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"Sangh cadres were told to save every Hindu in 1947"

New Delhi: An RSS film on core Hindutva ideology has tried to project Sikhs as part of the Hindu community, an issue that can be used by critics of Shiromani Akali Dal chief Parkash Singh Badal against the SAD-BJP alliance in the Punjab Assembly elections due next year.

Screened to a packed auditorium here on Tuesday, the film shows Sangh chief K.S. Sudarshan making no distinction between Hindus and Sikhs as he recounts the bloodshed during the 1947 Partition.

In the 90-minute documentary on Golwalkar, Mr. Sudarshan insists Sangh activists were ordered to protect "every Hindu" from attacks when the subcontinent was being divided into India and Pakistan.

"They were asked (by Golwalkar) to ensure every Hindu is safe (in the region)," he says in the film directed by TV actor and former BJP MP, Nitish Bhardwaj.

Also, it shows a Sikh man being beaten up by Muslims during the division of Punjab.

His wife is chased by another sword-wielding attacker. Both are saved by Sangh activists.

In Punjab, Mr. Badal is under constant attack by his critics both in the Congress and other Akali groups, which accuse him of promoting the RSS Hindutva agenda for votes.

The film also carries footage of SAD leader Master Tara Singh attending a meeting during the launch of the VHP.

The film, which featured BJP leader L.K. Advani as a commentator on the Sangh ideology, also showed groups of Sikhs leading a march in Punjab to protest the arrest of Golwalkar in the wake of Mahatma Gandhi's assassination.

Besides, it showed Sikh men signing an RSS signature campaign seeking a national ban on cow slaughter. — PTI

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