Baba Bhaniara
Encyclopedia
Baba Piara Singh Bhaniara born in 1958, is the spiritual of a breakaway Sikh
sect based in Dhamiana village in Ropar, Punjab. He is believed to have once worked as an employee of the Horticulture Department at a sericulture farm in Asmanpur village. He grew up in a modest family, his father Tulsi Ram, a mason, was a caretaker of two mazaars. After his father’s death, Bhaniara took over the mazaars and proclaimed himself a ‘baba’ (a spiritually advanced person).
The Baba was known a healer for work and used to leave food for wild animals in forests. Senior Congress leader Buta Singh had visited the Baba several times between 1985 and 1995 for healing of his wife Manjit Kaur, who was suffering from several problems of the heart, kidney, skin and lungs: Buta Singh later disassociated himself from the Baba.
Bhaniara has written a book "Bhavsagar Granth
". This has offended the orthodox Sikhs, who complain that the baba is equating himself with the Sikh Gurus. An organization Khalsa Action Committee was formed headed by Mr. Charanjit Singh Channi, which disrupted a religious congregation at the home of one of Baba's followers in Ludhiana in 2001. The Baba's book was snatched and damaged. Following this, Baba's followers were accused of burning the copies of copies of Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh holy book. No evidence to support the accusation was found.
The baba was arrested in Oct. 2001. His book was banned by the government, and several copies of it were burned. An agitation was called by several Sikh youth organizations including Dal Khalsa
and a building and a center of the baba was rightfully demolished.
In 2003, a man named Gopal Singh attempted to stab the baba, when he was in Ambala, to appear in the court, in connection with his alleged involvement with the alleged burning of the copies of Sri Guru Granth Sahib.
A member of Babbar Khalsa
, Gurdeep Singh Rana is under arrest for trying to assassinate the Baba using a bomb in January 2005.
Sikh
A Sikh is a follower of Sikhism. It primarily originated in the 15th century in the Punjab region of South Asia. The term "Sikh" has its origin in Sanskrit term शिष्य , meaning "disciple, student" or शिक्ष , meaning "instruction"...
sect based in Dhamiana village in Ropar, Punjab. He is believed to have once worked as an employee of the Horticulture Department at a sericulture farm in Asmanpur village. He grew up in a modest family, his father Tulsi Ram, a mason, was a caretaker of two mazaars. After his father’s death, Bhaniara took over the mazaars and proclaimed himself a ‘baba’ (a spiritually advanced person).
The Baba was known a healer for work and used to leave food for wild animals in forests. Senior Congress leader Buta Singh had visited the Baba several times between 1985 and 1995 for healing of his wife Manjit Kaur, who was suffering from several problems of the heart, kidney, skin and lungs: Buta Singh later disassociated himself from the Baba.
Bhaniara has written a book "Bhavsagar Granth
Bhavsagar Granth
Bhavsagar Granth is a 2,704 page religious treatise said to been written by 30 authors, including Dr. Pritam Singh of Dhudhike village, under the direction of Baba Bhaniara....
". This has offended the orthodox Sikhs, who complain that the baba is equating himself with the Sikh Gurus. An organization Khalsa Action Committee was formed headed by Mr. Charanjit Singh Channi, which disrupted a religious congregation at the home of one of Baba's followers in Ludhiana in 2001. The Baba's book was snatched and damaged. Following this, Baba's followers were accused of burning the copies of copies of Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh holy book. No evidence to support the accusation was found.
The baba was arrested in Oct. 2001. His book was banned by the government, and several copies of it were burned. An agitation was called by several Sikh youth organizations including Dal Khalsa
Dal Khalsa
Dal Khalsa is a socio-religio-political organization of the Sikh nation, based in the city of Amritsar . The primary aim of Dal Khalsa is to achieve the independence of the Punjabi-speaking Sikh majority region of North West India through peaceful and democratic means in order to establish a...
and a building and a center of the baba was rightfully demolished.
In 2003, a man named Gopal Singh attempted to stab the baba, when he was in Ambala, to appear in the court, in connection with his alleged involvement with the alleged burning of the copies of Sri Guru Granth Sahib.
A member of Babbar Khalsa
Babbar Khalsa
Babbar Khalsa , also known as Babbar Khalsa International , is a Sikh armed organisation based in India. Many consider the Babbar Khalsa a Resistance movement, and it played a prominent role in the Punjab insurgency. Babbar Khalsa International was created in 1978, after a number of Sikhs were...
, Gurdeep Singh Rana is under arrest for trying to assassinate the Baba using a bomb in January 2005.