Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.
Credit: PTI Photo
Lucknow: Stating that the Sikh community has done a lot to protect the Sanatan Dharma, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday said it was Sikhs who started the Ram Janmabhoomi movement and their contribution can never be forgotten by any Indian.
Singh said this while addressing a gathering at Lucknow's Alambagh Gurudwara on Prakash Utsav of Guru Granth Sahib.
"The Sikh community has done a lot to protect the Sanatan Dharma. For Ram Janmabhoomi also, no Indian can forget their contribution," Singh said.
He said, "I wanted to share an important fact according to the government record. On Dec 1, 1858, according to an FIR, a group of Sikhs raising slogans of Guru Govind Singh captured the premises and wrote 'Ram Ram' everywhere on the walls."
"The Ram Janmbhoomi Andolan was started by the Sikhs," he added.
Singh said that now everyone talks about their rights but not about their duties.
"If there is a community whose percentage of those who laid down their lives for the country and their percentage in the Army is greater their population percentage, that is the Sikh community," he said.