Akalis humiliated Akal Takht jathedars: Captain

CHANDIGARH: In response to Union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal’s tirade against his government, Punjab chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Sunday alleged that it was the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) regime that had wilfully heaped humiliation on the Akal Takht jathedars in sharp contrast to his government, which had always treated the Sikh temporal seat with exemplary respect.

“For 10 years, the Akalis, including Harsimrat, had been totally drunk on power, sparing neither the Akal Takht nor the people of Punjab from their tyrannical control,” said the CM, asking the Union minister to stop indulging in falsehood for political gains.

“Everyone knows how you (Akalis) maliciously ill-treated Akal Takht jathedars, out of sheer arrogance, and continue to abuse the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) by dictating terms to them,” Amarinder said, reacting to Harsimrat’s allegation that his government has challenged the supremacy of the Akal Takht by deciding to hold a parallel function to celebrate Guru Nanak’s 550th birth anniversary.

“She has no scruples, none of the Akalis have,” said the CM, pointing out that while Harsimrat was singing praises for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government, her husband Sukhbir Singh Badal was going around appealing for forfeiture of BJP candidates’ deposits in the campaign for the Haryana elections.

Pointing that he had, for months, been personally engaging with the SGPC and appealing for joint celebrations for the 550th Prakash Purb, Amarinder said it was the SAD which had been persistently scuttling his efforts in their game of one-upmanship.

“The manner in which they had been going, on the side, to invite the Prime Minister and other central government leaders for the separate event of the SGPC clearly exposed their revoltingly true intent,” Amarinder added.

For 10 years, the Akalis had been totally drunk on power and sparing neither the Akal Takht nor the people from their tyrannical control. CAPT AMARINDER SINGH, chief minister ›

Amarinder should tell people why he is trying to encroach upon the right of the SGPC to organise a religious event. HARSIMRAT KAUR BADAL, Union minister