A dramatic incident unfolded at a sacred Sikh shrine in northern India on Wednesday when a prominent politician was shot at during a religious observance.
The shooter, Narain Singh Chaura, allegedly aimed his weapon at Sukhbir Singh Badal, but was thwarted by a quick-thinking volunteer.
Mr Badal, former deputy chief minister of the western Punjab state and head of the Shiromani Akali Dal party, was doing volunteer service at the Golden Temple in Amritsar as part of religious punishment imposed by the Sikh clergy when Mr Chaura attempted to shoot him.
A volunteer pushed Mr Chaura’s hand upwards just as he fired, diverting the bullet and saving Mr Badal, witnesses said.
The assailant, suspected to have been associated with a now-defunct militant group, Khalistan Liberation Army, was later arrested. Police said they were investigating the assailant’s motive and background.
Mr Badal’s party condemned the attack and questioned the security situation in Punjab under the Aam Aadmi Party government.
“Sukhbir Singh Badal was sitting by the Guru Ram Das Dwar as ‘chowkidar’. Bullet was fired in his direction,” party member Daljit Singh Cheema said.
”I thank Guru Nanak that he saved his ‘sevak’. This is a huge incident, what era is Punjab being pushed into?”
He called for a judicial inquiry. “I would like to ask the chief minister of Punjab, where do you want to take Punjab?” Mr Cheema said.
“The attacker was caught on the spot. I also thank the security personnel here. Had they not acted promptly. There should be a high-level judicial enquiry into the incident.”
The Golden Temple, the most revered shrine of the Sikh community, has often been at the heart of Punjab’s turbulent political history.
Mr Badal, 62 and several fellow party members who previously served as cabinet members in Punjab have been asked to scrub bathrooms, wash dishes and serve food to visitors as a part of their punishment for alleged religious sacrilege. They began their punishment on Tuesday.
They have been punished by the Akal Takht, the highest temporal body of the Sikh community, for allegedly favouring convicted self-styled ‘godman’ Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in the 2007 sacrilege of the holy Sikh scripture Guru Granth Sahib.
Mr Badal is required to sit at the gate of the Golden Temple for two days wearing the guard’s dress and a plaque around his neck with a note confessing his sins.
Former Deputy Chief Minister of Punjab Sukhbir Badal and former Rajya Sabha member, Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, performed the duty of Sikh guard outside Darbar Sahib pic.twitter.com/MquuHCCWdh
— Shaminder Singh Mahi (@Shamindermahi16) December 3, 2024
He was initially asked to stand outside the gate but eventually allowed to serve his punishment in a wheelchair due to a fractured leg.
Mr Badal was declared tankhaiya or guilty of religious misconduct by the clergy on 30 August for making decisions that allegedly hurt the Sikh community when his party ruled Punjab between 2007 and 2017.
The politician admitted to mistakes, including securing a pardon for Ram Rahim in a 2007 blasphemy case and failing to punish those involved in the alleged sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib in 2015.
The clergy also revoked the Fakhr-e-Qaum, meaning Pride of the Sikh Community, title conferred on Mr Badal's father, Parkash Singh Badal, the former chief minister of Punjab.
The Sikh said the Akali leadership had lost its moral foundation and asked the party to elect new office bearers within six months. Mr Badal resigned as the party leader in November but the party has refused to accept his resignation.
