Nanded: A day after surviving an alleged life-threatening attack, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal said communal and religious harmony remains the party’s top priority.
Speaking to the media for the first time after being discharged from hospital, the former Punjab deputy chief minister said his father and former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal had never compromised with forces seeking to disturb communal harmony.
Sukhbir said his father had always stood for the people and maintained that members of all religions and communities should live together peacefully.
‘I will not allow anyone to disturb Punjab’s peace’
Sukhbir alleged that forces seeking to disturb peace in Punjab had targeted him twice at sacred religious sites — first at the Golden Temple in Amritsar and now at Takht Sri Hazur Sahib in Nanded.
“Those forces have tried to attack me twice at the holiest of places,” he said, adding that their alleged objective was to disturb peace and create instability in Punjab.
Sukhbir said he would not allow such forces to succeed. “I did not fear them then, and I do not fear them now,” he said, reiterating the SAD’s commitment to communal harmony.
He also said he believed that those protected by the Almighty could not be harmed, adding that he credited the Guru with protecting him during both incidents.
Sukhbir was accompanied by his wife and Bathinda MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal, along with senior SAD leader Parambans Singh Bunti Romana.
Injured in Nanded attack
Sukhbir sustained an injury to his right hand during the alleged attack in Nanded and was taken to a private hospital, where he received three stitches.
He had also survived an alleged attack in December 2024 at the entrance of the Golden Temple in Amritsar.
