Amritsar: Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Kuldeep Singh Gargaj on Monday declared Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann guilty of religious misconduct after a video purportedly showed him committing an act that hurt Sikh sentiments.
All Sikh lawmakers of the state 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.
The Chief Minister was declared guilty of “sprinkling alcohol on portraits of Sikh Gurus” as portrayed in a viral video that Gargaj said was “neither AI-generated nor doctored”.
The five Sikh high priests unanimously took the decision that was pronounced from the podium of Akal Takht by Jathedar Gargaj by declaring Chief Minister Mann as “Guru Dokhi” (one who has betrayed or shown disloyalty to the Guru) and “Khalsa Panth Virodhi” (opposed to the Khalsa Panth). The Sikh ‘panth’ was also directed to shun ties with Mann.
The Akal Takht summoned all Sikh legislators, belonging to all political parties, and the Cabinet to appear before it on June 29 for the hurt sentiments and interests of the ‘panth’ (community) by passing the new sacrilege law.
Gargaj said all the Sikh legislators were summoned on June 29, which is observed as the death anniversary of Sher-e-Punjab Maharaja Ranjit Singh.
Ahead of the pronouncement of the edict, Jathedar Giani Gargaj, who called a meeting of Sikh bodies amid objections to certain provisions of the newly enacted Jaagat Jot Sri Guru Granth Sahib Satkar (Amendment) Act, 2026, said forensic analysis by two recognised laboratories has confirmed that an objectionable video circulating online, which apparently showed a man resembling Chief Minister Mann committing sacrilege, was authentic.
“Ultimately, the conclusion from both labs is that this video is authentic,” he said, describing the laboratories as government-recognised and experienced forensic units. He said reports explicitly stated the footage had “not been tampered with” and was “not AI”, adding the video appeared “entirely natural, just like sitting in a natural environment where shadows fall”.
The Jathedar Gargaj had earlier warned the state government over “objectionable” clauses of the state anti-sacrilege law.
Delivering a customary address to mark the 42nd anniversary of the Indian army’s ‘Operation Blue Star’ from the Akal Takht podium on June 6, Jathedar Gargaj, without mentioning the specific “objectionable” clauses of the Jaagat Jot Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji Satkaar (Amendment) Act, 2026, said the “black law” was again brought by the state government and should be revoked immediately.
Earlier, Chief Minister Mann was summoned and appeared before the Akal Takht on January 15 for allegedly making derogatory remarks on Sikh tenets. He was the third Chief Minister to be summoned by the Akal Takht after Parkash Singh Badal and Surjit Singh Barnala.
Badal was summoned in 1979 by then Jathedar Sadhu Singh Bhaura over his role in the Sikh-Nirankari clash that claimed 13 lives in Amritsar, while Barnala was declared tankhaiya (guilty of religious misconduct) in 1986 and excommunicated for ordering police action inside the Golden Temple. Later, he sought atonement in 1988.
(IANS)
