Sukhbir, Dhindsa, Majithia serve at Golden Temple on first day of punishment
Wheelchair-bound former SAD chief and former deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal, 62, and former SAD MP Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, 88, led the service at the temple.
A day after Akal Takht, the supreme temporal seat of the Sikhs, pronounced ‘tankhah’ or religious punishment for the mistakes committed by the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and its government in Punjab from 2007-17, its former president Sukhbir Singh Badal and former minister Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa arrived in wheelchairs with placards acknowledging their misdeeds around their necks to perform ‘sewa (service)’ as penance at the Golden Temple on Tuesday.
The five high priests, headed by Akal Takht jathedar Giani Raghbir Singh, declared Badal a ‘tankhaiya’ (guilty of religious misconduct) in August and announced the religious punishment on December 2. They also asked the SAD working committee to accept his resignation as party chief and withdrew the Fakhar-e-Quam title bestowed on Sukhbir’s father and former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal.
Attired in the blue chola (robe) of a sewadar with a foot in a cast, Sukhbir Singh Badal held a barsha (spear) for an hour as he sat on a wheelchair at the entrance of the Golden Temple in the morning. Though he was surrounded by supporters and security personnel in plainclothes, the sangat (Sikh followers) were seen capturing the scene on their mobile phones. While Sukhbir sat to the right, 88-year-old Dhindsa held the spear and sat on a wheelchair on the left of the entrance. Punjab Police and the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) ensured security.
Majithia, other SAD leaders clean utensils, washrooms
Besides 62-year-old Sukhbir, his brother-in-law and former Punjab revenue minister Bikram Singh Majithia, 48, was seen washing utensils at the community kitchen (langar hall) of Golden Temple. Sukhbir has also been tasked with cleaning shoes and bathrooms at the holiest shrine of the Sikhs.
Among the Akali leaders ordered to clean washrooms at Golden Temple are Sucha Singh Langah, Balwinder Singh Bhundar, Daljit Singh Cheema, Jagir Kaur, Prem Singh Chandumajra, Majithia, Mahesh Inder Singh Grewal, Charanjit Singh Atwal and Sukhbir’s brother-in-law Adesh Pratap Singh Kairon.
Reading the order on Tuesday, Giani Raghbir Singh said that Sukhbir Badal along with his former cabinet ministers need to submit their written explanations within 15 days.
“A meeting of the Panj Singh Sahibs (five high priests of Akal Takht) was held in which it was unanimously decided that Sukhbir Singh Badal, as the deputy chief minister of the Punjab government and president of the Shiromani Akali Dal, took some decisions that have harmed the ‘Panthak swaroop (image of the Sikh community)’. The situation of the Shiromani Akali Dal has deteriorated and Sikh interests have suffered a lot. Therefore, his partner Sikh cabinet ministers from 2007-17, need to submit their written explanations in this regard within 15 days before the Akal Takht,” he said.
Order of Almighty: Dhindsa
Former SAD MP Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa said, “The order for ‘sewa’ is an order for me. This is the order of the Almighty that has been pronounced for me by Akal Takht. I sat by the gate, I will also offer my services at the langar.”
Dhindsa has been president of the Shiromani Akali Dal (Sanyukt) that was formed after the merger of the SAD (Democratic) and the SAD (Taksali),
After Sukhbir admitted the charges against him, the Sikh clergy pronounced religious punishment for the other leaders associated with the SAD.
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