Punjab: Posters urging boycott of CM Mann appear across state

Hoardings urging a social boycott of Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann have appeared at several locations across the state, days after the Akal Takht issued an edict asking the Sikh community not to associate with him over a controversial video.

The posters, put up in districts including Hoshiarpur, Ludhiana, Bathinda and Amritsar, refer to the 15 June directive issued from the Akal Takht, which declared Mann a 'Guru dokhi' (anti-Guru) and 'Khalsa Panth virodhi' (anti-Khalsa Panth).

In Hoshiarpur, the hoardings have been installed near Gurdwara Harian Velan in Bajrawar village on the Hoshiarpur-Chandigarh road, Chabbewal bus stop, Gurdwara Shaheedan Ladhewali in Mahilpur, Tuto Majara village, the old bus stand in Mahilpur and Gurdwara Garna Sahib in Dasuya.

The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) said in a post on X that the boards had been installed to make the sangat aware of the Akal Takht's order concerning the chief minister.

The controversy stems from a purported video that prompted the Akal Takht to summon Mann in January over allegations that he had made remarks about the Guru ki golak (gurdwara donation box) and engaged in "objectionable activities" involving images of the Sikh Gurus and slain Khalistani militant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale.

After hearing the matter, Akal Takht Jathedar Kuldip Singh Gargajj issued an edict on 15 June declaring Mann 'Guru dokhi' and directing members of the Sikh community not to associate with him.

Mann, however, has consistently denied that he appears in the video, maintaining that it is fabricated. Addressing reporters in Mohali on Thursday, the chief minister claimed the individual seen in the clip was wearing a hyper-realistic mask resembling his face.

He reiterated that the purported video was fake and pointed to forensic reports from two laboratories which, he claimed, concluded that the man featured in the footage was someone else. Mann also said the individual in the video did not have the surgical scar on his throat, which he described as another indication that the footage did not show him.

When he appeared before the Akal Takht on 15 January, Mann had similarly maintained that the video was fake or generated using artificial intelligence and said it could be subjected to forensic examination at any laboratory in the country.

Questioning the SGPC over the installation of the boycott hoardings, Mann said he fully respected the authority of the Akal Takht but asked why similar campaigns had not been launched against former Shiromani Akali Dal leader Sukhbir Singh Badal after he was declared tankhaiya (guilty of religious misconduct).

"Why were such boards not put up against Sukhbir Badal when he was declared tankhaiya? Why were people not asked to boycott those held responsible for sacrilege incidents and police firing?" Mann asked.

He also targeted the SGPC leadership, saying: "When the SGPC president himself says he is a soldier of Sukhbir Badal rather than Guru Gobind Singh Ji, it becomes clear where his loyalties lie."

In a Facebook post on Friday, Mann accused his political opponents of attempting to malign him. 'No tactic of the opponents is succeeding in stopping the path of truth and service. Those who present themselves as soldiers of a political party rather than of the 'Panth' have now had their true face exposed before the people,' he wrote. 'We were true servants of the Guru's house yesterday, we are today and we will always remain so in the future.'

Opposition parties, meanwhile, dismissed Mann's explanation about the video and the alleged use of a face mask as a "weak excuse" aimed at misleading the public.

With PTI inputs