Youth Thrash Sikh-baiter Mand; A New Channel Enters Gurbani Transmission Space

August

2026

Some Sikh youths attacked the president of the International Anti-Khalistan Front, Gursimran Singh Mand, at Panjokhra Sahib village, Ambala district, Haryana on 7 Aug. The incident took place when a large number of people had gathered at the Gurdwara Panjokra Sahib on the occasion of the eighth sovereign Guru Harkishan’s birth anniversary. Mand demanded special entry to the Gurdwara. When denied, he drove through the crowd crushing a motorcyclist—27-year-old Surinder Singh whose spine was fractured— and injuring others. Mand also used derogatory words despite his security officers asking him to desist. Mand’s actions provoked the youth who attacked him and ransacked his car. Mand has been a Sikh-baiter for long. He celebrates 'Operation Blue Star'—the attack on Darbar Sahib (Golden Temple) complex and more than a hundred Gurdwaras throughout Panjab by the Indian Army in June 1984. Since 2014, when Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power, he has donned saffron robes. The youth also made Mand apologize for his earlier statements and support for BJP's ideological mentor Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. The police detained two Sikh youths who were released on 10 Aug after a large crowd led by farmer leader Gurnam Singh Chaduni gathered in front of the Panjokhra police station. Surinder has recorded his statement and the police have said they will file a First Information Report against Mand after examining the CCTV footage. Meanwhile, a new channel Galactic Television & Communications (GTC Network), owned by Rabindra Narayan, has entered the Darbar Sahib Gurbani Kirtan (singing of Sikh texts and hymns) transmission space. In 1998, Narayan had set up Gurbani transmission on ETC channel. In 2007, ETC transferred the Gurbani transmission rights to G-Next Media (PTC). In 2012, Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal-owned PTC signed an 11-year exclusive worldwide agreement with Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC). Since that agreement lapsed on 24 Jul 2023, SGPC has been transmitting Gurbani on its Facebook and YouTube channels, which PTC then relays. In 2025, Badal and Narayan had a fallout, and on 6 Aug, Narayan's GTC channel started transmitting Gurbani. SGPC president Harjinder Singh Dhami said the committee has served a legal notice on GTC for telecasting live Gurbani without authorization, asserting that all broadcasting rights of Gurbani rest exclusively with the SGPC (earlier coverage).