Chandigarh: The president of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), Sukhbir Singh Badal, appeared before the Akal Takht, the highest temporal body of the Sikhs, Wednesday and handed over a written explanation to its jathedar (central head) clarifying his position on the allegation levelled against him by the party’s dissident group that he had “failed to satisfactorily represent the Sikh panth (community)”.
This is the first time that Badal has appeared before the Akal Takht since he took over the reins of the SAD in 2008.
Senior leaders of the party who accompanied Badal told ThePrint that the contents of his explanation were handed over in a sealed cover. They said that instead of taking a contentious stand, Badal has decided to surrender himself to the Akal Takht and accept any decision that the body takes regarding him.
Akal Takht jathedar Giani Raghbir Singh told mediapersons that the written explanation will be taken up for consideration during a meeting of the jathedars of the five takhts (seats of authority of the Sikhs), which will be called in the coming days. If found guilty of indulging in anti-panthic acts, Badal could be declared a “tankhaiya” and accorded a religious punishment.
The Akal Takht jathedar had on 15 July summoned Badal after a set of senior members of the SAD had handed over a written complaint to him against Badal. Following that, a meeting of the jathedars of the five takhts took place in Amritsar. Badal was then asked to present himself before the Akal Takht within 15 days and also give an explanation in writing on the allegations.
Reacting to Badal appearing before the Akal Takht, SAD leader Gurpartap Singh Wadala told mediapersons Wednesday that it will be clear in the coming days if Badal had “accepted” his mistakes and regretted them or not.
“It is not only the dissident leaders of the party but the entire Sikh community of Punjab that wants Badal to take a backseat. We admit that Badal has not worked hard to win elections (in Punjab) but he has failed because people are upset with him to the point of harbouring hatred for him. People do not accept him as their leader,” Wadala said.
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The SAD crisis
Wednesday’s development comes in the wake of a deepening crisis within the SAD, with some senior leaders demanding that Badal step down as president, taking complete responsibility for the party’s worsening electoral performance in Punjab since the 2017 assembly elections.
Following the humiliating defeat of the SAD in the recently concluded parliamentary elections, the group of rebel party leaders led by Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, Prem Singh Chandumajra and Bibi Jagir Kaur, among others, had on 1 July handed over an “apology letter” to Giani Raghbir Singh seeking forgiveness for the mistakes committed by the SAD.
Also holding Badal as responsible for the mistakes, the rebel group apologised for the party having failed to nab those responsible for the incidents of sacrilege of the Guru Granth Sahib in 2015 when the SAD-BJP combine was in power in Punjab.
The rebel group also sought apology for the controversial 2015 pardoning of Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh by the Akal Takht in a blasphemy case. A large section of the people had felt that the SAD swayed the Akal Takht to pardon the Dera chief, possibly for gaining support of his followers at the cost of compromising the Sikh religious authority.
The decision was later retracted by the Akal Takht.
On 15 July, the SAD’s rebel group launched the “Shiromani Akali Dal Sudhar Lehar” in Chandigarh and announced Wadala as it’s convener. Wadala had announced that the group will be announcing a presidium in the coming days, apart from a committee of senior members.
On Tuesday, Badal disbanded the core committee of the party. The committee included most of the rebel leaders.
General secretary of the party Daljit Singh Cheema said in a video statement that a fresh core committee would be announced soon, adding that other structures of the party’s organisation will also will undergo a revamp in the coming days.
President of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) Harjinder Singh Dhami also appeared before the Akal Takht Wednesday to give an explanation for another set of allegations levelled against the SGPC by the rebel group in their apology letter, relating to expenditure of over Rs 90 lakh on advertisements by the SGPC.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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