Eight years after sacrilege, Sukhbir Badal apologises for failing to arrest culprits

Chandigarh, Dec 14 (IANS) Eight years after the sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib during the helm of the Shiromani Akali Dal-BJP government in Punjab, Akali Dal President Sukhbir Badal on Thursday unconditionally sought forgiveness of the Khalsa Panth (community) for failing to arrest the culprits.

Speaking at the 103rd foundation day of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) with folded hands, Badal expressed his regrets.

I fervently appeal to all those who may have left Shiromani Akali Dal for whatever reason including any possible mistake or injustice committed against them by anyone including me or Badal sahab or by anyone else in the party. Only a united Khalsa Panth under a united Akali flag… pic.twitter.com/mSBRUG894N

— Sukhbir Singh Badal (@officeofssbadal) December 14, 2023

"As the President of the party, I want to offer my sincere apology to the Akal Takht Sahib and the Sikh community.

"I deeply regret any hurt caused during our governance. The sacrilege incidents that occurred were regrettable, and it’s a sentiment shared by the public that our government was seen as Panthic. I apologise that we couldn’t apprehend and punish the culprits during the brief remaining part of our tenure.

"I am very sad that we couldn’t understand and defeat the conspiracies of some so-called Panthic individuals and organisations and allowed them to compel us to handover the probe to the CBI. These incidents remain the most painful events in my life and the life of Parkash Singh Badal."

The Special Investigation Team (SIT), probing cases of sacrilege and police firing in 2015, in February this year filed a charge sheet in a Faridkot court indicting Sukhbir Badal and former DGP Sumedh Singh Saini as masterminds.

The chargesheet also blamed then Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal for the Kotkapura firing case following sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib and subsequent violence in which the police force was accused of excesses that left two people dead.

In Punjab, blasphemy has been an emotive issue in every election since the 2015 Kotkapura firing case.

Sikh intellectuals, social reformers and even political parties prefer to maintain a stoical silence over lynching incidents after blasphemy or 'Beadbi'. They largely blame political parties at the helm for inaction in delivering speedy justice in sacrilege cases, saying the people of a particular religion was forced to take the law into their own hands.

Justice Ranjit Singh (retd), who headed the commission appointed by the previous Congress government into the alleged incidents of sacrilege, had placed the then Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and then DGP Saini in dock.

Also, he had castigated the Sirsa-based Dera Sacha Sauda, whose chief and self-styled godman Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh is currently serving a 20-year jail sentence for raping two of his disciples and a life term for a journalist's killing, for the incident of sacrilege.

Justice Singh made these comments in January last year on the release of his 423-page book "The Sacrilege" based on his inquiry when he was heading the government set up commission.