Sewadar Sukhbir

A rap on the knuckles — that’s what the Sikh clergy has given to Sukhbir Singh Badal and other Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leaders for the ‘sins’ committed by their government in Punjab from 2007 to 2017. The token punishment — washing dishes and cleaning shoes as well as washrooms at the Golden Temple — has been awarded nearly three months after the former Deputy CM was declared ‘tankhaiya’ (guilty of religious misconduct) by the Akal Takht. The five high priests have stopped short of taking drastic action, such as excommunication, despite the gravity of the misdeeds that Sukhbir and the others are accused of. Making them perform ‘sewa’ as atonement may not be enough to pacify the Panth, which continues to be angry with the Badals and the SAD over the tumultuous events of 2015.

While Sukhbir has been granted an opportunity to revive his political fortunes, the withdrawal of the Panth Rattan Fakhr-e-Quam title — bestowed on then CM Parkash Singh Badal by the Akal Takht in 2011 — is a setback to the Badal family. With this extreme step, the clergy has done what it failed to do when the senior Badal was alive. The high priests have also asserted their authority by directing the SAD working committee to accept Sukhbir’s resignation as party chief and form a panel to hold organisational elections. This indicates that the clergy won’t desist from intervening in party affairs.

Both Sukhbir and his party are desperate to shed their ignominious baggage — the failure to punish the perpetrators of the sacrilege incidents and the pardon granted (later revoked) to Sirsa dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim in a blasphemy case. The SAD wants the Panth, its traditional vote bank, to forgive and forget. All is not lost for the Akalis — people of Punjab have repeatedly voted the Congress to power despite its role in the horrors of 1984. The key question is whether the SAD is open to reforms in a bid to regain credibility.