, no consensus could be arrived at.

On 17 January 2023, Mahamandleshwar Ji issued a letter to Sindhi Community to handover Guru Granth Sahibs to local Sikh Gurdwaras. In his interview to thesootr.com, Swami Ji said – “We do not want any conflict or inconsistency between Akal Takht, the Sikh Society, and the Sindhi Society. That’s why we questioned, ‘Why are you taking them away while making such a fuss?’ Hence we distributed a letter throughout the country, asking that you (Sindhis) visit the gurudwara and return with respect.”

Sindhis across Bharat have begun returning Guru Granth Sahib to local Sikh gurdwaras in response to Swami Ji’s letter. The Sindhi community has previously returned the Guru Granth Sahib to local Sikh Gurudwaras in Bhopal, Indore, Khandwa, Satna, Jaipur, Alwar, Chittorgarh, Bhilwara, and many other cities.

During the Indore dispute, on January 18, 2023, some Sikh groups took the Guru Granth Sahib from a Sindhi family in Alwar, Rajasthan. In Alwar, the Sindhi committee was also accused of not following maryada, because of the following reasons – the symbol of “OM” was present on the polka (where scriptures are kept); Bhagwan Jhulelal Ji picture at the temple’s entrance; keeping Hindu scriptures on the same level as Guru Granth Sahib; and some pages of Guru Granth Sahib had become torn due to age.

On January 29, 2023, the Akhil Bhartiya Sindhu Sant Samaj Trust hosted a Sanatan Dharma Sabha, which was addressed by Sindhi Sadhus from across Bharat. In response to public statements issued by the SGPC referring to Sindhis as Sikhs, it was reiterated in the Sabha by Mahamandleshwar Ji, to avoid any confusion or further harassment of Sindhis, “Sindhis are not Sikhs but Sanatani. Sindhis are devotees of Lord Ram, Lord Krishna and Lord Jhulelal but they will also keep taking the name of Sri Guru Granth Sahib. Everyone has a saint and a scripture. Sri Guru Granth Sahib resides in our hearts and we will continue to worship him. Sindhi society used to serve Guru Granth Sahib very well, then why were we asked to return Sri Guru Granth Sahib, then why were we threatened?”

Just one day before the Sanatan Dharma Sabha, Indore Guru Singh Sabha President Manjeet Singh Bhatia wrote a letter to Indore MP Shankar Lalwani to ask Sindhi community not to discuss issue of returning of Guru Granth Sahib by Sindhi community, claiming it could ‘impact Sindhi-Sikh community relations’.

However, in Dharma Sabha, the Indore incident was discussed, and Mahamandleshwar Ji delivered a message of unity and adherence to the Sanatan Hindu Parampara. Mahamandleshwar Ji mentioned in the Sabha about the letter from the Indore Guru Singh Sabha to MP Shankar Lalwani, which MP Shankar Lalwani denied receiving.

On the day of the Sabha, a delegation from the SGPC met with the core committee of Akhil Bhartiya Sindhu Sant Samaj to find a solution in which Sindhis could keep Guru Granth Sahib and the maryada of Guru Granth Sahib could be maintained, and invited the Sindhu Sant Samaj to Amritsar for a meeting with Jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh.

Sindhu Sant Samaj has not responded to this ‘invitation’ as yet.

On February 7, 2022, Akhil Bhartiya Sindhu Sant Samaj Trust again kept a Sabha at Ujjain, where they asked Sindhis across the world to hand over Guru Granth Sahib to Gurdwaras and to practise Sanatani Hindu traditions.

Why do the Sindhis keep the Guru Granth Sahib?

The Udasi and Jigyasi sects in the Sindhi community primarily keep Guru Granth Sahib in their homes and temples (Tikano); however, both sects recognise themselves as Hindus and perform all Hindu rituals officiated by Brahmins/pujaris.

The Udasi Community can trace its origins back to Baba Sri Chand, Guru Nanak’s elder son. Guru Shishya Paparmpara is followed by Udasi Sadhus. Other Sindhi sects honour Guru Nanak but do not keep the Guru Granth Sahib in their temples or homes.