Sukhbir Badal sits by Golden Temple gate with spear in hand & plaque around neck to serve 'punishment'

Former Deputy CM of Punjab Sukhbir Singh Badal wore the clothes of a sevadar and served outside the clock tower of Golden Temple on Tuesday holding a spear. SAD Chief Sukhbir Badal was also seen wearing a placard around his neck. Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa also served with him. After serving at the gate, Sukhbir Badal went to listen to Kirtan. After this, Sukhbir Badal will also clean the utensils and shoes of the devotees as a religious punishment. 

As per reports, Sukhbir Badal was also sentenced to clean the toilet, but he was exempted from it due to a fracture in his leg. The rebel faction of Akali Dal and other cabinet members during the Shiromani Akali Dal government will clean the toilet after 12 noon.

Why did Akal Takht punish Sukhbir Badal and SAD?

On Monday, a meeting of five Singh Sahibans was held at Sri Akal Takht Sahib, in which Sukhbir Badal and others were sentenced in the case of pardoning Dera Sacha Sauda chief Ram Rahim and withdrawing the case. Below is the reason explained in 5 points why Sukhbir Badal has been serving religious punishment- 

1. Complaint against Ram Rahim withdrawn- In 2007, Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim imitated the tradition of Sikhs' 10th Guru Shri Guru Gobind Singh Ji, and pretended to give Amrit by wearing clothes like him. A police case was registered against Ram Rahim on this, but the Badal government withdrew the case instead of giving punishment.
2. Sukhbir Badal got the Dera chief pardoned- Shri Akal Takht Sahib took action and expelled Ram Rahim from the Sikh sect. Sukhbir had used his influence to get Ram Rahim pardoned. After this, the Akali Dal and Shiromani Committee leadership had to face the anger and resentment of the Sikhs. Finally, Sri Akal Takht Sahib withdrew the decision to pardon Ram Rahim.
3. The incidents of sacrilege were not investigated properly - During the tenure of the Badal government, on 1 June 2015, some people stole the Bir of Sri Guru Granth Sahib from Gurdwara Sahib in Burj Jawahar Singh Wala (Faridkot). Then on 12 October 2015, 110 parts of Sri Guru Granth Sahib were stolen from Gurdwara Sahib in Bargari (Faridkot) and thrown out. This caused great anger in the Sikh community. The Akali Dal government and the then Home Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal did not investigate this matter in time. They failed to get the culprits punished. This worsened the situation in Punjab.
4. Sikhs killed in false cases were not given justice- Sumedh Saini was appointed DGP of Punjab by the Akali Dal government. He was considered guilty of killing Sikh youth by carrying out fake police encounters in the state. Former DGP Izhar Alam, who formed Alam Sena, gave ticket to his wife and made her Chief Parliamentary Secretary.
5. Advertisement given with the money of the Sangat- Apart from Sukhbir Badal, those who supported his decision have also been sentenced. This advertisement was published after the Dera chief was pardoned. In which about 90 lakh rupees were spent from the SGPC funds.

Akal Takht's punishment

Five high priests headed by Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Raghbir Singh on Monday pronounced religious punishment, also known as “tankhah” for Sukhbir Singh Badal, who was earlier declared guilty of religious misconduct. The former Punjab Deputy Chief Minister has been ordered to clean utensils and shoes in the Golden Temple.

Also, Akal Takht, the supreme temporal seat of Sikhs, withdrew the title of ‘Panth Rattan Fakhr-e-Qaum’ from former chief minister late Parkash Singh Badal, the grand man of the state’s politics. He was also blamed for 'facilitating' the pardon of self-styled godman and Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in the blasphemy case.