Chandigarh, May 3 (PTI) The Akal Takht, the highest temporal body of Sikhs, has called the Punjab Assembly Speaker on May 8 for a discussion on the recently amended anti-sacrilege law, saying the legislation is unacceptable as the apex Sikh bodies were not taken into confidence before it was brought in the Assembly.
A consensus emerged in a special gathering of Sikh institutions, organisations and scholars in Amritsar on Sunday that the amended Act brought by the present Punjab government and passed by the state Assembly “without the consent of the Khalsa Panth and Sri Akal Takht Sahib should not be accepted”, Akal Takht Jathedar (head priest) Giani Kuldip Singh Gargaj said.
He asserted that matters related to Sri Guru Granth Sahib are internal religious affairs of the Sikh community, and no government can impose laws on Sikhs in this regard.
The government, he said, must clarify why representative Sikh institutions were ignored.
In the meeting called by the Jathedar, the Sikh bodies, he said, disapproved of the Jaagat Jot Sri Guru Granth Sahib Satkar (Amendment) Act, 2026, and the Punjab Assembly Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan has been called to the Secretariat of the Akal Takht Sahib in Amritsar on May 8, for detailed discussions.
Several speakers at the meeting expressed that the Act brought by the Punjab government amounts to direct interference in Sikh religious affairs, a statement said.
The legislation was unanimously passed by the Punjab Assembly on April 13. It has the provision of stricter punishment, including life imprisonment for any act of sacrilege against the Guru Granth Sahib.
In view of the “concerns and objections” raised within the Sikh community pertaining to the recently enacted Act, the Jathedar said, Punjab Assembly Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan has been called to the Secretariat of the Akal Takht Sahib on May 8.
Jathedar Gargaj said that the Speaker has been invited for a “clause-by-clause” discussion on the Act and will be asked why Akal Takht Sahib and the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) were not taken into confidence before enacting the law.
He emphasised that any amendments made by the government cannot be accepted by the Khalsa Panth “without its approval”.
The Jathedar clarified that the ‘Khalsa Panth’ does not oppose strict laws aimed at punishing those guilty of sacrilege. However, bringing Sikh sentiments, concerns and matters related to Sri Guru Granth Sahib under the ambit of state legislation is unacceptable.
The speakers at the meeting noted that instead of focusing on punishing those responsible for sacrilege and delivering justice to Sikhs, the law places greater responsibility on Sikh institutions, gurdwara managements, the sangat, granthis, the statement said.
It was also observed that such measures could create obstacles in the propagation of the Sikh faith and may alienate the Sikh community from the Guru Sahib, it said.
Referring to sacrilege incidents in Punjab, the Akal Takht Jathedar said that despite two successive governments since the incidents began, the “real culprits have not been brought to justice”.
He pointed out that cases related to the 2015 sacrilege incidents were transferred outside Punjab, and the present government has not made concrete efforts to bring them back.
Addressing a ‘Lok Milni’ outreach programme at village Ghogra in Dasuya assembly constituency on Sunday evening in Hoshiarpur district, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said that the law has “closed the chapter” on sacrilege incidents by making them punishable with up to life imprisonment.
He alleged that previous governments lacked the intent to bring such a law despite repeated incidents.
“If the opposition had honest intentions, they would have enacted a strict law long ago. We have now ensured that anyone indulging in beadbi (sacrilege) will face the harshest punishment,” Mann said. PTI SUN RT
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