Attack on Sukhbir Badal: Nihangs, Shiromani Akali Dal's politics & its decade of reckoning with the Sikh Panth
The attack on Sukhbir Badal in Nanded was the second in two years, reviving questions about the SAD's identity and legacy.
On Thursday, a Nihang sevadar named Jaspal Singh allegedly attacked Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal with a kirpan at a gurdwara in Nanded, Maharashtra. This was the second assassination attempt on Badal in under two years, reigniting tensions between the Badal family and certain sections of the Sikh community. Singh, a 64-year-old lawyer who had served at Gurdwara Mata Sahib Devan Ji Mugat for two years, struck Badal around 1:50 PM after the SAD chief had completed his darshan.
Badal suffered a stab wound to his right forearm, requiring surgery at Nanded's Yashosai Hospital. The attack has drawn condemnation from across the political spectrum and from the Akal Takht and the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee. The Nihangs are a Sikh warrior order known for their blue robes, traditional weapons, and martial discipline.
The SGPC, which describes the word "Nihang" as "supreme in water," has also condemned the attack. The attack has reopened a decade-old rift between the Badal family and sections of the Sikh Panth, stemming from unresolved issues over the 2015 sacrilege cases and the SAD-BJP government's handling of a Dera Sacha Sauda controversy in 2007.
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