Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Kuldeep Singh Gargaj on Monday, June 15, declared Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann guilty of religious misconduct. This comes after a video purportedly showed the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader committing an act that hurt Sikh sentiments.
According to IANS, all the Sikh lawmakers of Punjab were also summoned to appear before the Akal Takht, the highest temporal seat of Sikhs, for hurting the sentiments and interests of the ‘panth’ (community) by passing the new sacrilege law.
Gargaj has declared Mann guilty of “sprinkling alcohol on portraits of Sikh Gurus” as allegedly seen in the viral video that Gargaj said was “neither AI-generated nor doctored”.
The five Sikh high priests have unanimously taken the decision, which was pronounced from the podium of Akal Takht by Jathedar Gargaj. He declared Mann as “Guru Dokhi” and “Khalsa Panth Virodhi”. Further, the Sikh ‘panth’ was told to shun ties with the Punjab Chief Minister.
The Akal Takht had even summoned all Sikh legislators, belonging to all political parties, and the Cabinet to appear before it on June 29. This was done for hurting sentiments and interests of the ‘panth’ (community) by passing the new sacrilege law.