‘Gurdwara Bangla Sahib’ in the Eye of Anti-CEC Protest Storm

October

2026

Similar to the Gen Z protests of 20 Jul, Gurdwara Bangla Sahib, New Delhi, has once again emerged as a sanctuary for protesters demanding India's Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) resign and rollback of the Special Intensive Revision. Heeding Cockroach Janta Party’s (CJP) call to protest at Jantar Mantar on 10 Oct, hundreds of protesters camped at the Gurdwara the night before. Earlier on 9 Oct, the Delhi police carried out a flag march through the Gurdwara with their heads bare and boots on, violating Sikh protocols. The police say they marched on the connecting pedestrian path between Baba Kharak Singh Marg and Ashoka Road—the Gurdwara is at the intersection. The path is a thoroughfare inside the Gurdwara property. On 10 Oct, the police first sought permission to enter the Gurdwara to arrest protesters, but the Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee (DSGMC) denied it. By afternoon, the police started dragging and detaining several protesters from inside the Gurdwara. On 11 Oct, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) sought Home Minister Amit Shah’s resignation over alleged disrespect to the Gurdwara by Delhi police personnel. In a turnaround, DSGMC president Harmeet Singh Kalka approached the Delhi police with a complaint against AAP leaders, including party chief Arvind Kejriwal, accusing them of disrupting the Gurudwara’s sanctity. DSGMC said AAP workers and supporters entered the Gurdwara and staged protests, creating disturbance and using the sacred premises for political purposes. Former DSGMC president Manjit Singh GK has said Kalka lodged the complaint under pressure from Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) minister in Delhi government, Manjinder Singh Sirsa. In Sikh tradition, all Gurdwaras are sanctuaries that welcome everyone who needs food and shelter. Within 1 km of New Delhi's long-designated protest site Jantar Mantar, Gurdwara Bangla Sahib has provided food to protesters for years, regardless of their political affiliations or demands. In this case, the police should not have entered Gurdwara or arrested people there. Gurdwara management, which is allied with BJP, should not run to court on matters of religious tradition. The sanctity of a Gurdwara is a sense or an observance, which law cannot fix (earlier coverage).