An old video of Pakistani Sufi leader Maulana Dr Muhammad Suleman is making rounds on social media where he can be seen passing several objectionable comments against the Sikh community and their religious leader Guru Nanak Dev. In the video, Maulana is heard saying that Sikhs are the ‘filthiest’ and that they need to be converted to Islam.
The undated video is more than two years old but is making rounds on social media after it was recently shared by a Twitter account named Pakistan Untold. Calling Sikhs the dirtiest persons, Maulana could be heard saying, “I get a lot of phone calls from Sikhs. Now it is what it is but I am very surprised. Our Prophet has told us even to clean our armpit hair. I used to study in Lahore so I have seen them. Allah forgive me, these Sikhs are so dirty. We only have a beard. We will convert these Sikhs to Islam one day. We have a complete plan ready. Don’t spread this but we will convert Sikhs to Islam.”
“Pak Sufi ‘Saint’ Dr Muhammad Suleman wants to secretly convert all ‘filthy/stinking’ Sikhs to Islam (Sikhs ‘misled’ by their Guru)”
— Pakistan Untold (@pakistan_untold) February 10, 2023
Many Sikhs revere Sufi ‘saints’ as their own!! This is how Sufis return the favor.pic.twitter.com/TkiQq53Gfc
He also commented on the Sikh Guru and said that he did not know exactly who he was. According to Maulana, the Prophet was greater than him. Dr Suleman could further be heard saying that Sikhs are running after their Guru and are still engaged in doing dirty things.
Notably, before Dr Suleman, another such Maulvi had also passed objectionable comments about Sikh Guru, video of which had gone viral over social media. Guru Nanak, according to Maulvi, had not studied Kalma and had not embraced Islam. He thus could not be a good person. He said that despite Guru Nanak’s admiration for Baba Farid, doing so would not have brought him to Islam. The Kalma is recited by a sincere Muslim. According to the reports, this video was perceived as a jab at Pakistanis who back the Khalistan movement.
At the beginning of the 1980s, a movement arose calling for the establishment of a separate Sikh nation called Khalistan in the Indian state of Punjab. Pakistan backed this initiative, which was sparked by the Khalistani’s call for the establishment of their own nation. Terrorists from Pakistan began infiltrating India under the pretext of this movement. A report from the year 2021 stated that Pakistan’s ISI intelligence service has begun attempting to resurrect the Khalistan movement in India. As a weapon for this, it uses the Kartarpur Corridor, which was launched in November 2019.
The video which is at present going viral over social media is undated and is seemingly being shared amid the ongoing turmoil in Punjab surrounding the recent activities of radical pro-Khalistani leader Amritpal Singh and his supporters. On February 27, Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann stated that Khalistan supporters were getting funding from Pakistan and other countries.
He said that 1000 people who raised pro-Khalistani slogans recently during the Amritpal Singh episode do not represent entire Punjab. “You come to Punjab and see for yourself who all are shouting such slogans,” Mann said while addressing a press conference in Bhavnagar city of Gujarat.
“Only a handful of persons are behind this and they run their shops through funding from Pakistan and other foreign countries,” Mann said. “Though Rajasthan shares a much larger border with Pakistan, why do drones (sent from Pakistan) land in Punjab and not in Rajasthan? Because their (Khalistani elements) masters are sitting there (in Pakistan) and they want to disturb Punjab. But we will not let them succeed,” the CM was quoted as saying.
The Khalistan movement seeks to establish a distinct, independent Sikh state in modern-day Punjab. It has persisted over the years in a variety of shapes, locales, and populations.
Following Operation Blue Star (1984) and Operation Black Thunder (1986 and 1988), the movement was put down in India, but it still inspires sympathy and support among certain Sikhs, particularly in the Sikh diaspora from nations like Canada, the UK, and Australia.
