Radiance News Service
Nov. 3, 2023: In an election campaign for BJP candidate Baba Balaknath (current MP from Alwar, Rajasthan), BJP leader Sandeep Dayma was seen urging people to vote for the candidate because he would ‘remove Gurudwaras’ from Tijara constituency. In the speech, Dayma labelled Gurudwaras as ‘sores’, and the announcement was made in the presence of UP CM Yogi Adityanath, who was seen applauding the campaign speech.
The Tijara returning officer Anup Singh issued a notice to Dayma for the speech. The Sikhs in Alwar burnt his effigy. However, in a twist, Dayma released a video apology, claiming it was a slip of the tongue and he meant to say ‘masjid-madrasa’, not ‘gurudwara’.
Sikh bodies such as the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, and former Dy. CM Sukhwinder Singh Badal rejected the apology, with SGPC, saying, ‘In his apology, BJP leader Sandeep Dayma who gave statement of uprooting Gurdwaras & Masjid during his party rally in Tijara, Rajasthan says, “I wanted to say Masjid-Madrasa, but somehow said Gurdwara.” He should be ashamed of this statement too, as speaking against religious places of Muslims is equally condemnable as Gurdwaras,’ as posted on X (formerly Twitter).
“The Khalsa Panth and its sword arm, the Shiromani Akali Dal, outrightly reject the qualified and weak apology offered by BJP leader from Rajasthan Sandeep Dayma for his outrageous, anti-minority and anti-national call for uprooting and demolishing Sikh Gurdhams as well as Masjids,” wrote Member of Parliament Sukhbir Singh Badal on X.
“He seems to suffer from an arrogant and perverted mindset and he doesn’t understand that there is no difference among shrines of different religions, be it a temple, a Gurdwara, a masjid or any other place of worship. @Akali_Dal_ stands for peace & communal harmony and demands that people like Sandeep Dayma, who disturb peace and communal harmony, should face a case for destroying communal harmony. They should have no place in the country’s public life.”
