Divided within, why Akal Takht is opposing Bhagwant Mann govt’s anti-sacrilege law

The controversy coincides with the start of election year in Punjab, with the AAP government weaker than ever due to a recent split and cases against its leaders. The new sacrilege provisions, which have drawn criticism for being too stringent, may help the AAP politically, as well as mute attacks against its government over failure to take promised action in the 2015 cases of alleged sacrilege that had caused the fall of the Akali Dal government.

Besides, in passing the law, the AAP government has managed to achieve what both the Akali Dal and Congress governments could not. The Mann government moved swiftly to ensure there was no hurdle: the Bill was proposed and passed within two weeks of Baisakhi, leaving the Opposition little room to respond.

For the SGPC, whose fate has been tied to the Akali Dal that is struggling for revival, the AAP government law weakens its claim of being the sole arbiter on matters concerning the Guru Granth Sahib. Since 2008, after the then Akali Dal government passed a law, the SGPC has held exclusive publishing rights of the Guru Granth Sahib.

Where it began

The backdrop to the anti-sacrilege law are the alleged sacrilege cases of 2015. On June 1 that year, a Bir of the Guru Granth Sahib was stolen from Burj Jawahar Singh Wala village, with torn pages of it later found scattered in Bargari. This cast a cloud over almost the entirety of the Akali Dal government, and its failure to crack the case paved the way for the Congress to come to power in 2017.

Arrests were subsequently made of followers of Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim in connection with the incidents. However, the investigation remained incomplete, and public anger never subsided.

In the run-up to the 2022 Assembly elections that it won, the AAP promised “justice” in the case within 24 hours. During the elections, it projected IPS officer Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh as the face of that promise. But soon after the AAP government was formed, Pratap was sidelined; last year, he was expelled from the party.

Then, last month, with little tangible progress to show in the 2015 cases, the Mann government came up with the anti-sacrilege law. The CM’s yatra shows that the beleaguered party – which is expected to face a driven BJP that is brimming with confidence after the West Bengal win – is seeking to consolidate Sikh support around the issue.

Not the first such Bill

The SAD-BJP government in 2016 had passed two Bills, proposing amendments to the IPC and CrPC, and providing for life imprisonment for desecration of the Guru Granth Sahib. The Centre, however, had returned the legislation, stating that all religions must be treated equally, that one religion cannot be singled out to propose life imprisonment, and that Punjab must either withdraw the Bill or include all religions in the proposed changes.

In 2018, the then Congress government came up with amendment Bills too, this time stipulating punishment up to life imprisonment for injury, damage, or sacrilege to the Guru Granth Sahib, Bhagavad Gita, Quran, and the Bible. However, the Bills did not receive the President’s assent.

The AAP government’s Bill does not seek amendments to the IPC and CrPC, as proposed by earlier legislation. Instead, it amends and makes more stringent a state Act enacted during the Akali Dal-BJP tenure in 2008.

According to the new law, any person who commits sacrilege shall get a minimum of seven years’ imprisonment, extendable to up to 20 years, along with a fine. A conspiracy regarding the same, with the intention of disrupting peace or communal harmony, can earn a 10-year sentence, extendable up to life imprisonment, along with a fine.

The opposition

Treading the tricky waters carefully, SGPC president Harjinder Singh Dhami initially welcomed the law, the same day it was passed. Sources said the SGPC was wary that any opposition could revive scrutiny of the 2015 sacrilege cases, and bring heat on the Akali Dal.

However, Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Kuldeep Singh Gargaj went on to raise objections, asserting that no temporal law could be imposed upon the Guru Granth Sahib. He also expressed apprehension that the legislation could be misused against Sikh institutions and ordinary devotees. Some clauses in law make accountable the custodian of Guru Granth Sahib in case of sacrilege. There is apprehension that making it a cognisable offence may result in false cases due to personal or political rivalry. Also, the SGPC has been asked to upload the record online which raises questions on privacy and personal bond between the Guru and devotees. Moreover, there are other questions on undefined clauses in the Act.

Subsequently, the Akal Takht Jathedar summoned Punjab Assembly Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan and submitted objections to several provisions of the law, while giving the government 15 days to consider the same.

The AAP government quickly countered by accusing the SGPC’s political leadership of links to the original sacrilege incidents, alleging that this explained the SGPC’s resistance to the law. Mann also asserted that there is no question of repealing the law – a statement widely interpreted as an indirect challenge to the authority of the Akal Takht.

Tensions have been building between Mann and Jathedar Garaj, since the CM hinted at “explosive revelations” regarding the SGPC since January.

The controversy has also exposed faultlines within the SGPC and the Akal Takht. SGPC president Dhami had opposed the appointment of Gargaj as Akal Takht Jathedar last year. These fissures are now showing.

The Akali Dal

Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal and the party leadership have remained conspicuously silent on the issue, avoiding even a direct defence of the Akal Takht Jathedar.

Incidentally, many Sikh figures and bodies backing the AAP government and the law have historically opposed the SAD leadership. These include former Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Raghbir Singh, who had pronounced religious punishment against Badal in December 2024 over his alleged patronage of Baba Ram Rahim.

The Mann government appears to be strategically foregrounding such figures to blunt criticism from the Akal Takht.

Meanwhile, for followers of the Akali Dal, the party’s silence underlines the extent of its political decline, to the point that it can’t even stand firmly behind the Akal Takht Jathedar.