Sukhbir Badal performs ‘sewadar’ duty outside Golden Temple as part of Akal Takht’s religious punishment | X
Chandigarh: A day after Akal Takht, the highest temporal seat of Sikhs, pronounced the “tankhah’’ (religious punishment) for Sukhbir Badal, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader, and other senior party leaders, on Tuesday performed the duty of a “sewadar’’ (guard) outside the Golden Temple, Amritsar.
Attired in the “sewadar’s” blue-and-white uniform, Badal was seen having a plaque around neck and a spear in hand, sitting in his wheelchair – he has a hairline fracture in his leg. Senior Akali leader Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa also underwent the same punishment because of his age. They also washed dishes later as per the punishment awarded to them by Akal Takht.
Throughout his hour-long duty, Sukhbir, who sat solemnly on guard, was spanked by his security personnel and a couple of Akali leaders, largely ignoring some people or leaders who tried to greet him. His duty was to ensure all the devotees visiting Golden Temple had their heads covered.
He is scheduled to perform the same duty the following day here and afterward, at Takht Damdama Sahib (district Bathinda), Takht Kesgarh Sahib (Anandpur Sahib) and Gurdwara Darbar Sahib (Muktsar) in coming days.
Pronouncing punishments on Monday, Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Raghbir Singh had also directed other Akali leaders including Bikram Singh Majithia, Sucha Singh Langah, Hira Singh Gabria, Balwinder Singh Bhundar, Daljit Singh Cheema and Gulzar Singh Ranike to clean utensils at the community kitchen. Some of them were also directed to clean washrooms at the Golden Temple and clean dishes at the community kitchen after taking a bath.
Akal Takht Jathedar also pronounced similar punishment for other Akali leaders including Bibi Jagir Kaur, Prem Singh Chandumajra, Surjit Singh Rakhra, Mahesh Inder Singh Grewal and Adesh Partap Singh Kairon.
It may be recalled that the Akali leaders named above were pronounced “tankhaiya’’ (guilty of religious misconduct) by the Akal Takht about three months ago for the “mistakes’’ committed by SAD government from 2007 to 2017 and its failure to address key issues of the Sikh community, when the SAD patriarch Parkash Singh Badal was chief minister and Sukhbir deputy chief minister and also the president of the party.
The “mistakes’’ committed by the Akali leaders mentioned above included – revocation of the blasphemy case against Sirsa-based Dera Sacha Sauda head Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh for imitating Guru Gobind Singh in 2007, the failure to punish perpetrators of the Bargari sacrilege and police officials for the Kotkapura and Behbal Kalan firing incidents, appointment of controversial IPS officer Sumedh Saini as Punjab DGP besides giving Farzana Alam, the wife of controversial police officer Izhar Alam, the party ticket in the 2012 assembly polls and failing to deliver justice to victims in fake encounter cases, which Akal Takht held damaged the image of Panth.
The Akal Takht Jathedar pronounced the punishment to Badals as well as former ministers and other leaders on Monday and even stripped Parkash Singh Badal of the title of Fakhr-e-Qaum, posthumously.
