Chandigarh: The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) has demanded that Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann appear before the Akal Takht and render an unconditional apology for what it termed as utterances of a man “drunk with power” against the highest temporal body of the Sikhs.
The Akali Dal’s demand comes after a Twitter spat between Mann and Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh that has caused the politics in the state to heat up.
While the BJP is completely quiet on the matter, at least one Congress MLA, Sukhpal Singh Khaira, has come out openly in support of the jathedar.
The Akal Takht is responsible for taking all major decisions concerning the community. The jathedar had Monday called a meeting of several Sikh bodies in Amritsar to decide on a collective course of action by the Sikh community following the Mann government’s crackdown on radical Sikh preacher Amritpal Singh.
Following the meeting, Giani Harpreet Singh had given an ultimatum to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government to release all Sikh youths arrested during the crackdown against Amritpal within 24 hours.
Mann Tuesday attacked the jathedar over the ultimatum. In a Twitter message, he said it was “known” that he and the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) had always favoured the Akalis.
“Look at history and you will see that many jathedars were used by the Akalis for their selfish interests,” Mann said. “It would have been better had you issued an ultimatum over sacrilege and missing forms of Guru Granth Sahib.”
Mann was referring to the series of incidents of sacrilege of the Guru Granth Sahib, which Sikhs consider a living Guru, that have happened over the years. In the wake of such sacrilege incidents in 2015, the SAD-BJP state government led by former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal and his then deputy CM son Sukhbir Singh Badal was seen as having failed at nabbing those responsible.
Mann also took a dig at the jathedar over a similar 2020 controversy in which 328 saroops, or forms, of the Guru Granth Sahib were found missing from the SGPC printing press. Although action was taken against SGPC employees following an internal enquiry, several Sikh bodies continue to demand the registration of a criminal case.
SGPC are largely seen as being controlled by the SAD and are often criticised for using various means to stay relevant.
The jathedar responded to Mann’s tweet just hours later.
“Bhagwant Mann ji, the way you are representing Punjab, I am also in my small way representing my community,” he said in a message posted on Twitter. “It’s my right and my duty to demand justice for innocent Sikh youth. You’re right that often simple religious people are used by politicians. I’m aware of it. But you need to be careful against being used by politicians who want to keep Punjab burning for their political interests.”
He further said: “We will talk about politics later. First, let us come together to ensure that the young innocent boys put in jails are released and are able to meet their waiting mothers. May Vaaheguru bless (you).”
‘Mann has forgotten God’
The SAD also reacted strongly to Mann’s tweet against the jathedar. In a series of tweets SAD President Sukhbir Badal wrote: “I cannot believe that this puppet chief minister is so drunk with power that he has, on the asking of the anti-Sikh lobby sitting in Delhi, dared to take on the Guru Ghar”.
He further said: “He will meet the same fate as those who had earlier challenged the authority of the highest temporal body of the Sikhs — the Akal Takht — built by the sixth Guru on the principles of miri-piri (temporal and spiritual authority). There’s still time. Mann should, without wasting any time, unconditionally appear before the Akal Takht and apologise for this religious ignorance.”
Although there is no word from the Congress party over the issue, MLA Sukhpal Khaira supported the Jathedar over the ultimatum.
“I support the ultimatum given by Jathedar Akal Takhat to release youths, stop the indiscriminate misuse of NSA, stop mass arrests, stop gagging media, etc,” Khaira said in a tweet. “I’m ashamed of @BhagwantMann who’s acting as a pawn to defame his own community & PB at the behest of Delhi without any provocation”.
He also criticised Mann for his tweet against the jathedar.
“It’s sad that instead of giving justice to the Sikh youth who have been caught in the whirlwind (of the crackdown), Bhagwant Mann is taking on the Akal Takht Sahib. It seems that while running on the orders of Delhi, he is drunk with power and has forgotten God too,” tweeted Khaira.
(Edited by Uttara Ramaswamy)
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