Tribune News Service

FEROZEPORE, March 29 2000 — To make its presence felt in rural Punjab, the Sangh Parivar has stepped up its drive to bring a large number of Sikhs into its fold. At a closed-door meeting of the local Sangh leaders held here last evening, participants resolved to mobilize maximum number of "keshdharis" from villages to attend an RSS-sponsored convention dedicated to the Khalsa tercentenary festivities to be held in Kishanpura on April 2.

The meeting was also attended by the state unit Organizing Secretary of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, Mr Kamlesh Singh. Each participant was asked to bring satisfactory number of "keshdharis" from his native area to make the convention a success. Senior Sangh leaders admitted that more than the holding of a successful function, the RSS aimed to rope in "keshdharis" to extend its support base in rural Punjab. The Sangh was trying to trace the roots of Hindu-Sikh ties from history. Besides, songs dedicated to Guru Gobind Singh were being chanted by RSS activists to get support from Sikhs, they said. "For us, Khalsa is not a separate institution, but an armed and "keshdhari" wing of the Hindu mainstream", a senior BJP leader of the area explained. "Such a drive is paying political dividends too", another senior BJP leader said, adding that "the number of ‘keshdhari’ participants in the BJP meetings has multiplied". They, however, disagreed with the suggestion that the holding of the Khalsa tercentenary festivities amounted to the appeasement of the Sikhs. "Sikhs are very much a part of the Hindu fold, there is no question of appeasement", they said.