BJP leader trolled over Bhindranwale reference in Kangana Ranaut advice

JALANDHAR: Senior BJP leader and former Union minister of state Som Parkash on Wednesday faced heavy trolling, mostly from BJP or right-wing supporters, over his post advising BJP Mandi MP Kangana Ranaut to restrain from making unnecessary comments against “Sant Jarnail Singh (Bhindranwale) and the Sikh community.”
He was trolled, mostly by BJP supporters and social media influencers linked to the party, for prefixing “Sant” with Bhindranwale’s name.
“Kangana Ranaut must restrain from making unnecessary comments against Sant Jarnail Singh and Sikh community. Such remarks hurt the feelings of Sikh community. She must remain in discipline. Nobody should be allowed to disturb peace in Punjab,” he posted on his X account on Wednesday.
Explaining that his sole reason for posting his advice was for peace in Punjab, Som Parkash told TOI: “I posted on X solely for the sake of peace and tranquillity in Punjab and people must understand this. For us, peace and social amity in Punjab are first and foremost.”
Som Parkash, who was elected to the Lok Sabha from Hoshiarpur (reserved) constituency in 2019-2024, was a minister of state during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s second term. He also was a Punjab MLA from 2012 to 2019.
His wife, Anita Som Parkash was BJP’s candidate from Hoshiarpur Lok Sabha seat in 2024 but she lost to AAP’s Raj Kumar Chabbewal.
The fresh controversy on Kangana’s remarks erupted when the Mandi MP, while speaking on Bhindranwale in context of her film, ‘Emergency’ on a TV channel, said, ”Some people call Bhindranwale a sant… Somebody carrying an AK 47 and hiding in a temple is not a sant. And they are telling me that he did not demand Khalistan… 99% of people of Punjab don’t consider him a sant but a terrorist.”
The trailer of this same film had led to controversy in Punjab as Sikh bodies, including Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, objected to the depiction of a character resembling Bhindranwale, opposed the film and even sent her a legal notice. The release of the film was withheld and the censor board later asked for some cuts in the film.
Former Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee president Manjit Singh GK also took exception to her remarks.
RSS chief visited Bhindranwale’s successor 24 years ago
Around 24 years ago, the then Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief, the late KC Sudarshan, visited the headquarters of prominent Sikh seminary Damdami Taksal, which was earlier headed by Bhindranwale, and met his successor Baba Thakar Singh along with other Taksal leaders.
Sudarshan was accompanied by senior BJP leader AR Kohli, who later became the Mizoram governor and Punjab RSS leaders. Bhindranwale’s nephew and former Akal Takht Jathedar Jasbir Singh Rode had told TOI in October 2021 that the visit was either at the end of 2000 or the beginning of 2001.
“When he entered the Taksal headquarters, he showed great reverence towards Baba Thakar Singh and the latter too reciprocated. The meeting happened in a hall that had a life-size picture of Sant Bhindranwale. The RSS chief’s opening remark was that he felt very sad over Army action on Darbar Sahib by the Congress government and called it a disaster,” Rode had recalled.
Confirming that Punjab RSS leaders had also accompanied Sudarshan, Kohli had told TOI that RSS wanted to end bitterness between Sikhs and Hindus while always remaining alive to historic relations between them. "We wanted that Sangh Parivar and Singh Parivar should end bitterness and that would be in the greater interests of the country," he had said.
Bhindranwale continues to be enigma
Bhindranwale remains an enigma for people as well as for political parties in Punjab. Most of the leaders of mainstream political parties in Punjab, including Congress and BJP, usually avoid mentioning him and if they mention him at all they do it respectfully.
Only very few would call him a terrorist. In a longish video interview, former Union minister and now Chandigarh Congress MP Manish Tewari called him “Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale Ji” while mentioning the latter’s phone call to his mother after the murder of his father and then Rajya Sabha member Prof V N Tewari in Chandigarh in April 1984. Bhindranwale had told his mother that he had nothing to do with the murder.