Akal Takht former Jathedar Giani Raghbir Singh on Wednesday rejected SAD president Sukhbir Badal’s claim that he was given a religious punishment by five Sikh high priests under a “conspiracy”.
Giani Raghbir Singh said Sukhbir had “accepted his mistakes” in front of the Sikh clergy. Sukhbir had allegedly made the remark at a rally in Muktsar recently.
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Talking to mediapersons here, the former Jathedar dared Sukhbir to prove the charge. Giani Raghbir said he would accept any religious punishment prescribed by the Sikh community if the accusation proved right.
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Giani Raghbir was part of the five Sikh high priests who had held Sukhbir and other party leaders guilty of religious misconduct on December 2, 2024, for mistakes committed during the SAD rule from 2007-17.
While undergoing the punishment at the Golden Temple, Sukhbir narrowly survived an assassination attempt on December 4.
Giani Raghbir Singh said Sukhbir’s statement was “an insult to the tradition and religious dignity of the Takht”. He said the punishment was given based on the confessions and there was no plot involved.
Speaking at the rally, Sukhbir Badal had said, “Over the past year, there have been many attacks on me. There was even an attempt to fire a bullet at me. Some people, who call themselves religious leaders, I don’t even want to give them that status, their intention was, in collusion with agencies, to wipe out the Badal name entirely. They wanted to push me out of politics. You can see how far the conspiracy went. They even arranged for me to sit outside Darbar Sahib, with the condition that no security personnel would stand with me.