This comes a week after these leaders met in Jalandhar and launched a campaign for Sukhbir’s removal as SAD chief over the party’s poor electoral performance.
In their letter, accessed by ThePrint, the rebel leaders sought forgiveness from the Akal Takht for four major “mistakes” committed by the SAD when it was in power in Punjab between 2007 and 2017. These included the then government’s failure to punish those responsible for the sacrilegious incidents in 2015 and the controversial pardon of Gurmeet Ram Rahim in a blasphemy case registered in 2007 against him for wearing an outfit identical to that of the 10th Guru of Sikhs, Guru Gobind Singh. The letter also mentioned the failure to provide justice to the families of youth killed in fake encounters and rewarding police officers responsible for committing excesses.
According to the rebels’ letter, the Akali Dal government had withdrawn the case against Ram Rahim, who is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence for raping two of his female followers.
The rebels accused Sukhbir of using his influence to secure a pardon from the Dera Sacha Sauda chief in the blasphemy case, a decision that was later reversed due to pressure from the community. In 2015, Akal Takht initially pardoned Gurmeet Ram Rahim based on a written apology, but rescinded the decision following backlash from the Sikh community.
Rebel leaders said that due to these actions, the Sikh community and people of Punjab became disillusioned with the Akali Dal and started distancing themselves from the party.
Speaking to reporters after handing over the letter to the Jathedar, Bibi Jagir Kaur said the former had told them that he would get back to them after reviewing its contents. In their letter, the rebels expressed their readiness to accept any punishment in accordance with Sikh principles.
“We told him to inform us soon about the sentence imposed on us because we have a burden on our hearts,” Kaur said.
In a press release issued on Monday, the Akali Dal said its women’s wing, the Istri Akali Dal, and the party’s scheduled caste wing had expressed confidence in Sukhbir Badal’s leadership.
The 4 ‘mistakes’
One of the issues referred to in the letter is that of Gurmeet Ram Rahim, who in 2007 hurt the religious sentiments of Sikhs by dressing up as Guru Gobind Singh. A complaint was filed against Ram Rahim, but the then SAD government withdrew the case, the letter said.
Secondly, the Akal Takht acted against the Dera chief for his “misconduct” and took stern action and excommunicated Ram Rahim from Sikhism. However, Sukhbir Badal, as the head of the SAD, used his influence to get him pardoned, and only after public backlash was the decision reversed, he adds.
The third “mistake” concerns the sacrileges that occurred in 2015. On June 1, 2015, some birs of the Guru Granth Sahib were stolen from a gurdwara in Faridkot district, and on October 12 of the same year, 110 pages of the Guru Granth Sahib were found lying in front of a gurdwara in Bargari. The incidents sparked widespread resentment among Sikhs in Punjab. The rebels claim in their letter that the SAD government failed to hold those responsible accountable and the situation deteriorated, leading to police opening fire on protesters in Kotkapura and Behbal Kalan.
The fourth “mistake”, according to the rebels, was that the SAD failed to bring justice to innocent youth killed by the police during their militancy. Instead, Sumedh Singh Saini, who was facing allegations in this regard, was promoted by the Akali government as DGP of Punjab.
The letter also claims that Mohammad Izhar Alam, a police officer who formed the ‘Alam Sena’, which he claimed was responsible for committing atrocities against Sikh youth, was rewarded by the SAD as it gave his wife Farzana Nesara Khatun a party ticket in 2012 from Malerkotla and made her a parliamentary secretary in the government.
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)
Read also: Akali Dal calls move to oust Sukhbir Badal a ‘dangerous conspiracy’, Harsimrat blames ‘BJP stooges’
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(tags to translate) Akali Dal
