Total surrender: Police face storm as Nihangs ride away after gurdwara standoff
Mounted on motorcycles, some carrying traditional weapons, several Nihang Sikhs rode away from Uttarakhand's Nagrasu Gurdwara Rudraprayag district on Tuesday evening. For the Nihangs, who
Mounted on motorcycles, some carrying traditional weapons, several Nihang Sikhs rode away from Uttarakhand's Nagrasu Gurdwara Rudraprayag district on Tuesday evening. For the Nihangs, who occupied parts of the gurdwara for more than three days, it was the resolution of the standoff they staged after the police arrested four other Nihangs after a violent clash in Karnaprayag. However, several experts and critics, including some from within the Sikh community, said the images of the Nihangs leaving the gurdwara without being punished was seen as a "challenge to state authority", which was forgiven without consequences. An Indian Army veteran called it a "total surrender" to the weapon-carrying Nihangs. Read Full Story The departure of the Nihangs brought to a close a three-day standoff at the gurdwara, where a group of Nihang Sikhs had occupied the rooftop and upper portions of the shrine in Uttarakhand. The deadlock ended after a delegation of Nihang representatives from Punjab met local authorities and the gurdwara management. Uttarakhand's administrative and police officials described the outcome as "a peaceful resolution". But almost immediately after the Nihangs left, a wave of criticism erupted online, with commentators, lawyers, journalists and retired military officers questioning how the episode had been handled and whether the state had projected weakness. HOW THE NIHANG CRISIS BEGAN IN UTTARAKHAND The controversy has its roots in a June 16 clash in Uttarakhand's Karnaprayag. According to police, members of a Nihang group wielded swords during an altercation after their motorcycles allegedly injured a passerby. Several people were injured in the clashes and four Nihang Sikhs were arrested. Sikh organisations, however, alleged bias in the police action and accused the authorities of targeting only one side. Complaints regarding police conduct have since been referred for enquiry by Uttarakhand Police. Days after the clash in Karnaprayag, a group of Nihangs reached the Nagrasu Gurdwara on the Badrinath Highway (15 km from Karnaprayag) on June 20. Nihangs occupied the rooftop and upper portions of the shrine, refusing repeated appeals from the administration to leave. The deadlock continued for three days before they vacated the gurdwara. The administration said normalcy was restored. The Nihangs are a centuries-old Sikh warrior order that traces its origins to Guru Gobind Singh's founding of the Khalsa in 1699.
They preserve a martial tradition from the periods of persecution and wars. Their members are known for their blue robes, horses, traditional weapons and also as defenders of Sikh institutions and the faith. Normalcy might have been restored in the Uttarakhand gurdwara and the stretch of the highway leading to the Gurdwara Hemkund Sahib (at 4,329 metres or about 15,197 feet), but the standoff and the way the Nihangs were let off, has sparked a massive row. WHY POLICE RESPONSE ON NIHANGS BECAME BIGGER STORY? While several critics and observers have criticised the gurdwara's three-day-long occupation by Nihang's occupation itself, the manner in which it ended has attracted fierce reactions. A retired Indian Army officer, Major Digvijay Singh Rawat (Retd), was among those who criticised the outcome. Calling it a "great surrender by Uttarakhand Police", Rawat wrote on X that after "four days" of occupation, the Nihangs left "as if they did something great" while allegedly violating traffic rules and displaying weapons. Rawat, who was awarded Kirti Chakra in 2024, contrasted the episode with past incidents involving Nihangs. He wrote that they could now "go back and plan another seizure at Red Fort and attack policemen with swords". He was referring to the violence around Red Fort during farmers protest on January 26, 2021, in which a person was killed. The military veteran also blamed politicians for what he saw as excessive vote-bank considerations and concluded with the remark by saying, "Huge respect for Indira Gandhi. She was definitely IRON LADY". Rawat in the post highlighted that the administration appeared more focused on securing a peaceful end to the three-day gurdwara standoff through negotiations than on taking visible action against the Nihangs, who ultimately left the shrine on motorcycles after talks with a delegation from Punjab. Giani Gurjeet Singh, who had come from Punjab for the talks, said, "Baba Harnam Singh Khalsa, head of the Damdami Taksal, had sent a five-member delegation to Nagrasu Gurdwara to help defuse the situation". He said the delegation held "cordial talks with the Uttarakhand administration and reasoned amicably with the three to four individuals who had caused the commotion", after which they agreed to return to Punjab peacefully. WHY NIHANG LEAVING UTTARAKHAND GURDWARA IS BEING CALLED SHOCKING Supreme Court lawyer Shashank Shekhar Jha described the episode as "shocking beyond imagination".
The BriefWire