SAD rebels apologise before Akal Takht for 'religious transgressions' during Akali rule

AMRITSAR: Rebel Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) functionaries appeared before Akal Takht, the highest temporal seat of the Sikhs, here on Monday and apologised for "mistakes" committed when the party was in office in Punjab.
Last week, they had demanded that SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal should step down as party chief following the party's debacle in the recently held Lok Sabha elections, where it could win just one of the 13 seats in Punjab.
In a meeting in Jalandhar, while urging Sukhbir to hand over the reins of the party," they had decided to seek forgiveness from Akal Takht on July 1 for "blunders and shortcomings of the past".
Acknowledging their involvement in "religious transgressions" during the party's 10-year govt from 2007 to 2017, the rebel SAD group appealed to Akal Takht jathedar Giani Raghbir Singh to pronounce penance upon them and left after offering prayers for 'chardi kalan' (positive and optimistic attitude) in SAD.
Party members Bibi Jagir Kaur, Parminder Singh Dhindsa, Surjit Singh Rakhra, Prem Singh Chandumajra, Sarwan Singh Phillaur, Sucha Singh Chhotepur and Bhai Manjit Singh submitted a letter to the Akal Takht jathedar, blaming Sukhbir for the mistakes that, according to them, eroded the trust of a substantial segment of the Sikh community and people of Punjab in SAD. These "missteps" resulted in failures of SAD govt and Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) following which the party encountered a palpable estrangement from people of Punjab, said the rebel SAD group while mentioning "four mistakes".
They also claimed that due to several incidents, the Sikh panth was disappointed with the Shiromani Akali Dal leadership, and the position of the party in both political and religious spheres had gone down.
"We acknowledge that throughout these occurrences, we were integral members of the SAD leadership and regretfully failed to prevent such incidents," the letter said.