Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Bikram Singh Majithia on Friday said Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann's 'outrageous' and 'shameless' act of humiliating and ridiculing a Gursikh's beard in the assembly was a systematic attack on the unique identity of the Khalsa Panth.
He said this was done as a part of a deep-rooted conspiracy to defame and disgrace the unique religious identity of the Sikh qaum (community)."Its real motive is to deprive the Sikhs of pride in their unique identity," he told media persons.
Majithia told assembly Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan that it was shocking that he himself is an Amritdhari Sikh and he "felt no hurt to his religious sentiments and kept smiling in his chair while watching Bhagwant Mann gleefully tearing Sikh religious heritage to pieces."
"The Speaker neither intervened nor advised the Chief Minister to withdraw his remarks nor asked him to tender an apology. On the contrary, Sandhwan made no secret of his joy over the insult being heaped on the sacred symbol of his religion at the highest platform of democracy and in full global view," Majithia said.
The Akali leader said the Speaker's willing and joyful participation in the CM's outrage against sacred Sikh symbols brought back memories of his grandfather Giani Zail Singh remaining a mute witness to the massacre of thousands of innocent Sikhs as well as to the army assault on Harmandar Sahib in 1984.
"Shockingly, the Speaker did not expunge the CM's shameful remarks from the Vidhan Sabha records. Instead, he allowed these remarks to become a part of recorded history," he added.