Sikh-Kashmiri Muslim unity must be maintained: Dal Khalsa

SRINAGAR — The Dal Khalsa, in a hard-hitting but considered statement based on facts and not rhetoric, have said that they consider the Sikh girls’ marriages out of faith as a personal and societal issue and that they strongly oppose the strident role of Delhi Sikh leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa for playing BJP’s divisive politics of dividing the two communities in Jammu and Kashmir.

“Sikh-Kashmiri Muslim bonds cannot be damaged or destroyed by isolated incidents. There may be scope for personal and societal intervention but there is absolutely no scope for political meddling in such cases,” Dal Khalsa said in a statement issued here.

The organization opposed forced conversions and forced marriages, irrespective of gender. However, they were categorical that in the present case, “in a cleverly orchestrated mischief, a 7-year-old marriage issue has been blown out of proportion through lies, false statements and hyperbole”.

Leaders of Dal Khalsa, Harpal Singh Cheema and H S Dhami categorically stated that they stand with the people of Kashmir in today’s difficult times when hundreds of thousands are in prison and the pro-India political leadership is vacillating in the political role that it wants to play.

They mentioned that they firmly believe that in order to force a new narrative of ‘trouble in Kashmir’ to perpetuate its agenda of delimitation and elections, this entire drama is being played in public by the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Indian government by using the services of the likes of Manjinder Singh Sirsa and many others.

They strongly condemned the utterances of a section of the Sikhs in Jammu and Kashmir against the tenets of Islam and the patronising attitude towards Kashmiri girls and women. Foul and irreverent sloganeering by the youth is a shameful act, unbecoming of any Sikh, whatever the circumstances may be.

“No one should have any illusion of disturbing the honour of Kashmiri girls or students in Punjab. We are historically and traditionally bound to play our role of protecting the honour of women, the weak, the downtrodden and the underdogs, notwithstanding their faith and caste and would continue to do so,” they stressed.

Stating that two wrongs do not make a right, they appealed Kashmiri Muslim activists not to fall into the trap of the BJP-led establishment. They requested that Muslim youth should also refrain from raising foul language against Sikh religion and its tenets.

“The hard-earned Sikh-Kashmiri Muslim unity must be maintained at all costs without adding to the frenzied pitch of the dialogues,” it said.

Releasing the joint statement to the media, the Dal Khalsa spokesperson Kanwar Pal Singh urged Sikhs and Muslims of Kashmir not to allow the common oppressor (read New Delhi) to have a field day and sow the seeds of mistrust in both the communities. They rubbished the “love jihad” term coined by Hindutva elements to target Muslims.