AMRITSAR: Aiming to polarise the Sikh electorate ahead of high stake 2022 electoral battle, the SAD(B) which claims to be the only regional panthic party in Punjab, on Sunday ranted of panthic crisis and warned of ‘dangerous conspiracies’ being hatched by Akali’s political opposition parties to indirectly wrest control of ‘Gurudhams' and the state.
And the warning came by none other than the five-time chief minister of Punjab and patron SAD(B) Parkash Singh Badal who attempted to portray the ghost of what he called ‘neo masands’ readying to take control of ‘Gurdhams’.
“Calculated and fraudulent conspiracies are being hatched to weaken the Khalsa Panth and dilute its separate and unique religious identity. Our sacred Gurdhams and their unique religious ideology are being targeted. The quom will have to guard against the attempts by powerful agencies to create dissensions, disunity, and mutual distrust within the community by using the age-old tactics of Trojan horses”, claimed Parkash Singh Badal while addressing a panthic gathering at Gurdwara Manji Sahib Diwan Hall on Saturday .
The function was held to protest the incidents of sacrilege including the outrage of the sanctum sanctorum of Golden Temple in the recent past.
During the 2022 assembly elections, the SAD(B) is facing a tough challenge not only by its traditional political opponent Congress but also from its former alliance partner BJP who has announced to collaborate with former chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh led Punjab Lok Congress (PLC) and a few dissident Taksali Akali’s as well as facing strong opposition from AAP.
Cautioning the panth against the alleged dangerous machinations to put Punjab on flames through communal polarization, Badal senior said “The hard-earned atmosphere of peace and communal harmony in Punjab and attempts are being made to repeat the era’s of the 1980s and 90s simply to further vested petty political interests”.
Former five-time chief minister of Punjab, Parkash Singh Badal also demanded a probe into the recent sacrilege incidents by a sitting judge of the high court.
