Akal Takht directs Sikhs to ostracise Punjab CM

The Akal Takht on Monday directed the Sikh community to ostracise Bhagwant Mann over a video that they said hurt Sikh sentiments, even as the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) questioned the legitimacy of the clip that allegedly featured the Punjab chief minister.

- Surjit Singh

The Sikh clergy declared Mann “Guru Dokhi” (anti-Guru) and “Khalsa Panth Virodhi” (anti-community), accusing him of lying regarding the objectionable video. They also summoned all Sikh legislators across the political parties and cabinet ministers before the Akal Takht—the highest temporal seat of Sikhs— on June 29 in connection with an anti-sacrilege law recently passed by the state legislature.

Akal Takht jathedar Giani Kuldeep Singh Gargaj pronounced the edict from the ‘faseel' (podium of the Akal Takht) after the ‘five Singh Sahiban’ (Sikh clergy) held a meeting in Amritsar. On January 4, a complaint was filed against Mann regarding a video which purportedly showed him making comments on the ‘Guru ki Golak’ (a gurdwara donation box) and disrespecting the pictures of the “Sikh Gurus” and slain militant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale.