Amritsar: Akal Takht chief Giani Gurbachan
Singh on Wednesday slammed People`s Party of Punjab chief Manpreet
Singh Badal for visiting Dera Sacha Sauda sect at Sirsa in
Haryana, saying he had acted against the tenets of Sikh
religion.
Gurbachan Singh said that since Badal had broken rules
which should be adhered by "Amritdhari Sikh, he was no longer
a true Sikh" and would not be summoned the Sikh temporal body
but warned that he could face a boycott by the community.
"Akal Takht only summons baptized Sikhs and Badal was not
baptized Sikh. A Gur Sikh (complete Sikh as per Sikh customs)
or baptized Sikh who commits a blasphemous act or violates
Sikh tenets can be summoned for hearing and be punished if
found guilty," Singh said.
He said Akal Takht would ask the Sikh community all over
the world to boycott Badal from all public and private events
if he continues to visit Dera Sacha Sauda.
Various Sikh organisations had demanded that Badal,
estranged nephew of Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal,
should be summoned by Akal Takht for his visit to Dera.
The Dera chief Gurmit Ram Rahim was criticised after an
advertisement on May 13, 2007 purportedly showed him
distributing `amrit` (nectar) in an attire similar to that of
Sikh Guru, Gobind Singh.
Following the advertisement, violence broke out at
several places in the country in which one person was killed
and hundreds injured.
In 2007, Sikh clergy had directed the community to
politically and socially boycott the Dera.
PTI
