Shiromani Akali Dal rebels to seek penance for 2015 sacrilege incidents

Jupinderjit Singh & Aparna Banerji

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh/Jalandhar, June 30

The first day of July is all set to be keenly watched by Sikhs when a rebel group of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) is set to submit a letter to the Akal Takht Jathedar in Amritsar about an “admission of guilt” over “mistakes committed” by the party leadership since 2007 that have “hurt” the Sikh Panth.

‘Tankha’ likely after apology

The tricky plot in the admission of guilt is that if the Akal Takht Jathedar accepts the apology of the rebel groups and awards them ‘tankha’ (religious punishment), then the same may be awarded to Sukhbir Badal and others also.

The rebels would be seeking penance for themselves as well as for other SAD leaders, especially party president Sukhbir Singh Badal, whom they hold responsible for the controversial decisions like the 2015 pardoning of the Dera Sacha Sauda chief who had in May 2007 worn an attire similar to the one worn by Guru Gobind Singh, besides the sacrilege incidents of 2015. These incidents have allegedly hurt Sikh sentiments and “eroded” the support of the Akalis among the masses and given rise to radicalism.

This confrontation between leaders belonging to the pro and anti-Sukhbir groups in the SAD is thus set to reach Akal Takht tomorrow. Though on one hand, the issue is of political control of the party, at the centre of it are religious decisions. It is being alleged the Badal family controls the SGPC and even Akal Takht, which is the highest temporal seat of the Sikhs. The rebel group, including former MP Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, SGPC ex-president Jagir Kaur, former MP Prem Singh Chandumajra, senior leader Gurpratap Wadala and several others, will appear before the Jathedar on Monday for “suitable punishment” as they did not prevent the SAD leadership from taking the controversial decisions.

In Jalandhar, Wadala said, “All leaders who were of the opinion that Akali leadership should go to Akal Takht and offer penance will be going tomorrow to seek forgiveness.”

The response of Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Raghbir Singh to the rebel group can determine the future course of Sikh religio-politics as some radical leaders are already trying to take control of the situation.

The tricky plot in the admission of guilt is that if the Akal Takht Jathedar accepts the apology of the rebel groups and awards them ‘tankha’, then the same may be awarded to Sukhbir and others also.

Chandumajra told The Tribune that they would submit the letter around 11 am tomorrow. “We cannot share the contents of the letter beforehand.” SAD spokesperson Daljeet Singh Cheema said it was up to the Jathedar to decide on the merit of the letter.