SADD accuses Akal Takht chief of communalising farm protests at the behest of SAD's Badal

Shiromani Akali Dal Delhi (SADD) on Friday lashed out at Akal Takht chief Giani Harpreet Singh and accused him of communalising the farmer protests after the latter justified the hoisting of Nishan Sahib at the Red Fort. 

SADD Secretary-General Harvinder Singh Sarna in a statement warned the Badals (Shiromani Akali Dal leaders) to immediately stop using the seat of the Akal Takht (the highest temporal body of the Sikhs) to issue statements that "sabotage the farmer agitation as a state-versus-religion issue".

"Our Nishan Sahib is the insignia of the Guru Panth. No individual, political party or Jathedar has any right to exploit this supreme symbol for vested interests."

Calling out the SAD leaders as the "co-authors" of the contentious farm laws, Sarna accused the Badals of turning the agitation into a Sikh issue and derailing the objective of the farmers' agitation. 

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The statement from SADD (the splinter group of Akalis) came after Giani Harpreet Singh condemned the violence in Delhi, but also said that hoisting Nishan Sahib flag at the Red Fort was not a crime. 

"Nishan Sahib is hoisted at Galwan Valley. It was part of Republic Day Parade this year. It is not right to criticise Nishan Sahib by calling it the flag of Khalistan," he had said. 

The SADD claimed that the statements were politically motivated by the Shiromani Akali Dal, who ordered the Jathedar to issue a "self-avowed statement" aimed at turning the protests into an issue between the state and religion. 

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Violence on Republic Day in Delhi

The national capital witnessed violence during the farmers' tractor rally on January 26 that was aimed at highlighting their demand for the repeal of the farm laws. Several protesters driving their tractors violated the permitted routes, breached the Red Fort, and hoisted religious flags. Some protesters climbed over the ramparts of the monuments and planted the Nishan Sahib, where the national flag is unfurled by the Prime Minister on Independence Day. 

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