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Sukhbir Badal attacked again at Sikh shrine over 2015 sacrilege
Sukhbir Badal, the Shiromani Akali Dal leader, has faced a second physical attack at a Sikh religious place in less than two years, NDTV reports. The attacks are directly linked to unresolved…
The Story in Brief
Sukhbir Badal, the Shiromani Akali Dal leader, has faced a second physical attack at a Sikh religious place in less than two years, NDTV reports. The attacks are directly linked to unresolved sacrilege cases from 2015 when Badal was deputy chief minister of Punjab. Radical elements and Khalistan supporters have used these incidents to target him, exposing deep political discontent ahead of state elections. NDTV questions whether religious atonement can lead to political forgiveness. The first attack occurred in December 2023. The sacrilege cases involved desecration of the Guru Granth Sahib and sparked massive protests, severely damaging the Akali Dal's reputation.
The Indian Opinion
The attacks on Sukhbir Badal are deplorable, but they reflect a failure by Punjab's political class to address the 2015 sacrilege cases transparently. Neither the Akali Dal nor its opponents has fully accounted for the police handling of those events. Exaggerating the Khalistan threat risks inflaming further polarisation. The real test is whether the authorities can bring the original sacrilege perpetrators to justice.
Sources (3): ndtv.com, ndtv.com (2), ndtv.com (3)
This story was synthesised by AI from the 3 sources linked above.
Updated: this story now draws on 3 sources.
