On 15 Jul, the five piaras (beloved-enthroned) met with the Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Raghbir Singh to deliberate on the actions of rebel SAD leaders (SDW Vol. 2 Issue 27, Story 3). The leaders had earlier submitted a written apology on their past errors during SAD tenure in Panjab (2007-2017) that led to the party’s decline. The rebels have urged for the implementation of the Jhunda panel’s recommendations which was set up by SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal after the party’s debacle in the 2022 state assembly elections. Though the report recommendations have never been made public, two rebel leaders Prem Singh Chandumajra and Gurpartap Singh Vadala recently announced some of the key recommendations which include dismantling the party’s student wing Student Organization of India, restoring All India Sikh Students Federation, creating a parliamentary board to distribute tickets for elections, moving SAD head office back to Amritsar, and limiting the SAD chief’s to two terms. At the end of the meeting Jathedar announced a number of measures pertaining to sacrileges, environment, social services, and asked the SAD chief to explain not being able to represent the community’s sentiments within 15 days by 30 Jul. Badal said that as a devout Sikh, he would follow the orders and appear before the Akal Takht. Former Panjab Police Inspector General Ranbir Singh Khatra, who led the probe into the 2015 Bargari sacrilege cases, met the Jathedar to discuss the stalled trials. Khatra highlighted that the Panjab govt. failed to appeal the stay on trials by the Punjab and Haryana High Court, leading to prolonged delays. He criticized SAD and Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee for their inaction.
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