Congress Deputy leader in the lok Sabha Capt Amarinder Singh on Wednesday blamed the Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal for “eroding Akal Takht authority and dividing community”.
Expressing grave concern over the unease and unrest among a section of the Sikh community and open defiance of a recent Akal Takhat hukumnama (edict), Capt Amarinder said that this was unfortunate and unprecedented and did not bode well for the community and the State.
“With due deference and reverence for the supreme authority of Akal Takht and its edicts, as a humble Sikh, my only concern is the erosion of its authority and credibility for which only the Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal is to be blamed,” he said.
The firmer chief minister said: “Over the years, a perception has been reinforced, and rightly so, that Badal has been misusing the Akal Takht for his own personal and vested interests and the consequences are before all of us that people have started openly defying the edicts which is sad and unfortunate.”
“For the first time in the Sikh history, there has been open defiance of the Akal Takht hukumnama”, he pointed out, adding that this was quite unfortunate as common people have been made to believe that Akal Takht was being misused by Badal and his family to safeguard his own personal and political interests.