New Delhi: Eight years after the outrage surrounding sacrilege incidents related to the Guru Granth Sahib led to the downfall of the Akali Dal government in Punjab and a significant decrease in its support, Sukhbir Singh Badal, the party president, publicly expressed remorse last week.
Badal conveyed his apology for being unable to catch the culprit during his party's tenure. The apology, made in written form and further reiterated in a video message, was made during a gathering at Gurdwara Shaheed Baba Gurbaksh Singh in Amritsar, marking the 103rd foundation day of the Akali Dal.
Badal posted a video on X and wrote, "Submitting myself to the Guru's will in the precinct of Sri Akal Takht Sahib, the highest religio-temporal seat of the Sikh quom, I sincerely and unconditionally seek forgiveness of the Khalsa Panth that heinous act of sacrilege of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji happened during Akali govt."
"I also apologize that we couldn't apprehend and punish the culprits during the brief remaining part of our tenure. I am very sad that we couldn't understand and defeat the conspiracies of some so called Panthic individuals and organisations and allowed them to compel us to handover the probe to the CBI. These incidents remain the most painful events in my life and the life of S Parkash Singh Ji Badal," he said.