Baba Hardev Singh Dies: Why Some Sikh Organisations Are Miffed With His Sant Nirankari Mission?

Baba Hardev Singh, spiritual head of the Sant Nirankari Mission, died in a road accident in Montreal, Canada, on Friday. He was 62.

 

"It was around five in the morning when his car met with an accident and he died," an official of the organisation told IANS here.

 

He said arrangements are being made to bring the mortal ramains of the spiritual head to Delhi and details about it would be known soon.

 

"With profound pain and sorrow, this is to inform you that His Holiness Nirankari Baba Hardev Singh Ji Maharaj has merged into this Almighty God," said an official statement issued by the mission.

 

The sect, with millions of followers across the world, has also requested them not to rush to the mission headquarters in New Delhi to avoid unnecessary inconvenience.

 

 

Hardev Singh was arguably the most prominent SNM leader after founder Baba Buta Singh. It was under the leadership of the deceased leader, the organization began to spread its roots in Western parts of the world. 

 

In the last three decades, a large number of members from the migrant Sikh community in United States and Canada have turned followers of Sant Nirankari Mission.

 

Instead of propagating Sant Nirankari Mission as the real sect of Sikhism, Hardev Singh had a different mission.

 

According to him, Sant Nirankari Mission is “neither a new religion nor a sect of an existing religion, but an all-embracing spiritual movement dedicated to human welfare.” Hardev Singh used to stress that the mission of his life is to spread unity, brotherhood and religious harmony.

 

The style of leadership adopted by Hardev Singh was in a slight contrast with his predecessors, who articulated the reasons why Sikhs should accept a living leader as their guru, rather than considering Guru Granth Sahib as the final guru of the community till doomsday.

 

Here are his top 10 quotes:

 

‘Kingdom of Heaven is open to all except the arrogant’.

 

‘Truly great are those who bloom even in autumn of adversary’.

 

‘Pride destroys the merit of service’.

 

‘Bridging Humanity piece by peace’.

 

‘For nearness to God, Man must have nearness to Man’.

 

‘Know One, Believe One’.

 

‘To bow in front of others is strength, not weakness’.

 

‘To perceive God, one must attain the divine vision’.

 

‘Dear Waheguru ji, I don’t ask you to make my life easier, but I ask you to give me strength to face all trouble’

 

 

Akhand Kirtani Jatha, one of the most prominent Sikh organization in India, have held several rallies against Nirankari Mission, demanding its leader to absolutely move out of the fold of Sikhism. 

 

They were anguished since SNM used Guru Nanak’s message as the central theme of imparting their discourse, despite claiming to be unrelated to Sikhism.

 

Jatha members killed Baba Hardev Singh’s father Baba Gurbachan Singh in 1980. Ranjit Singh, one of the members of the outfit was found guilty of murder.

 

Nirankari Mission activities has always been subject to resistance in India. It was one of the major reasons why Baba Hardev Singh concentrated more on the Western countries to propagate the group’s message.

 

 

The officials present at Toronto, urged Nirankari Baba’s followers not to rush to Delhi or Kothi (Headquarters of the Mission) and asked them wait, as further details will be conveyed soon. Meanwhile the mission leaders further suggested more than a million followers of Nirankari Baba to stay away from rumours.

 

There are no official confirmation when and where the final rituals of the spiritual leader will be carried out. Kripasagar, media manager of the mission, said, “they were deeply saddened by the news Baba Hardev Singh’s death. It was sudden and sad news for us”.

 

 

At the time of the incident Nirankari Baba was accompanied by two of his son in laws Sandeep Khinda and Avneet Setya, and Vivek Sharma a person from New York. In the tragic accident that took place today morning the trio received injuries, but are reported to be safe.

 

Nirankari Baba who holds more that 100 branches across 27 countries was known worldwide. After his death several leaders in India, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi mourn his death and expressed their condolences.