Sukhbir Badal Attack News: Shiromani Akali Dal leader Sukhbir Singh Badal was shot at by a man while performing his duty as a ‘sewadar’ outside the Golden Temple in Amritsar on Wednesday. Badal, who was sitting in a wheelchair, escaped unhurt as the bullet struck a wall.
The man, identified as Narain Singh, was quickly overpowered by bystanders, news agency PTI reported.
SAD leader Daljit Singh Cheema said, “…First of all, I would like to thank Guru Nanak. Jako Rakhe Saaiyan, Maar Sake Na Koy. ‘Sevaks’ were offering ‘seva’ here. SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal was sitting by the Guru Ram Das Dwar as ‘Chowkidar’. Bullet was fired in his direction…I thank Guru Nanak that he saved his ‘sevak’.”
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He further added, “This is a huge incident. What era is Punjab being pushed into? I would like to ask the CM of Punjab, where do you want to take Punjab? The attacker was caught on the spot. I also thank the security personnel here. Had they not acted promptly, there should have been a high-level judicial enquiry into the incident. We will continue with our ‘seva’.”
Meanwhile, SGPC President Harjinder Singh Dhami said, “We will investigate this through our sources well”. “I think he (attacker) has been nabbed and taken away by Police… Guru Ram Das saved Sukhbir Singh Badal…We are looking into the security arrangements,” he added.
Amritsar Police Commissioner Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said that the attacker had been caught. “An investigation will reveal everything. The investigation will reveal whether there was a deeper conspiracy. It was an assassination attempt, but he (Sukhbir Singh Badal) was saved by the Police’s alertness,” he noted.
Pronouncing the ‘tankhah’ (religious punishment) for Badal and other leaders for the “mistakes” committed by the Shiromani Akali Dal government in Punjab from 2007 to 2017, the Sikh clergy at the Akal Takht on Monday directed the senior Akali leader to serve as a ‘sewadar’, and wash dishes and clean shoes at the Golden Temple, PTI reported.
Akali leaders, including Prem Singh Chandumajra, Daljit Singh Cheema, Surjit Singh Rakhra, Sohan Singh Thandal, Bibi Jagir Kaur, Mahesh Inder Singh Grewal and Balwinder Singh Bhundar, cleaned the washrooms of the Golden Temple.
Before the pronouncement of the edict, Sukhbir Badal admitted his mistakes, including pardoning Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in a 2007 blasphemy case during the SAD’s rule in Punjab.
The punishment came nearly three months after Sukhbir Badal was declared ‘tankhaiya’ (guilty of religious misconduct) by the Akal Takht.
(With inputs from agencies)
