T
he attack took place at approximately 11 am on Thursday when the president of Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), Sukhbir Singh Badal, entered Mata Sahib Gurdwara, located in the Hazur Sahib area of Nanded city, accompanied by his wife and fellow party MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal.
Shortly after entering, he was seen walking out of the gurdwara wearing saffron cloth tightly tied around his right hand—the aftermath of a kirpan attack that was carried out in the premises of the gurudwara, like that of Badal’s, claimed police. According to the police, the attacker was the person who was dressed in a Nihang uniform and performing some duties in the temple.
Obviously, from the very beginning, the first evidence was his being stabbed in the stomach region. It is due to the timely intervention of the security forces that the total number of stitches in Badal’s case does not exceed two to three, says a local officer from Nanded.
The criminal appears to be a 60- to 65-year-old Nihang [warrior Sikhs], named Jaspal Singh. He works as a sewadar [attendant] in the gurdwara, and it is reported that he has been seized by Badal’s security forces before handing him over to the police.
The gurdwara itself adds an intriguing dimension to the tale, says Jaimal Singh Dhillon, a functionary at Takht Nanded Sahib (the gurdwara where this incident happened). “It’s under control of a Nihang Samparday. This guy is probably from Punjab too,” he said, referring to the Nihang Samparday which controls the place and the attacker.
According to Dhillon, the shrine is run by a splinter group of the Shiromani Panth Akali Budha Dal (96 Crori) – a significant Nihang organisation headed by Baba Maan Singh – whose local jathedar is Baba Teja Singh. While the historical link between the Nihangs – who are a martial order dedicated to militant defence of their religion – and the main stream Akalis has been one riddled with frictions, its exact relevance will be established during the investigation.
Spokesperson of SAD, Arshdeep Singh Kler, told the media after the attack took place: “The president of the party, Badal, sustained some injuries on his arm… He is currently receiving medical care in a hospital. But he is completely fine and is Chardi Kala.” Even though this statement might have been said to quell unrest in the ranks of the party, others accused Badal of having made some statements in the past where he had hinted that he was feeling threatened.
“Since this attack took place in Maharashtra, the investigation would be carried out by the state police, and they would find out under whose conspiracy the attack on Badal took place,” Kler added. “Now it becomes our duty to find out whether the panthic leaders are continuously being targeted by some anti-panth forces.”
This is indeed a very significant observation made by Badal since it comes right after yet another attack on the leader within a place of worship. Earlier in December 2024, Narain Singh Chaura, a terrorist who used to be involved in carrying out violent attacks in the area, shot at Badal from point blank range outside the Golden Temple of Amritsar. But, as fate would have it, the bullet didn’t hit its intended target, but the temple’s door wall which was situated just behind him. Again in the current situation too, Badal came out alive from the incident; he was serving as sewadar there to atone for the sins committed by the SAD government in Punjab from 2007-2017.
Kler himself referred to this earlier incident of shooting at Badal when he observed that it was the mercy of the Almighty that kept him safe in both instances.
The political significance of the event has already brought Maharashtra’s chief officials into the picture. Maharashtra's Chief Minister, Devendra Fadnavis, has sought information from the Superintendent of Police at Nanded and asked for an inquiry into the matter, indicating that it will not be a usual law and order problem, which will be left within the jurisdiction of the particular police station.
It is important because Badal himself is a Z + category of security personnel, the highest level of security that can be provided by the government of India, and if the attacker could approach Badal close enough to take out his kirpan, there is certainly something wrong in the system of providing such security.
The statements of Jaspal Singh are under scrutiny by the police, and an attempt is being made to see whether the whole matter was a consequence of some sort of spontaneity or there was much more involved – two completely distinct possibilities which will be the difference between the kind of charges that could be brought up and the political discourse that is to follow. The spontaneity of an insane man is one thing, and the conspiracy, as claimed by SAD, is quite another.
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