Haunted Or Hunted? Why The Ghosts Of 2015 Continue To Shadow Sukhbir Badal

Updated: Jun 17, 2026 11:40 am IST Published On Jun 17, 2026 11:39 am IST Last Updated On Jun 17, 2026 11:40 am IST

Published On Jun 17, 2026 11:39 am IST

Last Updated On Jun 17, 2026 11:40 am IST

Punjab's political memory becomes particularly unforgiving when questions of power intersect with faith, injury and delayed justice. More than a decade after the 2015 sacrilege incidents and the police firing at Behbal Kalan, Sukhbir Singh Badal continues to face sustained political attacks. The ruling Aam Aadmi Party, along with dissident Akalis and other opponents, repeatedly return to Bargari, Kotkapura and Behbal Kalan whenever Shiromani Akali Dal-Badal (SAD-B) attempts to rebuild its organisation or regain political ground.

Sukhbir Singh Badal may have completed the religious punishment imposed upon him, but his party is still being made to serve a political punishment.

That raises an uncomfortable question: is SAD-Badal genuinely haunted by an unresolved past, or are the ruling party and its other rivals deliberately keeping that past alive because it remains the Badal leadership's greatest political vulnerability?

The answer lies somewhere between the two.

Why 2015 Has Returned to the Political Debate

The Behbal Kalan investigation has once again brought the events of 2015 to the centre of Punjab politics.

According to reports, the SIT questioned former Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Raghbir Singh about the proceedings held before the Akal Takht on December 2, 2024, including the answers given by Sukhbir Singh Badal. The exact nature of what was acknowledged during those proceedings, and its possible legal relevance, is now sharply disputed.

Giani Raghbir Singh's reported account has been interpreted by SAD's opponents as carrying specific implications for the Behbal Kalan case. Sukhbir Singh Badal and his party reject that interpretation, maintaining that he accepted broad moral and political responsibility as the head of the then government, rather than criminal responsibility for a particular act. Sukhbir Singh Badal reacted strongly."Neither am I afraid of cases being registered against me, nor am I afraid of going to jail," he said. He also clarified his Akal Takht submission, "As a humble Sikh, I took full responsibility for any fault committed by the SAD government and even for causing hurt, if any, to anyone."

His party argues that statements made by a Sikh while submitting to a religious process........

© NDTV