Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann appeared before the Akal Takht Secretariat after being summoned for alleged remarks on Sikh traditions. He submitted his clarification and expressed respect for the Akal Takht's authority.
Pro-Khalistan slogans were on Friday raised by supporters and activists of radical Sikh outfits at the Akal Takht, the supreme temporal seat of Sikhs, while a peaceful bandh was observed around the Golden Temple and interior walled city on the 41st anniversary of Operation Bluestar.
Till the time Badal does not seek an apology for the mistakes he committed by appearing before the Akal Takht in the presence of Guru Granth Sahib, he is declared a 'tankhaiya', the Jathedar said.
The head priest of the Akal Takht has justified the killing of social media influencer Kanchan Kumari, saying "nothing wrong has happened" and nobody should listen to obscene songs.
After the Akal Takht on Friday declared Sukhbir Singh Badal 'tankhaiya' -- guilty of religious misconduct -- some leaders of the ruling Aam Aadmi Party as well as rebel Akalis called for the Shiromani Akali Dal chief to step down.
Sikh community's highest religious body also 'honoured' 40 Sikh families, whose kin were killed during the 1984 Operation Blue Star.
They handed the apology letter to Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Raghbir Singh at the Akal Takht Secretariat at the Golden Temple in Amritsar. The Akal Takht is the supreme temporal seat of the Sikhs.
"Which Sikh in the world does not want it?" Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh said
Terming the 1984 riots as a "genocide", a meeting of five Sikh high priests convened by the Akal Takht, the highest temporal seat of the Sikh religion, said it was "regrettable" that justice could not be delivered to the victims even after 25 years.
Talking about the earlier two apologies sent by the Dera Sacha Sauda, Vedanti described them as mere 'press notes' and alleged the language used in the text was not proper.
Mediators said the purpose of the move was to avoid any more confrontation between the communities.
Various Sikh leaders on Friday hailed the decision of Akal Takht, the highest temporal seat of Sikh religion, which annulled its edict of pardoning Dera Sacha Sauda Sect Chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh.
Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring also took exception to the jathedar's statement and dubbed it as "mischievous".
The two killers of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi were Sunday honoured by Akal Takht, the highest temporal seat of Sikh religion, on their 24th death anniversary amid presence of a local Akali leader.
Expressing concern over the "spread of Christianity" in Punjab, Akal Takht jathedar Gyani Harpreet Singh on Monday asserted that "churches and mosques" are being built in numbers in rural parts of the state and urged Sikh preachers to visit villages to promote Sikhism.
Professor Darshan Singh, former head, Akal Takht, the seat of Sikh religious authority, was the recipient of this year's Lifetime Service Award instituted by the Guru Gobind Singh Foundation in the United States. The Sewa (service) award is given annually to an individual or organisation 'which shows an exemplary work for the betterment of the Sikh community or does some significant thing to create a good name for the Sikhs.'
Emerging from a meeting of Akal Takht in Amritsar, jathedar Joginder Singh Vedanti told reporters that "the fresh note received from Dera head neither accepts his sin nor promises not to repeat such act again."
Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh said, "conversions of innocent Sikhs into Christianity fold is a direct attack on internal matters of the Sikh community and this is intolerable."
Congregations of Sikhs in Amritsar and in Karnal against the formation of a separate Gurdwara Management Committee in Haryana were called off on Saturday after the Akal Takht's intervention but Haryana Sikhs went ahead with the election of office-bearers for the ad-hoc committee.
Joginder Singh Vedanti says he was removed because he supported Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during the key trust vote.
Three Sikh men and a woman, convicted of carrying out a revenge attack on Lt Gen Brar for his role as commander of Operation Blue Star in 1984 were on Tuesday sentenced by a British court to between 10 and 14 years in prison.
Government Railway Police (GRP) recovered Rs 1.75 crore in cash from two passengers on the Akal Takht Express at Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Railway Station in Chandauli district, Uttar Pradesh. The passengers, residents of Lucknow, claimed the money was related to their diamond and jewellery business, but police are investigating further.
The 62-year-old former deputy chief minister was first elected the party president in 2008. His re-election at the outfit's general delegate session in Amritsar comes barely four months after he quit after he was declared 'tankhaiya' (guilty of religious misconduct) by the Akal Takht for "mistakes" committed by the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and its government from 2007 to 2017.
The post, which has now been deleted, read, "June 1, 1984'?' 'Saka Neela Tara'. A humble tribute to all the martyrs of the day one of the attack on the Darbar Sahib by the Congress government."
Days after he escaped assassination, Shiromani Akali Dal leader and former Punjab deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal appeared before the Akal Takht seeking forgiveness -- kshama yachna -- after completing the 10-day tankha (penance for violating the Sikh religious code) at the Golden Temple in Amritsar on Friday, December 13, 2024.
Badal's resignation came days after he urged the Akal Takht Jathedar to pronounce his punishment for religious misconduct charges, saying more than two months have passed since he was declared 'tankhaiya' (guilty of religious misconduct).
Pronouncing 'tankhah' (religious punishment) for Sukhbir Singh Badal and other leaders for the 'mistakes' committed by the Shiromani Akali Dal government in Punjab from 2007 to 2017, the Sikh clergy at the Akal Takht on Monday directed the senior Akali leader to perform as a 'sewadar', and wash dishes and clean shoes at the Golden Temple in Amritsar.
The former deputy chief minister, a Z+ protectee, arrived at the Ananadpur Sahib shrine surrounded by security personnel. Dressed in blue 'sewadar' uniform, Badal sat at the entrance of the gurdwara with a spear in one hand.
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He was seen wearing a plaque around his neck while sitting in a wheelchair because of a fractured leg.
Two women got "married" at Gurdwara Kalgidhar Sahib in Bathinda district on September 18. Following this, the Akal Takht had then suspended the 'granthis' (sikh priests), the management and the 'ragis' (gurbani exponents) of the gurdwara.
Hundreds of Sikh youths, led by the Dal Khalsa, were carrying Khalistani flags and photographs of damaged Akal Takht.
The Punjab government has informed the Akal Takht that 348 of the 360 people taken into preventive custody during a police crackdown against radical preacher Amritpal Singh have now been freed.
Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee President Avtar Singh makkar on Friday reacted strongly against the rejection of the death commutation plea of Devinder Pal Singh Bhullar, a death row convict, by the Supreme Court, terming it a 'murder of law'.
While describing them "martyrs" of Sikh community, the Akal Takht jathedar asked the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee to install portraits of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, Paramjit Singh Panjwar and Gajinder Singh.
Rebel Akali leader Gurpartap Singh Wadala slammed Badal's move, saying instead of showing "a sense of renunciation", he issued a "dictatorial order" aimed to sideline those who want a "change" for strengthening the party
Some people in the gathering were also seen brandishing swords and wearing t-shirts and carrying banners with pictures of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale.
Akal Takht head Gurbachan Singh's customary address on the occasion of Diwali drowned in the din on Wednesday amid slogan shouting by Sikh hardliners, even as parallely "appointed" jathedar of Akal Takht also managed to address the gathering but was arrested soon after.
Bakshish Singh, a resident of Talli Gulam village, allegedly tore some pages of the Guru Granth Sahib, the holy book of the Sikhs, after entering the premises of the gurdwara in Bandala village, they said.
Describing the event as "da ghallughara (holocaust) of 84", Jathedar Akal Takht Gyani Harpreet Singh stressed on maintaining unity among the Sikh community.
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