Shiromani Akali Dal president Sardar Sukhbir Singh Badal on Monday termed the appointment of a non-Sikh as administrator of the sacred Takht Sachkhand Sri Hazur Abchalnagar Sahib at Nanded (Maharashtra) as “part of a dangerous ideological assault on the separate Sikh identity”.

This is a continuation of the persistent attacks on and interference in the internal religious affairs of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), Badal said in separate letters to the Prime MInister Narendra Modi and the Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

He called for immediate reversal of the decision and for appointment of “a Pooran Gur Sikh” (a fully practicing Sikh) from among the bureaucrats as administrator of the Takhat associated with the founder of the Khalsa Panth, Guru Gobind Singh. He also urged the Centre and the Maharashtra government to show greater sensitivity to Sikh sentiments.

The SAD chief said the decision “rubs salt into the already deep and festering wounds of the Khalsa Panth. “Could they not find a single Sikh in the country to replace S Parvinder Singh Pasricha even if at all he had to be replaced? Does the government wants to show that the Sikhs themselves cannot manage their own religious affairs and that the governments will always interfere in our sacred religious matters with sheer arrogance and insensitivity?” said Badal.

The Akali chief also said with this step the dangerous cat behind the attack on SGPC image and autonomy is finally out. “A full-scale assault on Sikh philosophy and practices is visible in the attack on Sikh institutions especially against the SGPC,” he added.

Badal said, “This brazen outrage has very dangerous symbolism as it bypasses the whole Sikh community in the community’s own religious affairs. “Appointing a non-Sikh as administrator of the Takhat Sri Huzoor Sahib is bound to be seen as daylight and forcible capture of our sacred Gurdhams,” said the Akali chief.

He alleged that the government was trying to achieve through deceit what it could not through a full-scale Army operation, rolling guns and tanks into Sachkhand Sri Harmandar Sahib.