Jagran Correspondent, Amritsar: The five High Priests (Singh Sahibans) of Sri Akal Takht Sahib have declared Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann anti-Guru and have asked the ‘Panth’, or the Sikh community, to have nothing to do with him. Sri Akal Takht Sahib is the highest temporal seat of the Sikhs.

Sri Akal Takht Sahib has issued a strict edict summoning all Sikh MLAs of the Punjab Legislative Assembly and the entire state Cabinet to appear before the supreme temporal seat on June 29. The directive comes after the Punjab government failed to amend the law enacted against the sacrilege of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji.

Along with this, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has been declared guilty of the Panth (Panth ka Doshi), and Sikhs have been barred from maintaining any kind of relationship with him. Mann being declared guilty of the Panth and the restriction on maintaining relations with him has also created a dilemma for the Cabinet.

What Sri Akal Takht said?

Addressing the media after the high-level meeting, Acting Jathedar Giani Kuldeep Singh Gadgaj stated that the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) had raised serious objections to certain clauses of the Jagat Jyoti Sri Guru Granth Sahib Satkar Act, 2026.

Sri Akal Takht had asked the Punjab government to remove these objections, but Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann flatly refused to do so.

The Jathedar said that to uphold the supremacy of Sri Akal Takht, every Sikh can lay down their life (get their head severed), but cannot allow its dignity to be violated due to any kind of stubborn attitude. For this reason, the Punjab Cabinet and the Sikh MLAs who agreed to this bill have been summoned to appear before Sri Akal Takht Sahib on June 29.

ALSO READ: BJP-Akali Dal Alliance Buzz Grows: Will They Reunite For 2027 Punjab Assembly Polls?

Controversial video found genuine by forensic labs

Meanwhile, the Akal Takht also addressed an ongoing controversy involving an objectionable video of the Chief Minister. In a previous appearance before the temporal authority, CM Mann had defended himself by claiming the footage was a “deepfake” generated by Artificial Intelligence (AI). The Takht had also questioned the AAP leader about a video in which a person resembling him was seen sprinkling alcohol on images of Sikh gurus. The same allegation and video were referenced during proceedings.

The chief minister had denied the accusation and maintained that the video was AI-generated. On Monday, it emerged that forensic tests had been conducted and the video was found to be genuine. The AAP, however, countered that the tests had not confirmed whether the person in the video was indeed Mann.

“We questioned the chief minister regarding the video and he claimed it was AI-generated. We asked him to provide proof of this but received no response for six months. We then had the video examined by two laboratories recognised by the Government of India, which revealed that the video is neither fake nor AI-generated. Today, the ‘Panth’ took action and reached a decision on this matter,” Gargaj said.

ALSO READ: Patiala Horror: 8-Year-Old’s Severed Head Found With Legs Tied In Punjab Canal

However, the Jathedar stated that the video was sent to two premier forensic laboratories in India for verification, both of which confirmed the footage to be authentic. On this basis, he declared him guilty of the Panth and directed Sikhs not to maintain any relationship with the Chief Minister.