A day after the Sikh clergy declared him 'Guru Dokhi' (anti-Guru) and 'Khalsa Panth virodhi' (anti-Khalsa Panth) over an objectionable video, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Tuesday said the person in the video was not him.
In a video message, the chief minister expressed surprise over the top brass of religious bodies "indulging in false propaganda at the behest of their political bosses" to defame him.
The matter stems from the summoning of Mann by the Akal Takht, the highest temporal seat of Sikhs, in January this year for allegedly making comments on 'Guru ki Golak' (gurdwara donation box) and indulging in "objectionable activities" with the pictures of the Sikh Gurus and slain militant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale in a video clip.
In his video message on Tuesday, Mann said a 'hukamnama' (edict) had been issued against him over the video, claiming that it featured him and that it was not AI-generated.
"I completely reject this video," he said.
Mann said when he was earlier called to the Akal Takht, he had then said that it was not him in the purported video.
"The person seen in the video does not match my height and physique," he said.
"But I am surprised at how the people sitting at the highest position of religious bodies are indulging in such false propaganda at the behest of their political bosses," Mann said, alluding to the Akal Takht Jathedar.
"They are indulging in mudslinging to defame me. Because I am taking decisions for the protection of water, 'gurbani', farming and the youth, which they cannot tolerate at all," said Mann.
He said religion was being used to defame him.
Mann said he considers the Akal Takht the supreme body and he is always committed to it.
Questioning the appointment of the Akal Takht Jathedar, Mann said, "The political appointments that had taken place there, the Sikh Sangat knows very well about the kind of decisions being taken there."
Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Kuldeep Singh Gargajj pronounced the edict against Mann from the 'faseel' (podium of the Akal Takht) on Monday in Amritsar, accusing the CM of lying about the purported objectionable video that hurt Sikh sentiments.
The edict came after Gargajj claimed that the video circulating on social media was found to be "authentic" by the two forensic laboratories. The video was neither tinkered with nor AI-generated, Gargajj said.
The Sikh clergy also summoned all Sikh MLAs, regardless of party affiliation, from the state and the Punjab Cabinet before the Akal Takht on June 29 in connection with an anti-sacrilege law.
