AMRITSAR: Five high priests headed by Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Raghbir Singh on Monday pronounced religious punishment, also known as “tankhah” for Sukhbir Singh Badal, who was earlier declared guilty of religious misconduct. The former Punjab Deputy Chief Minister has been ordered to clean utensils and shoes in the Golden Temple.
Also Akal Takht, the supreme temporal seat of Sikhs, withdrew the title of ‘Panth Rattan Fakhr-e-Qaum’ from former chief minister late Parkash Singh Badal, the grand man of the state’s politics. He was also blamed for 'facilitating' pardon to self-styled godman and Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in the blasphemy case.
Jathedar Giani Raghbir Singh told the working committee of the Akali Dal to accept the resignation of Sukhbir Badal as the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) President within three days and directed the party’s working committee to launch a membership drive and elect a new President within six months.
Sukhbir Badal and other ministers, who took political decisions between 2007 and 2017 when their party was at the helm and had harmed the Sikh Panth, were asked to appear before the Akal Takht in the Golden Temple complex here on August 30 and were declared ‘tankhaiya’ but not awarded the punishment.
Also Akali Dal leaders Sukhbir Badal, Sukhdev Dhindsa, Gulzar Singh Ranike and Janmeja Sekhon have been ordered to wear a ‘sewadar’ uniform and perform the ‘sewa’ of cleaning utensils and shoes as atonement.
Earlier in the day, Sukhbir Badal reached Akal Takht Sahib in a wheelchair.
Besides Sukhbir Badal, Giani Raghbir Singh had summoned other members of his party, besides key figures from the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) to provide explanations regarding allegations of religious violations.
SAD rebels and several Sikh organisations had been asking Sukhbir Badal to step down from the post of President in view of the sacrilege incidents that comprised hurting religious sentiments of the Sikh community by self-styled godman and Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh who allegedly performed an imitation of Guru Gobind Singh at the sect's dera in 2007, and desecration of the Guru Granth Sahib in 2015.
The rebels, including former MP Prem Singh Chandumajra, ex- SGPC chief Bibi Jagir Kaur, and former minister Parminder Singh Dhindsa, on July 1 conveyed to Giani Raghbir Singh that they were “ready to face any punishment that the Akal Takht may deem appropriate.”
In a letter to the Akal Takht Jathedar, they “admitted guilt” over the “mistakes committed” by the party leadership that had “hurt” the Sikh Panth.
The letter also claimed that Sukhbir Badal allegedly used his influence to pardon the Dera Sacha Sauda chief in the blasphemy case.
To recall, the Akal Takht had pardoned the Dera Sacha Sauda chief in the blasphemy case after a written apology in 2015.
After the rebels sought an apology from Sukhbir Badal, the Akal Takht secretariat on August 5 released a letter written by the SAD chief to the Jathedar, seeking “unconditional forgiveness.”
“I take responsibility for all mistakes, whether made by the party or during the regime of Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal), ” the letter read.
Sukhbir Badal also said he was ready to face whatever punishment was given to him by the Akal Takht Sahib.
Sukhbir Badal, while expressing regret at the 103rd foundation day of the party on December 15, 2023, had blamed SAD for its failure to apprehend the individuals responsible for the sacrilege incidents.
In February 2023, a Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing cases of sacrilege and police firing in 2015 had filed a charge sheet in a Faridkot court, indicting Sukhbir Badal and then DGP Sumedh Singh Saini as masterminds.
The charge sheet also blamed then Chief Minister and Sukhbir Badal's father, Parkash Singh Badal, for the Kotkapura firing case following desecration of the Guru Granth Sahib and the subsequent violence in which the police force was accused of excesses that left two people dead.
Official sources told IANS that then Punjab Home Minister Sukhbir Badal and then DGP Sumedh Saini had hatched a conspiracy to use force to conceal the state government's inaction after incidents of sacrilege in Faridkot district.
In Punjab, blasphemy and sacrilege has been an emotive issue in every election ever since the 2015 Kotkapura firing case.