4 min readLudhianaAug 27, 2026 01:14 AM ISTSAD chief Sukhbir Singh BadalCertain forced that destroyed the peace of Punjab in the 1980s have now become active in the guise of devout Sikhs, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal Wednesday said as he launched a scathing attack on Khadoor Sahib MP Amritpal Singh.“The forces which assassinated former SAD president Sant Harchand Singh Longowal and party leader Bhai Shaminder Singh and who attacked Gurcharan Singh Tohra have become active again. Let us unite to shun those who have taken on new identities in the garb of devout Sikhs. If we do not do this, they will do to you what they have done to me. They will loot your houses and our ‘Gurughar’. They will usher in ‘gunda raj’ and destroy the state,” Badal said.The SAD chief was addressing the second phase of his party’s ‘Punjab Bachao’ campaign in Malaut. It was his first public address after he was attacked in Nanded in Maharashtra on August 13. He sustained injuries to his right hand in a ‘kirpan’ attack by a Nihang Singh inside a gurdwara. The attacker was later arrested.Taking on MP Amritpal Singh, who heads the ‘Akali Dal Waris Punjab De’ outfit, Badal alleged that such persons are “stooges” of the Delhi-based parties that want to finish off SAD, Punjab’s only regional party”.He asked how a person who came from Dubai as a clean-shaven youth and reinvented himself as the ‘Waris’ (heir) of Punjab could be trusted. “This complete ignorance of the Sikh ‘rehat maryada’ was the reason why he used Guru Granth Sahib as a shield during a protest march to a police station,” Badal said, and asked how a person who propounded that he was spreading awareness about drugs had no control over his brother who was a drug addict.The SAD chief said it was also a fact that Amritpal was accused of being part of a conspiracy in connection with the murder of Waris Punjab De activist Gurpreet Singh Harinau. He further claimed that Amritpal’s family were born Congressmen “and had never protested against the attack on the Darbar Sahib” against the anti-Sikh riots of 1984.Badal also took on Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann over the issue of anti-sacrilege law. “He passed the law going against the Sikh ‘maryada’ but no one challenged him except the SAD. This shows all these elements are ganging up against the SAD but have nothing to say against Mann or even the Congress party which attacked Sri Darbar Sahib.”Story continues below this adRecalling the works of the previous Akali government, Badal said his party had beautified the surroundings of Sri Darbar Sahib. “We established the Virasat-e-Khalsa and the Ghallughara memorials as well as the Banda Bahadur memorial besides upgrading the Durgiana Mandir and the Ram Teerath Sthal. Still, an attempt is being made to create a feeling of anger against us even though no member of the Badal family or any SAD leader has been named in any of the sacrilege cases, which have risen to 600 in the last ten years under the Congress and AAP governments,” he claimed.Badal said if his party forms the next government, it will increase the ‘Shagun’ grant for marriage of girls from under-privileged sections to Rs 1 lakh, besides raising the flour given under the ‘aata-daal’ scheme. © The Indian Express Pvt LtdStay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on InstagramAdvertisementLoading Recommendations...AdvertisementAdvertisement