Bhagwant Mann ‘Guru Dokhi’, Declares Akal Takht: How CM’s Own Dare Led to Historic Censure
Akal Takht has declared Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann ‘Guru Dokhi’ and ‘Khalsa Panth Virodhi’ after forensic labs confirmed viral video was authentic — reversing his January claim before the Takht that it was AI-generated.
North Desk Correspondent
Amritsar/Chandigarh, June 15
Five months ago, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann stood before the highest temporal seat of the Sikhs and issued what he thought was a confident challenge. The viral video showing a man resembling him sprinkling alcohol on portraits of Sikh Gurus was fake, he told the Akal Takht on January 15. AI-generated. The Singh Sahiban, he said, were welcome to get it tested at any lab in the country.
On Monday, that challenge returned as a verdict.
Akal Takht declares Bhagwant Mann Guru Dokhi: The five Sikh high priests, meeting at the Akal Takht in Amritsar, unanimously declared Bhagwant Mann “Guru Dokhi” — one who has betrayed the Guru — and “Khalsa Panth Virodhi,” opposed to the Khalsa Panth. Jathedar Giani Kuldeep Singh Gargaj pronounced the edict from the faseel, the sacred podium of the Akal Takht, in one of the most severe religious censures ever directed at a sitting Chief Minister.
The charge was stark: “A position of Chief Minister is respectable. But Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann lied at the Akal Takht.”
The Akal Takht is the highest temporal seat of Sikhs
The Sikh clergy also summoned all Sikh MLAs, regardless of party affiliation, and the Punjab Cabinet before the Akal Takht on June 29 in connection with an anti-sacrilege law
‘Bhagwant Mann ‘Guru Dokhi” — The trap Mann set for himself
Akal Takht declares Bhagwant Mann Guru Dokhi: The sequence of events that led to Monday’s hukamnama is, in many ways, a story of a political gamble that failed catastrophically.
After Mann appeared before the Akal Takht on January 15, the secretariat wrote to him seeking cooperation for forensic examination of the video — a natural follow-up to his own offer. Mann’s office went silent. No response came.
The Akal Takht secretariat then proceeded independently, sending the video to two government-recognised forensic laboratories with extensive court experience. Both returned the same conclusion. “Ultimately, the conclusion from both labs is that this video is authentic,” Gargaj told the gathering of Panthic organisations on Monday. The video was neither doctored nor AI-generated, he said, adding that the laboratories had issued certificates committing to defend their findings in any court if challenged: “They will appear in court to testify, and no one will be able to disprove their reports.”
AAP’s response has evolved — and shrunk. The party first denied the video was real. Then, after the forensic findings, it pivoted: the video may be genuine, said AAP leader Baltej Singh Pannu, but the forensic report does not establish that the man in the video is Bhagwant Mann. It is a technical argument. But inside the Akal Takht, it found no takers.
A double edict — the sacrilege law too
Monday’s declaration — Bhagwant Mann ‘Guru Dokhi’ — was not solely about the video. The Akal Takht also took direct aim at the Punjab government’s Jaagat Jot Sri Guru Granth Sahib Satkar (Amendment) Act, 2026 — the anti-sacrilege law passed unanimously in a special assembly session on April 13 and signed into law on April 17.
The legislation prescribes stringent punishments, including life imprisonment, for sacrilege. But Sikh institutions have raised deep objections to provisions they say constitute state interference in religious affairs. Gargaj had already called it a “black law” in a June 6 address and demanded its revocation.
On Monday, the Akal Takht summoned all Sikh MLAs, irrespective of party affiliation, and the full Punjab Cabinet to appear before it on June 29 — the death anniversary of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. The date is not accidental.
The Punjab government has refused to blink. Mann has maintained there will be no rollback or dilution of the law.
A rare and grave censure — the historical weight
Akal Takht declares Bhagwant Mann Guru Dokhi: Mann is only the third Chief Minister in Punjab’s history to be summoned by the Akal Takht. Parkash Singh Badal was called in 1979 over his role in the Sikh-Nirankari clash that killed 13 people in Amritsar. Surjit Singh Barnala was declared tankhaiya in 1986 and excommunicated for ordering police action inside the Golden Temple — a censure that shadowed the rest of his political life. Barnala sought atonement in 1988.
For Mann, who built his political identity on an image of the common Punjabi man, the “Guru Dokhi” label carries a weight that no press briefing can easily neutralise. Sikh voters in Punjab — where AAP swept to power in 2022 — will now watch how their CM responds to a declaration that the Panth must sever ties with him.
As of Monday evening, Bhagwant Mann had not made a public statement. But his party did.
AAP questions report
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Punjab State Media In-Charge Baltej Pannu on Monday said that after losing the trust of the people and facing repeated electoral defeats, the Badal family and Shiromani Akali Dal have dragged revered Sikh institutions into their political battle in a desperate bid to regain relevance. He asserted that the so-called forensic report being used to target CM Bhagwant Singh Mann has failed to establish even the identity of the person seen in the video, exposing what he described as another failed attempt by Sukhbir Singh Badal and Bikram Singh Majithia to defame the Chief Minister.
Baltej Pannu said the same Badal family under whose rule Punjab witnessed beadbi incidents, Kotkapura and Behbal Kalan tragedies is now trying to claim moral authority, while remaining unable to digest the fact that the Bhagwant Mann Government has enacted Punjab’s toughest law against beadbi and delivered transformative governance through initiatives ranging from increased canal water reach and daytime power for farmers to ₹10 lakh health insurance for families.
Addressing a press conference, AAP Punjab State Media In-charge Baltej Pannu said Sri Akal Takht Sahib is the supreme and most revered institution of Sikhs across the world and cannot be treated as the personal estate of Sukhbir Singh Badal or the Shiromani Akali Dal. “Sri Akal Takht Sahib belongs to the entire Panth across the world, not to Sukhbir Singh Badal or the Shiromani Akali Dal. The Jathedar Sahib was appointed in the middle of the night at the behest of Sukhbir Badal without consulting Sikh sects or organisations, and at a place where there was not even Parkash of Sri Guru Granth Sahib.”
Baltej Pannu asserted, “Under such circumstances, his loyalty towards the Badal family and the statement of Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) President Harjinder Singh Dhami describing himself as a soldier of Sukhbir Badal are proof of the politicisation of these revered Sikh institutions.”
Questioning the forensic report released in connection with the controversial video, Baltej Pannu said, “The report nowhere states who the person visible in the video actually is. Even if we accept the claim that the video was not generated through AI, the Jathedar must explain what the height of the individual seen in the video is. Does the height of CM Bhagwant Singh Mann match the height of the person visible in the footage? Which hotel room is it where photographs of Guru Sahib are displayed, as is being claimed? The report has completely failed to establish who is actually visible in the video.”
Baltej Pannu added, “In the coming days, the Aam Aadmi Party will place the complete truth before the people and expose every aspect of this controversy.”
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