As inquisitive bystanders take pictures and talk about Akal Takht’s sentence, the Akali leader and former chief minister maintains eye contact with the ground.
Sukhbir Singh Badal made sure he exhibited no signs of it, even if it made an awkward situation worse. On the Akal Takht’s orders, the former Punjab Deputy Chief Minister was sitting on “punishment” guard duty at the Golden Temple on Tuesday when a woman came up to him and knelt down to touch his broken leg and receive his blessings. According to reports, she thought he was a holy guy.
The Akali Dal leader spent the hour he had to serve in silence or reciting something under his breath, his eyes fixed on the ground, and he never left the placard that hung around his neck. He was surrounded by his own guards, as Badal is a Z-plus protectee, and party leaders who stood a short distance away in solemn deference.
It included a Gurbani hymn that said, “The True Guru, the Primal Being, is free from hate and retaliation; He is God, the Great Giver.” You are my forgiver; I am a sinner. That sinner, who has nowhere to go for protection… He becomes spotless and pure if he comes looking for Your Sanctuary.
In an attempt to defuse the situation, some Akali leaders greeted Badal, who was carrying a spear wielded by the customary Golden Temple guards and was dressed in the garment of a “sevak (servant).”
Making sure that no one enters the Darbar Sahib’s grounds without a head covering is a major aspect of the guard duties, but Badal was not pressured to fulfill his obligation.
Sitting in a wheelchair at one end of the Golden Temple gate was former Rajya Sabha MP Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, while the 62-year-old, whose resignation as Akali Dal head is expected to be accepted after the Akal Takht’s orders, sat at the other end.
Since Dhindsa had revolted against the SAD, it was maybe the closest and longest he had ever spent with his former party boss, therefore his day wasn’t much better. The group around the 88-year-old was smaller, and Dhindsa seemed to be falling asleep as the winter sun dappled his wheelchair.
The Akal Takht ordered Badal and other Akali leaders, in addition to Dhindsa, to undergo religious punishment on Tuesday for the “mistakes” perpetrated by the SAD government in Punjab between 2007 and 2017. They must carry out their responsibilities for ten days in a row.
Unlike Akali heavyweight Bikram Singh Majithia, for instance, Badal and Dhindsa were placed on guard duty and spared punishments like cleaning toilets as a courtesy for their age. Following an hour of that, they must spend another hour performing “kar seva” and listening to at least an hour of kirtan, or devotional music, at the Golden Temple. Following the langar, Badal volunteered to pick up the used utensils.
In-law brother At the Guru Arjan Dev inn next to the Golden Temple, Majithia, who was also referred to as a “tankhaiya,” cleaned the restrooms. While the Akali leaders were cleaning the restrooms, the devotees and visitors were told not to use them. Majithia, 48, impressed a number of people with his “fitness” by getting down on his haunches to clean the restrooms.
In addition to former ministers Daljit Singh Cheema, Jagir Kaur, Prem Singh Chandumajra, Sucha Singh Langah, Mahesh Inder Singh Grewal, Charanjit Singh Atwal, Adesh Partap Singh Kairon, Janmeja Singh Sekhon, Hira Singh Gabria, Gulzar Singh Ranike, Surjit Singh Rakhra, and Parminder Singh Dhindsa, some Akali leaders have been placed on kitchen duty.
One of the few people to speak after the seva was Chandumajra, who stated: “We are busy as such in worldly affairs.” However, we become aware of our errors when we conduct seva at a gurdwara. Seva humbles us. It pleases God. Seva promises to make amends for our errors.
The Golden Temple’s patrons, particularly the non-Sikhs who were unaware of the leaders’ punishment, watched Badal and Dhindsa with interest. However, the majority of Sikh followers agreed that Badal needed to pay for his actions. It is the home of God. Eventually, you will have to pay for your transgressions. Two of them talked about how you can’t avoid divine justice while they watched Badal.
