Sacrilege Row: Mann Says He Is Being Targeted by Akal Takht

News Report By Y-Trendz

Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann defies the Sikh high seat's edict, calls it a politically motivated conspiracy; controversy deepens with arrests over a forged forensic report

Chandigarh/Amritsar, June 26, 2026

Punjab is in the grip of one of its most serious political and religious storms in recent memory. Two days after the Akal Takht, the highest temporal authority in Sikhism, issued a scathing edict against Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader lashed out at traditional parties for misusing religion to defame him, saying he was being targeted for governing Punjab effectively.

In his first response to the Akal Takht's June 15 directive, where the five members of the Sikh clergy — the Singh Sahiban — called him a "Guru dokhi" (the Guru's adversary) and a "Khalsa Panth virodhi" (one who is anti-Khalsa Panth), Mann took a defiant stand and said that a conspiracy was being hatched in the garb of religion to defame him for taking "pro-Punjab" decisions.

How the Controversy Began

The dispute stems from a video that surfaced a few months ago, in which a person resembling Bhagwant Mann was allegedly seen disrespecting the Sikh Gurus. Following the video's circulation, the Akal Takht summoned the Chief Minister, who appeared before the Jathedars on January 15 this year, where they questioned him about it.

Mann denied the charges even at that point. He maintained that the video was doctored and that the individual seen in it was not him. However, the matter did not end there. The controversy became much more serious after the intervention of the Akal Takht. On June 15, it issued a hukamnama declaring Mann "guru dokhi" and "Khalsa Panth virodhi." The decision followed statements by Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Kuldeep Singh Gargaj that forensic examinations had found the video to be authentic.

Mann's Defiant Response

Addressing a public rally in Hoshiarpur district shortly after the edict, Mann said: "They could not digest either the enactment of the historic Jaagat Jot Sri Guru Granth Sahib Satkar Amendment Act 2026, or the fact that a son of a common man was governing Punjab effectively. The people of Punjab have lost faith in these parties because of their anti-people and anti-Punjab policies."

Mann also hit out at the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), led by Sukhbir Singh Badal, saying: "Those who admitted their mistakes before Sri Akal Takht Sahib and later retracted them have no moral right to lecture others. The Akalis never wanted a stringent law against sacrilege; their political interests always came first."

In a video message issued on June 19, Mann said: "It is not me in the viral video, but an actor who looks like me. 1,191 frames were examined during the forensic analysis; not a single frame matches me. A well-planned conspiracy was hatched to defame me."

AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal also backed the Chief Minister, stating that Mann was doing an excellent job and was being targeted because of it.

The Sacrilege Law and Its Political Undercurrents

In April, the Punjab Assembly passed the Jaagat Jot Sri Guru Granth Sahib Satkar Act, 2026, which provides for life imprisonment in cases involving sacrilege of the Guru Granth Sahib. The law also expands the definition of sacrilege to include actions through speech, signs, or electronic communication that hurt Sikh religious sentiments.

While many Sikh organisations welcomed the legislation, the Akal Takht criticised the government for not consulting Sikh institutions adequately before passing it. The law is currently facing a challenge in the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

Political observers note that the timing of the law is not coincidental. The sacrilege law is couched nominally in religious terms, but serves another purpose — it has the potential to transcend political action beyond the usual categories of farmers, women, and urban and rural voters, and collect them into one bundle.

The Forged Forensic Report Scandal

The controversy took a dramatic new turn this week when Gurugram Police made a pair of arrests. On June 23, 2026, Gurugram police arrested two men — Ankit and Arun — for allegedly conspiring to prepare forged forensic and cyber analysis reports in connection with the controversial video involving Mann, which the Akal Takht had termed "anti-Guru."

Gurugram Police are now investigating allegations that two high-ranking Punjab Police officers paid Rs 10 lakh to secure a forensic report that purportedly labelled the footage as fake and manipulated. The FIR also names two Punjab government officials, including a DIG-rank officer and an SP-rank officer.

Gurugram Police found that a forensic expert named Jaspreet was handed Rs 10 lakh in cash by security personnel attached to the DIG-rank officer while leaving a hotel. The arrests have dealt a serious blow to the AAP government's credibility, giving the opposition fresh ammunition.

Opposition Closes In

Following the Akal Takht's proclamation against Mann, the clamour for his resignation gained momentum among the opposition. The BJP, Congress, and SAD have all been calling for Mann's ouster.

BJP Punjab president Keval Singh Dhillon said that Sikh Union ministers would also boycott CM Mann. "The BJP's Sikh Union ministers will also not hold meetings with CM Mann until he accepts the Akal Takht's directives and apologises for his acts," he said.

Addressing a press conference in Chandigarh, Dhillon demanded Mann's resignation, saying that Punjab was passing through "one of the most serious moral and constitutional crises in its history."

What Lies Ahead

With the Punjab assembly election less than a year away, the controversy could severely impact Mann's credibility and AAP's political future in the state. The BJP, Congress, and Akali Dal are expected to keep the issue alive in the months ahead in the hope of damaging Mann's credibility before voters, making this one of the most politically sensitive challenges facing the Chief Minister since AAP's strong performance in recent local body elections.

For now, Mann shows no signs of backing down. The question that haunts Punjab's political landscape is whether a confrontation between a sitting Chief Minister and the Akal Takht — unprecedented in its intensity — will energise his supporters or erode them when they head to the polls.

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Compiled from reports by The Wire, The Week, India TV News, Republic World, and Organiser.