Chandigarh/Mohali: The Congress, BJP, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) on Monday intensified their attack on the AAP govt over the Jaagat Jot Sri Guru Granth Sahib Satkar (Amendment) Act, alleging that the legislation was enacted without consulting Sikh stakeholders and accusing the Punjab govt of bypassing established religious institutions.Congress leaders Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa and Amrinder Singh Raja Warring alleged that the proceedings before the Akal Takht showed several AAP legislators had approved the legislation without adequately studying it. Randhawa claimed many legislators were unaware of the legal meaning of the term “custodian” used in the Act, while Warring said the Punjab govt was duty-bound to consult the Akal Takht before legislating on Sikh religious matters. Referring to the 1959 Nehru-Master Tara Singh agreement, he said the govt should amend the law in line with the Akal Takht’s directions.Punjab BJP president Kewal Singh Dhillon questioned how ministers and legislators had approved the Bill without reading it, alleging that the AAP leadership was playing politics over the sacrilege issue. He also criticised chief minister Bhagwant Mann for not appearing before the Akal Takht despite being an MLA and urged him to accept the Takht’s authority and apologise.Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal also alleged that the Akal Takht proceedings had exposed AAP ministers and MLAs for approving legislation concerning Sri Guru Granth Sahib without reading it. In a post on X, he claimed Punjab’s AAP leadership had become “mute slaves” of its Delhi leadership and accused Mann of challenging the supremacy of the Akal Takht. Reiterating his party’s earlier allegations on sacrilege incidents, Badal said the chief minister had no moral or constitutional right to continue in office.Union minister of state Ravneet Singh Bittu said the proceedings had raised serious questions about the legislative process, alleging that several MLAs were unable to explain the provisions of a law they had passed. He asked who had drafted the legislation and whether Sikh scholars, legal experts and Panthic institutions had been consulted before it was introduced.Separately, Warring and Randhawa alleged that the live telecast of the Akal Takht proceedings was interrupted under pressure from the Punjab govt. Warring claimed some television channels resumed the broadcast only after the jathedar intervened, while Randhawa said any attempt to stop the telecast amounted to an attack on democracy, press freedom and Panthic traditions.SAD (Delhi) president Paramjit Singh Sarna also claimed the replies of AAP legislators before the Akal Takht showed they had not been consulted before the law was enacted. He alleged that chief minister Bhagwant Mann and AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal had imposed the legislation on the Sikh community without consulting the Akal Takht, the SGPC, Sikh scholars or representative Panthic institutions.Meanwhile, the SGPC and SAD jointly staged a protest in Mohali against Mann over his response to the Akal Takht summons. Following a meeting of the Gurdwara Coordination Committee and various religious organisations at Gurdwara Sri Amb Sahib, protesters raised slogans against the chief minister and appealed to the Sikh community to socially boycott him, alleging that his actions had hurt Sikh religious sentiments.
