Deep-rooted conspiracies in play to render Sikhs leaderless: Sukhbir Badal

SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal on Monday cautioned Sikhs against alleged deep-rooted conspiracies to render the community leaderless, and called for “identifying and defeating” them.

Addressing a gathering from the Manji Sahib Diwan Hall in the Golden Temple complex, the Akali leader cautioned “against conspiracies to make the community dependent totally on non-Sikh centres of power outside Punjab”.

He claimed that the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) was the sole regional party in Punjab.

“While the Congress is driven from 10 Jan Path, the AAP is a handmaiden of Kejriwal. The SAD, born at Sri Akal Takhat Sahib, is the sole party that takes pride in being a party of Punjabis,” he said.

Badal alleged that the Congress governments first tried “to break our spirit through tanks and mortars”.

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“But they soon realised that this could not be achieved and turned to conspiracies to divide us. Their aim is to keep the community divided and leaderless and to create a situation where Sikhs do not have any platform or leadership of their own and have to turn to the non-Sikh and non-Punjabi parties and leaders even to resolve religious crises like the one we faced in 1984,” he said.

The SAD president said that the Akali Dal and the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee are repositories of Sikhs' faith and of Punjabis' trust in the 'Guru's' philosophy.

“Both the SAD and the SGPC belong to all those who subscribe to the 'Panthic' philosophy and the Punjabi identity,” he said, adding that all differences among Sikhs can and must be resolved within the family.

“We welcome even the bitterest of criticism because we belong to you. We are open to any criticism, suggestions or advice. Criticise me, correct me, blast me whenever you think I am wrong. But do not join Panth's enemies to weaken our treasured institutions. These are yours and are elected by you,” said Badal.

Referring to incidents of sacrilege, Badal said these incidents appear linked to the conspiracies “to achieve what our enemies could not”.

“They now believe that they can destroy us by dividing us. We must be vigilant. Truth will come out one day that all these were conspiracies against Sikhs to divide and weaken them,” he said.