Jalandhar: A year ahead of the Punjab assembly elections, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) appears to be returning to the emotive issue of sacrilege — echoing its stance from nearly five years ago when, in opposition, it had promised justice in the Oct 2015 cases.Even as justice in those cases remains elusive, Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann will begin a four-day ‘shukrana yatra’ from Anandpur Sahib on Wednesday, thanking the Almighty for the passage of the Jaagat Jot Sri Guru Granth Sahib Satkar (Amendment) Act, 2026.As part of the yatra, Mann will pay obeisance at key Sikh sites, including Takht Keshgarh Sahib, Akal Takht, Takht Damdama Sahib, Mastuana Sahib, Gurdwara Dukh Niwaran Sahib and Sri Fatehgarh Sahib.The yatra comes alongside the recent amendments to the state’s anti-sacrilege law, which the AAP govt has projected as a key step. In 2021, the sacrilege and related police firing cases had triggered political upheaval in the Congress govt led by Capt Amarinder Singh after the Punjab and Haryana high court scrapped an investigation by IG Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh in the Kotkapura firing case.After Partap had resigned from the police job, AAP had subsequently inducted him into the party and built its campaign around the promise of delivering justice.While the April 13 amendments are largely regulatory in nature, the govt has highlighted them as a significant achievement.Among opposition parties, the Congress has taken the lead in countering the government’s narrative. MLAs, Pargat Singh and Sukhpal Singh Khaira, leader of opposition Partap Singh Bajwa, and party state chief Amrinder Singh Raja Wrring have questioned the lack of progress in securing justice and the transfer of trial in police firing cases from Punjab to Chandigarh. The AAP govt, for its part, has maintained that it is committed to ensuring justice and has taken legislative steps in that direction, while continuing to target the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and its chief Sukhbir Singh Badal, as well as the Congress, over their past handling of the cases.The SAD has not formally responded to the new legislation, but senior vice-president and spokesperson Parambans Singh Romana has raised questions over the lack of action against Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in the 2015 cases. Party leaders have also cited other sacrilege cases, including one in which Delhi AAP MLA Naresh Yadav was convicted by a trial court.Meanwhile, Shiromani Akali Dal (Punar Surjit) president Giani Harpreet Singh has accused the govt of deflecting from the core issue of justice in the 2015 cases.Jathedar raises objectionsThe jathedar of the Akal Takht, Giani Kuldeep Singh Gargaj, has objected to the new law and called Punjab assembly speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan for discussions. Mann has criticised the move, while Gargaj, in a May 3 statement after consultations with Sikh intellectuals and legal experts, also questioned the lack of justice in the 2015 cases.
