A day after the Akal Takht Jathedar Kuldip Singh Gargaj pronounced Punjab Chief Minister as “Guru Dokhi” and “Panth Virodhi”, a defiant Bhagwant Singh Mann said that the person in the controversial video was not him.
Mann, in a video statement, said that though he had the utmost respect and reverence for the Akal Takht, the present-day officials, who were political appointees, are serving their political masters by making baseless allegations against him.
“A false narrative is being created against me because the political bosses of the Akal Takht management want to defame me,” he said.
On Monday, the Akal Takht Jathedar had not only pronounced Mann as Guru Dokhi, but had also said that the video was examined by two forensic labs and was found to be genuine. Based on these findings, he had asked the Sikh Sangat to refrain from associating with Mann.
“The Akal Takht issued a Hukumnama against me, though I had said earlier, when I was summoned to the Akal Takht Secretariat, that the person in the video is not me. The height or body build of the person in the video does not match mine. I am surprised how people sitting on such a high temporal seat of the Sikhs can work on the directions of their political bosses… only to defame me. They are getting very nervous about the work I am doing to save Punjab’s farming, its waters and its youth. They are now using Sikh religion for political gains,” he said, adding that he considers Akal Takht as supreme, bows before its authority and cannot get into any confrontation with the Akal Takht.
In a veiled attack, Mann said, “I leave the issue to Guru Nanak’s sangat. They know how political appointments are made at the Akal Takht. I reject the video being used to issue an edict against me. I love my state and work for its development and Punjabis’ welfare. They (without naming anyone, but referring to Akali Dal President Sukhbir Singh Badal) know that the Jagat Jot Sri Guru Granth Sahib Amendment Act is going against them so they are using this tactic. Interestingly, first the “managers at Akal Takht” wanted the government to make an anti-sacrilege law. Now when it is enacted, they are rejecting it saying they were not consulted. Their decisions change every day, but the Sangat is wiser. They have seen how first a religious pardon is granted and then suddenly revoked to suit the politics of those controlling the Takht,” he said.
