Even as an attempt on Sukhbir Badal’s life while he was serving religious punishment at the Golden Temple has rattled Punjab, the Shiromani Akali Dal grapples with an existential dilemmal—whether to maintain its modern secular outlook or retreat to its Panthic roots. A report by Aayush Goel
Punjab has been rattled again by the assassination attempt on Sukhbir Singh Badal, the former Punjab Deputy CM and former president of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD). Badal was targeted by a former Sikh militant Narain Singh Chaura, who has long been at odds with the Badal family.
On December 4, Sukhbir was stationed at the at the main entrance gate of Golden Temple (Darshani Deori) as part of his ‘Tankha’ (punishment for religious misconduct), handed down to him just two days before. Folded hands, ashen face and teary-eyed Sukhbir, clad in the blue sewadar uniform and holding a spear, was serving as a guard. Sitting in a wheelchair owing to a fractured leg, he was the center of the media’s attention for being a worthy example of penitence. It was then that Chaura targeted him and fired at him. The swift intervention of onlookers thwarted the attack, and Chaura was overpowered and handed over to the police.
The visuals of Chaura shooting at Badal while he sat at the gate of Golden Temple for his penance as ‘Tankha’ have rekindled fear in many that violence might once again dominate Punjab, this time because of an open confrontation between the radical and moderate streams of Sikhism. The SAD now faces the existential dilemma of whether to endorse modern secular Punjabiyat or go back to its Panthic roots.
The ruling Aam Aadmi (AAP) party is at the receiving end of brickbats as all political parties in Punjab are blaming them for not just the security lapse but the revival of Khalistani terrorist elements in the state.
SAD leader Dr Daljit Singh Cheema accused CM Bhagwant Mann and the AAP government of trying to cover up the conspiracy behind the attack by a Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) operative by registering a first information report (FIR) which termed the attack as “a sudden one from a member of the ‘sangat’ and claimed that “fire was opened in the air”.
“It is now clear that the AAP government is part of the conspiracy to finish off the moderate Sikh leadership. The CM is now working overtime to ensure the deep-rooted conspiracy behind the attack on Sukhbir Singh Badal, which sought to eliminate the latter, does not see the light of day,” Cheema alleged. The SAD has even accused Punjab police of colluding with Chaura. The party asserted that Amritsar Police was trying to weaken the case and conceal the evidence of Chaura openly meeting police officials while doing the recce of the premises before the attack.
AAP however retaliated by saying that it was their security arrangements that saved Sukhbir and there was no disruption in the state. “It was our vigilant police and security arrangements that saved Sukhbir and helped them nab the accused from the spot itself. Such issues impact the entire state and using them for petty politics is not right. AAP is responsible for peace in the state and we are doing a good job and it’s a few political leaders who are trying to defame the state and government for personal gains,” said AAP MP Malwinder Singh Kang while speaking to Tehelka.
Investigations so far
Narain Singh Chaura, born in 1956, is a resident of Dera Baba Nanak area of Punjab. A known separatist in the nineties and early 2000, Chaura has emerged from oblivion and gathered attention worldwide. He became a part of the separatist movement in the 1980s and gained notoriety for masterminding the 2004 Burail jail-break, which enabled several high-profile terrorists, including Jagtar Singh Hawara and Paramjit Singh Bheora, to escape by disabling the prison’s electricity supply.
A former employee of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), he fled to Pakistan following the army action inside the Golden Temple in 1984. After returning to India in the mid-1990s, Chaura was arrested several times for militant activities, including a major arms smuggling case in 2013. Chaura remains a controversial figure linked to ongoing separatist threats in Punjab. The radical groups seek the Panth Rattan Award for Chaura.
While Chaura continues to be in remand by Punjab police, the investigations so far reveal that the unsuccessful assassination attempt was not a lone-wolf attack. The police suspect the involvement of at least two or three suspects in the attack as they investigate the source of the 9 mm pistol used by the former terrorist.
Following the interrogation of Chaura, the police teams are learned to have raided the house of one Dharam Singh at Ekalgadda Khurd village under Verowal police station in Tarn Taran district at least twice, but he could not be traced. Meanwhile, even SGPC has come under scanner as Counsel Jagdeep Singh Randhawa highlighted that Chaura had met SGPC chief Harjinder Singh Dhami minutes before the attack. The Punjab police also claimed before the court that the SGPC was not providing CCTV footage from all the cameras installed in the Golden Temple Complex for it to investigate the movements of the accused from December 2 to 4 when he reportedly did the recce.
SAD at cross roads
The attack on Sukhbir Badar highlights the dilemma he and his party face currently. The party and its once undisputed leader face a tough choice, the idea of Punjabiyat or return to Panthic politics. The party and the leader now need to choose between regaining the lost support of its core Jat Sikh peasant vote bank or retaining its outreach to non-Sikh communities.
Following the attack, the radical factions are now pushing for a return to the SAD’s old, narrow, conservative “panthic” persona. The present crackdown by the Akal Takht is, after all, the result of the SAD’s attempt to lure Dalit and OBC votes controlled by the Sirsa Dera Sacha Sauda head Gurmeet Ram Rahim. Badals had played a crucial role in getting Ram Rahim pardoned from Akal Takht in 2015 for his blasphemous act of impersonating Guru Gobind Singh.
Sukhbir, once the undisputed face of panthic politics has been under fire in his party and SGPC for allegedly undermining Sikh institutions during his heyday. For over a decade, radicals within the Sikh community had been demanding accountability from the Badals. While this punishment served as solace for some, others dismissed it as lenient as it had no political consequences on Sukhbir and the Akali leadership.
The acknowledgment of his anti-Panthic deeds and consequent punishment has risked Sukhbir’s already fragile political fortunes as the Sikh clergy has also directed SAD’s working committee to accept his resignation. The Sikh high priests suggested that the current Akali leadership had lost its legitimacy, calling for a complete overhaul. A committee was formed to oversee this transition, which includes SGPC president Harjinder Singh Dhami and figures less inclined to protect Sukhbir’s interests, such as Satwant Kaur, daughter of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale’s close aide Amrik Singh. The ‘Tankha’ for a sitting Akali Dal chief is unprecedented in Punjab. Earlier, leaders like Master Tara Singh, J.S. Talwandi and Surjit Singh Barnala had faced similar religious censures and struggled to reclaim their political footing. The next assembly election is due in February 2027. Though Sukhbir may have time on his side but he and his party, SAD, face a huge challenge to stay relevant.
Amid the party’s attempt at revival lies a crucial challenge: preventing radical elements from capturing the mainstream Panthic space. The Lok Sabha victories of radicals like Amritpal Singh and Sarabjeet Singh Khalsa had signaled this drift, though with the SAD staying away from the recent assembly by-polls, the core Akali voters shifted decisively towards the ruling AAP. For decades, the Badal family had worked to stabilize peace and expand the space for moderate Sikhs in Punjab. Thus, the radicals had been pushing for punitive measures to erase the Badals’ influence. The Sikh clergy’s actions, including revoking the title of Panth Rattan Faqr-e-Quam (Pearl of the Sect, Pride of the Community) bestowed on the late Parkash Singh Badal and withdrawing facilities from former Akal Takht chief Gurbachan Singh, align with these radical pressures.
