Mela Rakhar Punya: SAD props up hardliner Khera to counter growing radical influence
Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal later addressing the conference announced that he would never compromise with the principles of the khalsa panth and would always strive for the development of Punjab.
To counter the radical influence, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) projected Gurdeep Singh Khera, a terror convict out on parole these days, as its main speaker during the annual political conference at Rakhar Punya Mela here.
Khera, who came out in support of the SAD, slammed both the Akali rebels and Sikh hardliners. Khera is a resident of Jallupur Khera, which is also the native village of Khadoor Sahib MP Amritpal Singh in the Baba Bakala assembly constituency. He has been in jail since 1990 after police had booked him under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (TADA) Prevention Act. Khera was awarded life imprisonment in two cases of bomb blasts in New Delhi and Bider in Karnataka. He was shifted to Amritsar jail on June 26, 2015, from Gulbarga jail.
In a spirited speech, Khera alleged that former Akal Takht jathedar Jasbir Singh Rode and Baljit Singh Daduwal are working on the dictates of central agencies. He also alleged that BJP leaders like Manjinder Singh Sirsa and Iqbal Singh Lalpura were working against the interest of the Sikh prisoners.
Khera also launched a scathing attack against rebel SAD leaders, including former MP Prem Singh Chandumajra, accusing him of playing a negative role during Operation Black Thunder in 1987.
Hailing former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal, he said, “He (Badal) was responsible for the transfer of several Bandi Singhs (Sikh prisoners) to Punjab and their subsequent parole”. He also asked the ‘sangat’ (Sikh community) to choose between the rule of Parkash Singh Badal, who has restored normalcy in the state and those who wanted to disrupt peace.
Without naming anyone, he also slammed Amritpal Singh’s family and his supporters. Amritpal is lodged in Dibrugarh jail after being detained under National Security Act (NSA) since 2023 after police launched operations against radical Sikh preacher’s outfit ‘Waris Punjab De’.
Khera also slammed SAD (A) leader Simranjit Singh Mann, and said, “Mann did nothing but provoke youths for decades”.
Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal later addressing the conference announced that he would never compromise with the principles of the khalsa panth and would always strive for the development of Punjab.
Asking the entire community to recognise the threat from both within and outside, Sukhbir said the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) has been split, and a separate gurdwara committee was formed for Haryana under a well-planned design. “Now, we have also witnessed how the RSS and the BJP have taken over the Sri Hazur Sahib Committee and the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee. If we do not stop this attack on our institutions, we will have only ourselves to blame”.
The SAD president also spoke about instances of sacrilege during the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) tenure in Punjab and blamed chief minister Bhagwant Mann for failing to arrest and punish the culprits.