Man fires at SAD’s Sukhbir Badal outside Golden Temple, shooter nabbed
PUNJAB, DEC 4 : A man attempted to shoot Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) chief Sukhbir Singh Badal outside the Golden Temple in Amritsar on Wednesday.
The incident occurred while Badal and other SAD leaders were serving as ‘sewadars’ under the ‘tankhah’ (religious punishment) pronounced by the Akal Takht on December 2.
Badal, seated in a wheelchair performing ‘seva’, escaped unhurt as the bullet struck a nearby wall.
The assailant, identified as Narain Singh, was arrested after being overpowered by bystanrders outside the temple.
Reacting to the incident, SAD leader Daljit Singh Cheema lashed out at Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and called it a conspiracy to push the state back into turmoil.
“This is a big conspiracy to push Punjab back into the fire… A man, Sukhbir Singh Badal, who was serving as ‘sewadar’ at the entrance of the temple was shot at. I thank God for saving his life… I want to ask (CM) Bhagwant Mann what has he done to the state,” Cheema told reportrs.
“There should be a high-level judicial enquiry into the incident…We will continue with our ‘seva’…”, he added.
Notably, The Akal Takth had on Monday conferred ‘tankhah’ on SAD members Sukhbir, senior leader Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, former Punjab minister and brother-in-law of Sukhbir Bikram Singh Majithia.
The leaders were pronounced ‘tankhaiya’ (guilty of religious misconduct) by the Akal Takht for mistakes committed by the SAD government in Punjab from 2007 to 2017.
The Sikh clergy directed had Badal and others to serve as a ‘sewadar’, wash dishes, clean shoes and toilets at the Golden Temple, three months after declaring him guilty.
Badal wore blue clothes to signify his position as ‘sewadar’ and a plague around his neck acknowledging his ‘misdeeds’. He held a spear in one hand and was seated on a wheelchair as he had recently fractured his leg.
Sukhdev Singh had been conferred the same punishment. He was also in a wheelchair due to old age. The two were positioned near the entrance of the Golden Temple and served as ‘sewadar’ for one hour.
-PTI
