AMRITSAR: Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann announced on Sunday that all Sikh MLAs and ministers from the AAP govt, accompanied by assembly speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan, will appear before the Akal Takht on Monday to present the govt’s stance on the new anti-sacrilege law.His statement came after a closed-door meeting with party MLAs in Amritsar to decide a course of action following directives issued by the Akal Takht, the highest temporal seat of Sikhs, on June 15. Both the Akal Takht and the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee have raised objections to the Jaagat Jot Sri Guru Granth Sahib Satkar (Amendment) Act, 2026, saying it was enacted without consulting the Sikh Panth. Addressing the media, Mann said, “We bow to the supremacy of the Akal Takht. I even skipped the President’s programme to visit the Akal Takht earlier. All our MLAs and ministers will submit their written replies and then present their side. Some ministers have specifically been asked to submit written explanations, and they will do so.” The chief minister again denied allegations regarding his purported appearance in a controversial sacrilege video that has triggered a political storm, reiterating that the video is fake. Mann said while he was not personally summoned, the MLAs would submit a written representation to the Akal Takht, which will include footage proving the video was fabricated using an actor wearing a customised mask. “We cannot even think of confronting or challenging the Akal Takht. I have said before that I am not the person in that video. Whatever decision the Akal Takht takes, we will face it,” Mann said. On June 25, Mann identified the alleged mastermind behind the video as Jagman Samra, a Canada-based person. According to Mann, Samra procured a customised mask, placed it on an actor, and filmed the video in Abbotsford, Canada, around 2018–19 to falsely portray him in an intoxicated state. In Amritsar, Mann accused opposition parties, BJP, Congress, and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), of joining forces to weaponise a political issue with religious overtones for electoral gain. He also questioned religious directives put up outside gurdwaras calling for his social boycott, pointing out that similar public notices were not displayed when SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal was declared a “tankhaiya” (guilty of religious misconduct). At the press conference, AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal raised questions over the investigation into the alleged theft of donation funds to the Ram temple in Ayodhya. Kejriwal claimed the probe is a cover-up, pointing out that only lower-level staff, such as money counters and watchmen, have been arrested while the main accused remain untouched. He added that while allegations suggest a theft of Rs 200 crore, only Rs 80 lakh has been recovered, and the eight arrested people were sent directly to judicial custody without police remand, and were likely to be released on bail in two or four days.
