Once again episode of 2015 Bargari incidents in Faridkot district of Punjab is hitting the headlines these days with former IG of Punjab Police Ranbir Singh Khatra who led the special investigation team (SIT) which cracked the related cases in 2018, making disclosures about the role of AAP government and Badal family, and key conspirator Pardeep Kler exposing role of the Badal family which was in power through SAD-BJP regime in 2015. 

Before decoding these happenings which shook Sikhs across the world and left deep wounds on their psyche, we will go through how incidents took place. 

June 2, 2015, holy ‘bir’ of Sri Guru Granth Sahib was stolen from the gurdwara of Burj Jawahar Singh Wala village near Kotkapura in Faridkot. Police registered a case pertaining to the theft of holy bir. 

On Sept 25, 2015, derogatory posters were put up against Guru Granth Sahib at Bargari village. In a most painful incident, more than 110 Angs (pages) of Sri Guru Granth Sahib were found lying on the ground in front of the gurdwara at Bargari village. 

The then SAD-BJP government of Punjab handed over the probe to the CBI in these three cases in November, 2015. After four years, the CBI files a closure report claiming no proof against Dera Sacha Sauda followers. Then, Punjab government issues notification, withdrawing the consent to the CBI to investigate the case.   

On July 4, 2020, the SIT arrested seven dera followers for 2015 ‘bir’ theft.  On July 6, 2020, the SIT named Sirsa dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim and three national committee members of dera as accused in the ‘bir’ theft case and filed chargesheet against seven dera followers. On May 16 next year, six dera followers were arrested for Bargari sacrilege.   

Pertinently, on January 27, 2022, the SIT named Gurmeet Ram Rahim main conspirator in Bargari sacrilege case in chargesheet filed against him and other dera followers.  

Even as Gurmeet Ram Raheem who is lodged in a jail in Haryana in rape and murder cases and enjoying VVIP facilities there under BJP rule, has been named as main conspirator, the Indian investigation agencies never quizzed him in the jail nor brought him on production warrant. The Indian judicial system has clearly been sparing him in cases related to Bargari incidents which were a big attack on the Sikh faith after June 1984 army attack on Sri Darbar Sahib and Akal Takht Sahib and November 1984 Sikh carnage in Delhi and other places in India. 

Though Bargari incidents are considered as a separate episode, but such incidents have never stopped in Punjab thereafter. Desecrating Sri Guru Granth Sahib, Who is present Guru of Sikhs in the form of Shabad, became common. Several such incidents have happened since 2015 across Punjab. Some incidents have happened recently. One thing common in almost all the incidents was that the culprits were termed as “mentally ill”. The Sikhs have always raised a question that why do “mentally ill” people only target Guru Granth Sahib. 

Under this deep rooted conspiracy hatched to accomplish the Indian State’s agenda of eliminating Sikhs in a different way, the attack on Guru Granth Sahib also took place even at one of the five highest Sikh temporal seats, Takht Kesgarh Sahib. In October, 2021, a man smoked inside the Takht during Amrit Vela (wee hours ceremony). 

These Takhts symbolize Sikhs’ political power and sovereignty.  

The conspirator even tested the patience of the Sikhs by daring to launch such an attack at the sanctum sanctorum of Sri Darbar Sahib, the holiest and Central shrine of the Sikh faith, in December 2021. Under this attack, an unknown man jumped toward the Guru Granth Sahib to commit the sacrilege by picking up the kirpan placed there. Before he succeeds in executing his plan, the sewadars and devotees nab him. Hopeless to get justice in previous incidents, the devotees killed him on the spot. Who was responsible for that killing? 

It’s been two and half years since the sacrilege bid happened at Sri Darbar Sahib, the Punjab Police have failed to solve the case. It also failed to establish the Identity of the perpetrator. It failed to unearth the conspiracy behind this act. 

No accused of the attacks on Guru Granth Sahib was ever given exemplary punishment despite the community demanded several times, just like some perpetrators of November, 1984 Sikh genocide are getting scot free even after 40 years. 

The Sikh thinkers consider it as part of the Sikh Genocide which is going on unabated since 1947 when Hindu theocratic regime starts in Indian sub-continent. 

The Akalis present these incidents as a failure of bureaucratic and political processes, suggesting they should be excused for any negligence. In reality, these events represent a targeted attack on the Sri Guru Granth Sahib (SGGS), deeply intertwined with the Shiromani Akali Dal’s (SAD) alignment with RSS ideology and orchestrated by the Indian deep state.

The Sikhs should not expect justice from one who is guilty. 

These heinous acts are part of a long history of hostility, including complicity in Guru Nanak Sahib’s attempted assassination during his wedding ceremony, Chandu’s complicity in the assassination and martyrdom (Shaheedi) of Guru Arjan Sahib, Gangu/Sucha Nand’s involvement in the cold-blooded murder and martyrdom of the Sahibzadas, the actions of Jaspat Rai and Lakh Pat Rai during the 18th-century Sikh Holocaust, the 1978 Nirankari attack that killed 13 Sikhs, the attack on Darbar Sahib in June 1984, and most recently, the attempted assassination of Sikh Americans on U.S. soil and the assassination and martyrdom of Bhai Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Simply put, this is a vendetta spanning five and a half centuries (Panj Sadia da Vair).

We need to properly define the incidents of 2015. They are not merely instances of “Beadbi” (dishonor); they are attacks on the Guru Granth Sahib. The term “Beadbi” often implies dishonor or disrespect, while “attacks” imply a deliberate attempt to permanently erase or eliminate. It’s important to use the correct terminology, much like we redefined the narrative around the events of 1984. 

Now might be a good time to set the record straight and ensure that the gravity of these actions is accurately conveyed. By clearly articulating the nature of these attacks, we can foster a deeper understanding of their seriousness and the intentional malice behind them.

The Sikhs are fighting a battle for achieving sovereignty which lies in Guru Granth Sahib principally. Guru Granth Sahib preaches the distinctiveness of the Sikh faith. This distinctiveness (niarapan) is a major challenge for the Indian State to crush Sikhs freedom struggle. On an ideological level, Hindu fascist organization RSS has been working to hit this distinctiveness for around a century to incorporate Sikhs into Hinduism. Cultural assimilation practices are rampant in India and the Sikhs are being trapped into it. 

 Sikhs take light and inspiration for their struggle from Guru Granth Sahib. The Sikhs always took guidance of Guru Granth Sahib in turbulent times. So, the Indian State hatched a conspiracy to attack the source of the power of the Sikhs. The Sikhs must unearth the root of this conspiracy to understand this attack properly.