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Bhagwant Mann vs Akal Takht—Punjab’s anti-sacrilege law opens new fault lines

The issue of sacrilege of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji has been exploited as political capital by every major party in Punjab. Each has invoked the wounds of the Panth when in opposition and delivered precious little when in power.

On 9 May, as Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann concluded his Shukrana Yatra — a thanksgiving pilgrimage to mark the passage of the Jaagat Jot Sri Guru Granth Sahib Satkar (Amendment) Act, 2026 — he drew a line in the sand. Responding to a 15-day ultimatum issued by Sri Akal Takht Sahib acting Jathedar Giani Kuldeep Singh Gargaj, the Chief Minister was categorical: the anti-sacrilege law will not be withdrawn, amended or taken back.

The manner of that response matters as much as its content. Sri Akal Takht Sahib Jathedar had already rechristened Mann’s Shukrana Yatra an “Ahankaar Yatra” — an expression of arrogance rather than gratitude.

This is a potential confrontation of the first order, and it has erupted even before the five Singh Sahiban (high priests) formally convene to deliberate, let alone pronounce.

The episode that preceded it is instructive. The Jathedar had summoned Punjab Assembly Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan to the Sri Akal Takht Sahib Secretariat after the government passed the law without consulting either Sri Akal Takht Sahib or the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC). The Speaker bowed his head and undertook to carry the Jathedar’s concerns back to the government.

The Jathedar’s objections were surgical, not wholesale: no unique serial number on the saroops of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji; no public disclosure of the identities of those holding sacred birs — a provision flagged as potentially dangerous, exposing devout Sikhs to anti-Sikh forces. The draft was prepared on the night of 11 April and passed within two days on 13 April. No copy was sent to Sri Akal Takht Sahib. No copy to the SGPC. A newspaper advertisement cannot........

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