Restore Fakhr-e-Qaum title on ex-CM Badal, SAD urges Takht

On December 2, Akal Takht had revoked the title bestowed on Badal Sr 13 years ago

- Vishal Joshi

MUKTSAR: A month-and-a-half after Parkash Singh Badal was posthumously stripped of the Panth Rattan Fakhr-e-Qaum (pride of the Sikh community) title, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Tuesday appealed to Akal Takht to restore the honour on the SAD patriarch and five-time chief minister of Punjab.

A resolution was passed at the traditional convention of the SAD during the annual Maghi Mela in Muktsar.

Led by Badal's son and former party chief Sukhbir Singh Badal, the veteran Akali leader Hira Singh Gabria read out the resolution appealing to the Akal Takht to restore the title bestowed on the late Parkash Singh Badal. It was seconded by the sangat amid the religious slogans.

On December 2, 2024, the five Sikh high priests, led by Akal Takht jathedar Giani Raghbir Singh, had revoked the title on Badal senior, 13 years after it was bestowed on him in the Golden Temple complex in recognition of his services during his long political career.

The Akal Takht had also asked the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) working committee to accept Sukhbir's resignation as the SAD chief and had pronounced the punishment for religious misconduct.

Sukhbir was declared a 'tankhaiya' in August after he was held guilty of religious misconduct 'for mistakes committed by the party when it was in power in Punjab from 2007-17', including pardoning Sirsa-based Dera Sacha Sauda head Gurmeet Ram Rahim in 2015 that triggered clashes between Dera followers and Sikhs.