Baba Bhaniara

Baba Piara Singh Bhaniara (also Paniharewala or Bhaniarawala)(born in 1958) is the spiritual of a breakaway Sikh sect based in Dhamiana village in Ropar, Punjab. He is believed to have about 20,000 to 600,000 followers, the majority of whom are dalits.

He once worked as an employee of the Horticulture Department at a sericulture farm in Asmanpur village. His grew up in a modest family, his father Tulsi Ram, a mason, was a caretaker of two mazaars. After his father’s death, Bhaniara took over the mazaars and proclaimed himself a ‘baba’ (a spiritually advanced person)

The Baba was known a healer and for his social work. He used to leave food for wild animals in the forests. Senior Congress leader Buta Singh had visited the Baba several times between 1985 and 1995 for healing of his wife Manjit Kaur, who was suffering from several problems of heart, kidney, skin and lungs. Buta Singh later disassociated himself from the Baba.

Baba Bhaniara has written a book "Bhavsagar Granth". This has offended the orthodox Sikhs, who complain that the baba is equating himself with the Sikh Gurus. An organization Khalsa Action Committee was formed headed by Mr. Charanjit Singh Channi, which disrupted a religious congregation at the home of one of Baba's followers in Ludhiana in 2001. The Baba's book was snatched and damaged.

Following this, Baba's followers were accused of burning the copies of copies of Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh holy book. No evidence to support the accusation was found.

Baba and his followers have faced considerable hardships [ [http://www.epw.org.in/epw/uploads/articles/10652.pdf Rajivlochan21May07 ] ] , as an article in Economic and Political Weekly May 26, 2007 states:

:"Soon enough the baba was arrested under the National Security Act and a number of criminal cases slapped against him. Many of his followers were put in jail. In the prison they were attacked with acid and knives by other inmates claiming adherence to Sikhism. The Bhavsagar granth was banned by the government. The copies under circulation were confiscated. Any one found in possession of a copy was arrested. The print ready copy was taken away by the police and perhaps destroyed. Baba Bhaniara’s various deras across the state were destroyed. At least in a few places the deras were forcibly converted into Sikh gurdwaras and brought under the administration of the SGPC. No action was taken against those who had perpetrated these attacks" The baba was arrested in Oct. 2001. His book was banned by the government, and several copies of it were burned. An agitation was called by several Sikh youth organizations including Dal Khalsa and a building and a center of the baba was demolished. Attempt was made to convert the center into an orthodox Gurdwara.

In 2003, a man named Gopal Singh attempted to stab the baba, when he was Ambala, to appear in the court, in connection with his alleged involvement with the alleged burning of the copies of Guru Granth Sahib.

A member of Babbar Khalsa, Gurdeep Singh Rana is under arrest for trying to assassinate the Baba using a bomb in January 2005.

Dalit vs Jat struggle

The controversy over Baba Bhaniyara has been seen as a struggle of Dalits who form 33% of Punjab's population againt the domination of Jats [http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl1822/18220490.htm A godman and a political storm] . The Dalit followers of the Baba have complained of persecution:

:"In our villages, boys are arrested and beaten up for having visited Bhaniara."

Luddo Ram, the sarpanch of Bhaniara. claims that "This is a conspiracy by those who were jealous of his success." At Dhamana, resident Kashmir Singh says about the baba:

:"He never spoke against anyone's religion,Every year we used to have a reading of the Guru Granth Sahib and the Gita together. A lot of people did not like that. It is true he wrote the Bhavsagar Granth, but that was not to belittle anyone else's faith. Tell me, if the police are interested in justice, why don't they arrest the people who burned our Granth, or looted the Bhaniara Dera? [http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl1822/18220490.htm A godman and a political storm] ."

References

* "Buta denies links with Baba Bhaniara", The Tribune, (published from Chandigarh) Oct. 11, 2001.
* "22 followers of Bhaniara guru arrested", Tribune, (published from Chandigarh) Oct. 4, 2001.
* "Sacrilege: Violence mars Punjab bandh" Indian Express, October 6, 2001
* [http://sikhi.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=54 Bhaniara injured in knife attack] Times of India, Sept. 25, 2003.
* "A godman and a political storm", Frontline, Oct 27, 2001.

References