The Sehajdhari Sikh community has approached the Union Home Ministry seeking recognition as a distinct category in the upcoming national Census.
The demand has been raised by the Sehajdhari Sikh Party (SSP), which claims that millions of Sehajdhari Sikhs are facing increasing marginalisation.
Sehajdhari Sikhs, who practice Sikhism but may or may not use any of the five Ks — kesh (unshorn hair and beard), kanga, (comb), kada (an iron bracelet), kachhera (undergarment) and kirpan (a sword) — are excluded from voter registration. The term ‘Sehajdhari’ is broadly considered as a combination of two terms ‘Sehaj’ (gradually) and ‘Dhari’ (loosely translated as ‘evolving’), or someone who evolved slowly as Sikhs. Those who want to embrace Sikhism gradually through the phases of Keshdhari (those who appear to be Sikhs physically, but yet to undergo ‘amrit sanchar’) and Amritdhari, could be called Sehajdhari.
Dr Paramjeet Singh Ranu, national president of the SSP, has submitted a representation to Union Home Minister Amit Shah seeking their inclusion as a separate sub-category in the Census. According to Ranu, out of the 1.75 crore Sikhs in Punjab, only 45 lakh are amritdhari or baptised, while 1.3 crore of them are sehajdharis.
Citing what he described as an “identity vacuum”, Dr Ranu said recent amendments to the Sikh Gurdwaras Act had stripped Sehajdhari Sikhs of their voting rights in religious bodies’ polls, particularly the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), leading to a crisis of representation.
He said recognition in the Census would enable the community to access social benefits, scholarships and educational protections available to other minority groups under the Constitution