Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Kuldeep Singh Gargaj summons Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann: ‘deliberately displayed an anti-Sikh mentality’, ‘deeply wounded Sikh sentiments’

Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Kuldeep Singh Gargaj summoned Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to appear before the Akal Takht secretariat on January 15 for making statements over the Sikh code of conduct recently.

The Jathedar of the supreme temporal seat of the Sikh also summoned the Punjab chief minister over an alleged video in which a person looking like Mann is seen committing a sacrilege with pictures of Sikh Gurus and former Damdami Taksal head Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale.

It is not verified if the video is original or AI-generated.

“You are hereby informed that while speaking on a serious ongoing Panthic issue, you deliberately displayed an anti-Sikh mentality by repeatedly making highly objectionable remarks against Sri Akal Takht Sahib’s Sikh Rehat Maryada, its supreme authority, and the principle of dasvandh—“Guru Ki Golak”—bestowed by the Guru Sahiban, thereby deeply wounding Sikh sentiments,” the Akal Takht said in a statement.

“Additionally, some objectionable videos of yours have recently surfaced, in which you are seen engaging in highly objectionable activities with the images of Sikh Guru Sahiban and the great national martyr of the 20th century, Sant Giani Jarnail Singh Ji Khalsa Bhindranwale. Pursuant to the orders of the revered Singh Sahib Jathedar Sri Akal Takht Sahib, you are holding a constitutional high office in Punjab, and your anti-Sikh statements reflect your inner state of political arrogance,” it said.

As Mann is a patit Sikh, or one who has cut his hair, he has been asked to submit his response to the Akal Takht Sahib secretariat.

“Since you are a patit and, as per Sikh tradition, cannot be brought before the railing of Sri Akal Takht Sahib, you are summoned in person to appear at the Secretariat of Sri Akal Takht Sahib on January 15, 2026 (Miti 02 Magh Nanakshahi Samat 557), at 10:00 AM to provide your clarification.”

There was controversy when Punjabi singer Jasbir Jassi sang a religious song on a stage where Guru Granth Sahib was installed. Mann had then questioned the rules, objecting to Jassi’s song Jathedar.

According to the Sikh code of conduct, no person with unshorn hair can sing from a stage where the Guru Granth has been installed.

In 2024, former deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal was summoned and declared tankhaiya — guilty of violating the Sikh religious code.

Former chief minister Prakash Singh Badal was also summoned to the Akal Takht on October 4, 1979.

Former president Giani Zail Singh, the late Akali leader and former Punjab chief minister Surjit Singh Barnala, and former Union home minister and Congress leader Buta Singh were also among those summoned by the Akal Takht. They later declared tankhaiya by the Akal Takht in the aftermath of Operation Blue Star at the Golden Temple in 1984.

In 2014, Bikram Singh Majithia, then an Akali Dal minister, was summoned and declared tankhaiya for tampering with the Guru Granth Sahib—the Sikhs’ holy text—during a speech in Amritsar in favour of BJP Lok Sabha candidate Arun Jaitley.