Calling the assassination attempt on senior leader Sukhbir Singh Badal a “full-blown assault” on Sikh traditions, Khalsa heritage, and its institutions, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) core committee on Friday said it would approach Punjab Governor Gulab Chand Kataria to seek an “impartial” probe. The core committee’s meeting was slammed by four Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) members who said that Balwinder Singh Bhunder, head of the working committee of SAD, has brought “shame upon the community” by convening the meeting with those leaders who had been asked to resign by the Akal Takht. These members were Jaswant Singh Puddain, Mahinder Singh Husseinpura, Karnail Singh Panjoli, and Mitthu Singh Kahneke. Badal escaped an assassination attempt on Wednesday when former Khalistani terrorist Narain Singh Chaura fired at him from a close range at the Golden Temple’s entrance in Amritsar. Chaura missed his target as plainclothes police personnel overpowered him. The attack was captured on cameras by media persons who had gathered to cover the second day of Badal performing the duty of ‘sewadar’ at the Sikh shrine as religious penance for “mistakes” committed by the SAD government in Punjab from 2007 to 2017. The meeting of the core committee, which is the party’s highest decision-making body, was presided over by acting president Balwinder Singh Bhundar, said a party release. The committee members alleged the entire incident was an Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government sponsored conspiracy to finish the moderate Akali leadership which stood for ‘sarbat da bhala’ as propounded by the Guru Sahiban. It also said the conduct of chief minister Bhagwant Mann in the entire episode was shameful. “Instead of taking stock of the situation following the attack on the holy shrine, the chief minister tried to belittle the incident,” said core committee member Daljit Singh Cheema. “The assassination bid was also an attack on the concept and ideology of Miri Piri symbolised by Akal Takht Sahib and on the sacred Harmandir Sahib which now bore the unholy marks of the anti-Sikh assassin’s bullet. This bullet mark is also meant to cover up similar bullet marks left by Indira Gandhi,” the committee said. The committee also made it clear that an attempt was being made to create conditions which could be used as an excuse to start a fresh wave of repression and elimination of Sikh youth in fake encounters. “The man who made the assassination bid is not a lone wolf but was actually a member of a pack of wolves. He was acting merely as a sharpshooter on behalf of powerful anti-Sikh forces,” it added. The senior leaders also questioned Akali leader Gurpartap Singh Wadala’s presence at a programme held by the Dal Khalsa in Moga on Thursday. They said the Dal Khalsa did not believe in the Constitution and stood for Khalistan and asked Wadala to clarify his stand on both issues. It needs to be mentioned that Wadala is one of the seven members of the interim committee formed by Akal Takht to reorganise Akali Dal. The seven-member committee is yet to call its first meeting. It condemned the attack on Sri Darbar Sahib by anti-Sikh forces at a time when a ‘sewadar’ – Sukhbir Singh Badal was doing ‘sewa’ at the ‘dwar’ of the shrine. The Committee also praised the alertness and selfless spirit of courage shown by ASI Jasbir Singh and his compatriot which foiled the assassination bid even as it made it clear that Jasbir Singh was not supposed to be on duty on that day and had come to Darbar Sahib on his own. ‘Disregard to Akal Takht’ Meanwhile, the SGPC members expressed concern over the involvement of Arshdeep Singh Kaler — son of Satnam Singh Kaler, who was the advocate of the controversial DGP Sumedh Saini and is also the Chairman of the Gurdwara Judicial Commission — as the main spokesperson in the core committee meeting. “This participation signifies that the Akali Dal leadership has neither learned from its past mistakes nor shown seriousness towards the Panth. Daljit Singh Cheema and N K Sharma, who had already submitted their resignations in the past, were however present in the meeting is a direct disregard of Akal Takht’s directives,” a statement by the SGPC added. The members further noted that the SAD leaders had sought time of 10 days from Akali Takht Jathedar to convene the working committee meeting in which all the resignations were to be accepted. “Yet, if a core committee meeting could be held, why was the working committee meeting not called,” asked the SGPC. However, the SGPC members, strongly condemned the attack on Badal, and demanded a judicial inquiry to uncover the truth. They emphasised that any fatal attack on someone serving in a sevadaar role is “highly unfortunate”.
