Punjab Newsline, Amritsar, December 2-
Akal Takht, the highest temporal body of Sikhs, has sentenced former Punjab Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal to cleaning duty in the kitchen and bathrooms at a Gurdwara for favouring Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim in the 2015 sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib. His father, late Parkash Singh Badal, the former Chief Minister of Punjab, has been stripped of the Fakhr-e-Qaum honour.
The five high Sikh priests, led by Akal Takht jathedar Giani Raghbir Singh, not only announced the quantum of ‘tankhah (religious punishment for misconduct)’ but also passed political strictures against Sukhbir. The jathedar asked the SAD working committee to accept Sukhbir’s resignation as party chief and constitute a panel to reorganise the party in six months.
Akal Takht had recently expelled former MLA Virsa Singh Valtoha from the SAD for 10 years, holding him guilty of ‘character assassination’ of Takht jathedars.