SAD condemns Mann for ‘challenging’ Takht’s authority

Shiromani Akali Dal vice-president Daljit Singh Cheema said a resolution was passed by the party’s working committee demanding Mann’s resignation

The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) working committee on Friday condemned chief minister Bhagwant Mann for “challenging the authority of Akal Takht” in public forums.

At a meeting chaired by SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal, the committee said the chief minister was “deliberately creating fissures in the Sikh community”. (HT File)

At a meeting chaired by party president Sukhbir Singh Badal, the committee said that the chief minister was “deliberately creating fissures in the Sikh community”.

“There is an overwhelming feeling in the community that Mann had committed a heinous offence against the Guru and is now challenging the authority of Akal Takht, the highest temporal seat of the Sikhs,” Sukhbir said after the meeting.

Party vice-president Daljit Singh Cheema said that a resolution was passed demanding Mann’s resignation.

The political row intensified after the Akal Takht ostracised Mann and called upon the Sikh panth to sever ties with him.

Mann has rejected the allegations, calling the video false and part of a conspiracy and has blamed the Badal family and SAD for influencing the Takht’s decision. The chief minister also cited reports of two forensic labs, claiming that the man in the alleged objectionable video was someone else.