Chandigarh: Moving ahead with their bid to oust Sukhbir Badal as Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president, rebel party leaders appeared before the Jathedar of the Akal Takht Monday and tendered an apology for the “mistakes” made while their party was in power in Punjab.
The rebel leaders, including former MP Prem Singh Chandumajra, former SGPC chief Bibi Jagir Kaur, ex-MLA Gurpartap Singh Wadala, former minister Parminder Singh Dhindsa, and party leader Sucha Singh Chhotepur, sought penance for the party’s “mistakes”. These “mistakes” were laid out in a letter they submitted to Jathedar Giani Raghbir Singh at the Akal Takht Secretariat, located at the Golden Temple, the highest temporal authority of the Sikhs at Amritsar.
This comes a week after these leaders met in Jalandhar and launched a campaign for Sukhbir’s removal as SAD chief over the poor electoral performances of the party.
In their letter, seen by ThePrint, the rebel leaders sought forgiveness from the Akal Takht for four major “mistakes” committed by the SAD when it was in power in Punjab from 2007 to 2017. These include the then government’s failure to punish those responsible for the 2015 sacrilege incidents, and the controversial pardoning of Gurmeet Ram Rahim in a 2007 blasphemy case registered against him for donning an attire identical to that of the 10th Guru of the Sikhs, Guru Gobind Singh. The letter also mentions the failure to provide justice to the families of youths killed in fake encounters and the rewarding of police officers responsible for committing excesses.
According to the rebels’ letter, the Akali Dal government had revoked the case against Ram Rahim, who is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence for raping two of his followers.
The rebels accused Sukhbir of using his influence to secure a pardon for the Dera Sacha Sauda chief in the blasphemy case, a decision later retracted due to community pressure. In 2015, the Akal Takht initially pardoned Gurmeet Ram Rahim based on a written apology but annulled the decision following backlash from the Sikh community.
The rebel leaders said that due to these actions, the Sikh community and the people of Punjab became disillusioned with the Akali Dal and began to distance themselves from the party.
Speaking to media persons after submitting the letter to the Jathedar, Bibi Jagir Kaur said the former had told them he will communicate with them after going through its contents. In their letter, the rebels expressed their willingness to accept any punishment in accordance with Sikh principles.
“We told him to inform us early about the sentence imposed on us because we have a burden on our hearts,” said Kaur.
In a press release issued Monday, the Akali Dal said that its women’s wing, the Istri Akali Dal, and the Scheduled Caste wing of the party had expressed their confidence in the leadership of Sukhbir Badal.
The 4 ‘mistakes’
One of the matters referred to in the letter is that of Gurmeet Ram Rahim, who in 2007, hurt the religious sentiments of Sikhs by dressing like Guru Gobind Singh. A case was registered against Ram Rahim, but the then SAD government took the case back, says the letter.
Second, acting against the Dera chief for his “misconduct”, the Akal Takht took stern action and excommunicated Ram Rahim from Sikhism. However, Sukhbir Badal as SAD chief used his influence to get a pardon for him, and it was only after public backlash from the public that the decision was taken back, it adds.
The third ‘mistake’ refers to 2015 sacrilege incidents. On 1 June, 2015, some Birs of the Guru Granth Sahib were stolen from a gurdwara in Faridkot district, and on 12 October the same year, 110 pages of the Guru Granth Sahib were found lying in front of a gurdwara in Bargari. The incidents led to widespread resentment among Sikhs in Punjab. The rebels state in their letter that the SAD government failed to hold those responsible accountable, and the situation deteriorated, leading to the police opening fire at protesters in Kotkapura and Behbal Kalan.
The fourth ‘mistake’, according to the rebels, was that the SAD failed to provide justice to innocent youths killed by the police during militancy. Rather, Sumedh Singh Saini who faced allegations in this regard was promoted by the Akali government as Punjab DGP.
The letter also states that Mohammad Izhar Alam, a police officer who set up ‘Alam Sena’, which it said was responsible for committing atrocities on Sikh youths, was rewarded by the SAD, as it gave his wife Farzana Nesara Khatun a party ticket in 2012 from Malerkotla and appointing her as a parliamentary secretary in the government.
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)
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