FARIDKOT, June 28: Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said on Sunday that Akalis are opposing the anti-sacrilege Act because they know they will have to answer for their past “misdeeds”.
Addressing a gathering during a public interaction programme here, Mann said, “The Akalis are opposing the anti-sacrilege Act tooth and nail because they are aware that they will have to pay for the misdeeds committed in the past. “The Akalis were hand in glove with the fissiparous forces that hatched the conspiracies of ‘beadbi’ in the past. Now these leaders must pay for their sinister actions, which is why they and their stooges are opposing this law: Jaagat Jot Sri Guru Granth Sahib Satkar (Amendment) Act, 2026.” Mann said he is grateful to the Almighty for blessing him with the opportunity to enact the anti-sacrilege Act. He said whenever incidents of ‘beadbi’ of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji took place, the sentiments of millions of devotees were deeply hurt. “The Almighty blessed me with the wisdom and strength to bring this legislation after detailed consultations with legal experts,” he said.
“The state government drafted this legislation carefully to prevent future amendments or loopholes from weakening it. This law will strongly deter anti-social elements from attempting such sacrilegious acts in the future, and no one will ever be able to commit this heinous crime,” he said.
The Punjab Assembly passed the Jaagat Jot Sri Guru Granth Sahib Satkar (Amendment) Bill, 2026, on April 13. The bill has a provision for stricter punishment, including life imprisonment for any act of sacrilege against the Guru Granth Sahib.
Incidents related to the theft of a ‘bir’ (copy) of Guru Granth Sahib from Burj Jawahar Singh Wala gurdwara, the posting of handwritten sacrilegious posters in Bargari and Burj Jawahar Singh Wala, and torn pages of the holy book found scattered at Bargari occurred in Faridkot’s Bargari in 2015, when the Akalis were in power. These incidents had led to anti-sacrilege protests.
On his government’s works, the chief minister said, “We have provided free electricity to households, more than 68,000 government jobs to the youth without corruption, improved roads, closed toll plazas saving Rs 70 lakh every day, imparted quality education, strengthened healthcare, built modern infrastructure and undertaken several other key initiatives.” (PTI)
