Akali Dal Crisis: All eyes on Sikh clergy meeting today

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, August 29

A day prior to the meeting of the five high priests to take a call on the existential crisis in the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), a group of Sikhs under the banner of Panthic Talmel Sangathan has approached Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Raghbir Singh with a submission that the ‘guilty’ should not be let off with mild ‘religious punishment’.

The group, led by former Takht Damdama Sahib Jathedar Giani Kewal Singh, also urged that the Panthic representatives should be taken into confidence for consolidated opinion before pronouncing the verdict.

On July 1, a group of rebel Akali leaders appeared before Akal Takht and apologised for the “mistakes” committed when their party was in power. The mistakes, they had pointed out, included favouring Dera Sirsa head Gurmeet Ram Rahim, appointing Sumedh Singh Saini as the DGP and other “anti-Panthic” decisions taken by the Akali government during its 10-year stint in the state.

Following this, on July 24, SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal and SGPC president Harjinder Singh Dhami submitted their written clarifications separately in person.

In his clarification, Sukhbir had admitted the ‘chet-achet (knowingly or unknowingly) mistakes’ during SAD tenure between 2007-2015. An ‘apology’ letter written by his father and the then CM Parkash Singh Badal in 2015 was also made a part of the explanation.

Giani Kewal Singh said the matter of flip-flop exoneration of the Dera Sirsa chief has to be taken up thoroughly and the then Jathedars of the Takhts should be included in the examination.

“Their version was required to be put on record to reveal the circumstances and the pressure under which the Dera Sirsa head was granted pardon. Also, the then SGPC officials and executive members should also be questioned about spending a mammoth amount of Rs 91 lakh on advertisements to justify it,” he said.

Jaswinder Singh Advocate of Akal Purakh Ki Fauj said the SAD president and other Akali leaders should be exposed for forging an alliance with the Dera head for political gains. “We urge the Jathedar to desist from pronouncing mere religious punishment,” he said.