Amritsar: A political and religious controversy has erupted over Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s scheduled appearance before the Akal Takht Sahib in Amritsar on January 15.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Akal Takht secretariat issued a statement revising the timing of the CM’s appearance. Mann, who was earlier asked to appear at 10 am, has now been directed to present himself at 4.30 pm.
Reacting to the development, Mann said he had no other engagements on January 15 and had even informed the office of the President of India accordingly. “Jathedar sahib, as per your directions, January 15 is completely dedicated to Sri Akal Takht Sahib,” the chief minister said.
The Akal Takht had summoned Mann to seek clarification over certain statements made by him and a video that has gone viral. Mann had earlier stated that he would appear barefoot before the Akal Takht and had also urged the jathedar to allow a live telecast of the proceedings when accounts related to the golak (donations) are presented along with evidence.
So far, no response has been issued by the jathedar regarding the demand for a live broadcast.
Meanwhile, in a related development, a Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the case of 328 missing sacred saroops of Sri Guru Granth Sahib conducted searches at offices of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee in Amritsar and Chandigarh. The team examined records as part of its ongoing investigation.
