Akal Takht declares Bhagwant Mann 'Anti-Guru', summons Cabinet

New Delhi: The clergy at Akal Takht, the highest temporal seat of Sikhs, on Monday declared Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann a 'Guru Dokhi' (one who disrespects the Guru) and 'Khalsa Panth Virodhi' (against the Sikh community), accusing him of misleading Akal Takht on the issue of an alleged sacrilege video purportedly showing him in an act that hurt religious sentiment.

The clergy also summoned all Sikh MLAs, irrespective of party affiliation, along with the Punjab Cabinet to appear before Akal Takht on June 29 in connection with the anti-sacrilege law enacted by the Mann government.

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The edict was pronounced by Akal Takht jathedar Giani Kuldeep Singh Gargaj from the podium after a meeting of the five Singh Sahibans in Amritsar. He claimed that two forensic laboratories had found the video circulating on social media - purportedly showing a man resembling Mann - to be authentic and not tampered with or AI-generated. "The office of the CM is respectable. But CM Bhagwant Singh Mann lied before Akal Takht regarding the video," he said.

According to Gargaj, Akal Takht secretariat had written to Mann in January after he publicly said he was ready to have the video examined by forensic laboratories. However, no response was received, following which the secretariat got the footage examined by two forensic laboratories.

The controversy dates to January when Mann was summoned by Akal Takht over alleged remarks on Guru ki Golak (gurdwara donation box) and for purportedly engaging in objectionable activities involving images of Sikh Gurus and slain militant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale in certain video clips.

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Appearing before Akal Takht secretariat in Amritsar on January 15, Mann maintained that the videos were fake and claimed they had either been doctored or generated using AI. He had said the clergy was free to have the footage examined by any forensic lab.

AAP reiterated that forensic reports didn't establish the person's identity and accused SAD and the Badal family of politicising religious institutions.