CM Parkash Singh Badal eroding Akal Takht authority: Captain

While the Congress has chosen to avoid commenting on the Akal Takht pardon to Dera Sacha Sauda head Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, party’s deputy leader in the Lok Sabha Capt Amarinder Singh on Wednesday expressed grave concern over the “unease and unrest” among a section of the Sikh community and open defiance of a recent Akal Takht ‘hukumnama’ (edict).

Chandigarh: While the Congress has chosen to avoid commenting on the Akal Takht pardon to Dera Sacha Sauda head Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, party’s deputy leader in the Lok Sabha Capt Amarinder Singh on Wednesday expressed grave concern over the “unease and unrest” among a section of the Sikh community and open defiance of a recent Akal Takht ‘hukumnama’ (edict).

Capt. Amarinder Singh (Live Mint)

“With due deference and reverence for the supreme authority of the Akal Takht and its edicts, as a humble Sikh, my only concern is the erosion of its authority and credibility for which only chief minister Parkash Singh Badal is to be blamed,” he said in a statement.

“Over the years, a perception has been reinforced, and rightly so, that Badal has been misusing the Akal Takht for his own personal and vested interests and the consequences are before all of us that people have started openly defying the edicts. It is unfortunate and unprecedented and does not bode well for the community and the state. Common people have been made to believe that Akal Takht is being misused by Badal and his family to safeguard his own personal and political interests,” he said.

Appealing for peace and restraint, Amarinder maintained that he understood and shared the concern of people over the erosion of authority of the Akal Takht, which must not be allowed to happen at any cost. “Akal Takht is the supreme institution whose sanctity and authority must be preserved and maintained at all costs,” he remarked.