{"id":67657,"date":"2026-06-30T21:25:48","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T15:55:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/punjabenews.com\/English\/?p=67657"},"modified":"2026-06-30T21:25:48","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T15:55:48","slug":"cm-mann-defends-sacrilege-law-says-culprits-deserve-the-harshest-punishment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/punjabenews.com\/English\/latest\/cm-mann-defends-sacrilege-law-says-culprits-deserve-the-harshest-punishment\/","title":{"rendered":"CM Mann defends sacrilege law, says culprits deserve the harshest punishment"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Chandigarh: A day after Akal Takht acting Jathedar Giani Kuldeep Singh Gargaj directed the Punjab government to amend the Jagat Jyot Sri Guru Granth Sahib Satkar (Amendment) Act, 2026 within a month, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann strongly defended the legislation, saying those found guilty of sacrilege should face the strictest punishment.<\/p>\n<p>Addressing a public gathering during his Lok Milni programme at Mehal Kalan village in Barnala district on Tuesday, Mann did not directly refer to the Akal Takht&#8217;s directions but defended the law while targeting the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD).<\/p>\n<p>The Chief Minister said people had voted for the Akali Dal believing it represented the teachings of Guru Nanak, yet incidents of sacrilege took place during its tenure. He questioned the criticism of the new law and asserted that it was meant solely to ensure stringent punishment for those convicted of desecrating Sri Guru Granth Sahib.<\/p>\n<p>Mann said the legislation provides for life imprisonment, a fine of up to \u20b950 lakh, and other stringent provisions against those found guilty. He maintained that the law does not protect anyone and is intended only to ensure strict action against offenders.<\/p>\n<p>The Chief Minister also accused his political opponents of attempting to defame him by circulating fake and manipulated videos on social media. He alleged that fabricated content was being used to mislead people but asserted that he remained unconcerned as long as he continued to enjoy the support of the public.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Chandigarh: A day after Akal Takht acting Jathedar Giani Kuldeep Singh Gargaj directed the Punjab government to amend the Jagat Jyot Sri Guru Granth Sahib Satkar (Amendment) Act, 2026 within a month, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann strongly defended the legislation, saying those found guilty of sacrilege should face the strictest punishment. Addressing a public gathering [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":67459,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,21,20],"tags":[15828,16391,16392,16393],"class_list":["post-67657","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest","category-political-news","category-punjab","tag-cm-mann","tag-defends-sacrilege-law","tag-says-culprits-deserve","tag-the-harshest-punishment"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>CM Mann defends sacrilege law, says culprits deserve the harshest punishment - PunjabENews<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/punjabenews.com\/English\/latest\/cm-mann-defends-sacrilege-law-says-culprits-deserve-the-harshest-punishment\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"CM Mann defends sacrilege law, says culprits deserve the harshest punishment - PunjabENews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Chandigarh: A day after Akal Takht acting Jathedar Giani Kuldeep Singh Gargaj directed the Punjab government to amend the Jagat Jyot Sri Guru Granth Sahib Satkar (Amendment) Act, 2026 within a month, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann strongly defended the legislation, saying those found guilty of sacrilege should face the strictest punishment. 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