Akal Takht blames Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann for Sultanpur Lodhi gurdwara clash

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, January 21

Akal Takht today held Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann “responsible for religious misconduct”, which ledto a bloody clash inside Gurdwara Akal Bunga, Sultanpur Lodhi, on November 23.

The Akal Takht Jathedar, Giani Raghbir Singh, said that after going through a report of the probe conducted by the SGPC panel, it was testified that it was an unprovoked clash leading to firing by the police, which had entered the gurdwara premises with their shoes and lobbed tear gas shells, resulting in disruption of an ‘akhand path’.

Gurdwara Akal Bunga was under the control of Budha Dal for the past two years. On November 21, Nihang Maan Singh, who heads Shiromani Panth Akali Budha Dal, attempted to take over its control and the situation turned ugly when the police intervened.

Giani Raghbir Singh said, “As per the report, the CM heads the home department and was directly responsible for caring two hoots to the religious ethics and the police was given a free hand to create ruckus in the gurdwara premises.”

Earlier, while revealing the contents of the report, the SGPC president Harjinder Singh Dhami said despite non-cooperative attitude of the Kapurthala administration and the police, the panel members could manage to record the statements of eyewitnesses, including the heads of Nihang organisations, and procured video clippings only to conclude that there was an unnecessary intervention of the police which fired at least 1,000 bullets, lobbed tear gas shells and entered the gurdwara with their footwear.

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