The Sindhi Hindus will only adhere to “Sanatani” customs, as per a revered Udasi Hindu saint.
Additionally, he urged Sindhi Hindus worldwide to give Guru Granth Sahib replicas kept in their temples back to Gurudwaras.
As a result of a protest by a Sikh group from Punjab about the placement of the Sikh holy text close to “murtis” of deities in temples belonging to the Sindhi community, 50 Sindhi Hindu temples in Indore withdrew copies of the Guru Granth Sahib and gave those to a local gurudwara.
According to reports, Nihang Sikhs from the Punjabi city of Amritsar were among the protesters.
They got into an argument with the management of the temple and demanded that either the temples where copies of the Guru Granth Sahib were stored be designated Gurudwaras or that they be taken out to prevent sacrilege. The situation even made it to the neighborhood police station.
After consulting with the Sikh group, the Sindhi community organized a committee of five persons and decided to deliver the copies to a nearby Gurudwara.
Mahamandleshwar of Shree Panchayati Bada Udasin Akhara – Prayagraj Swami Hansraj, a follower of the Udasi Sampradaya, claimed that the Sindhi Hindu community has started the process of returning the copies of the Guru Granth Sahib throughout the nation to the gurudwaras because the Nihang Sikhs insulted the murtis of gods and gurus in the Sindhi temples.
He continued by saying that copies of the Sikh holy books would be distributed to local gurudwaras by Sindi Hindu temples in India and other countries.
The seer declared, “Sindhi Samaj is Sanatani, we would be practicing only Sanatani practices, and through panchayat/ community members across world Guru Granth from Temples would be handed over to Sikh community.”
“We are Sanatanis, we will practice our rituals. The Sindhi community is Sanatan dharmi. Even before Guru Granth was compiled, we Sindhis since time immemorial are following teachings of Vedas, Upanishads, Bhagvad Mahapuran, Bhagvad Gita. Our community should remain united,” he added.
Located primarily in northern India, the Udasi sect of sadhus practise asceticism. They were renowned interpreters and disseminators of Sikh philosophy in the 18th century after taking on the responsibility of looking after Sikh shrines. Their religious rituals, though, are almost a syncretism of Hinduism and Sikhism.