As top Akali leaders performed sewa at the Golden Temple to atone for their past mistakes, party chief Naresh Gujral said he hoped Punjabis would forgive the Shiromani Akali Dal, just as they had pardoned Congress after Operation Bluestar and the Sikh massacre of 1984.

“Punjab has a tradition of forgiving and forgetting. Once an apology is offered and the offender accepts and performs penance through sewa as a humble Sikh, people forgive. Nothing could have been worse than the massacre of Sikhs in 1984 or Operation Bluestar and yet Punjabis, especially Sikhs, re-elected Congress governments not once but twice,” Gujral told The Tribune a day after Akal Takht detained former Akali Dal president Sukhbir Badal. and other party leaders found guilty of violating the Sikh Rehat Maryada (religious code of conduct) and ordered a series of sanctions against them.

Gujral, a former Akali Dal MP, said the current events could mark a turning point in the history of Akali Dal, which was routed in the 2022 Assembly and 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

He said people were unhappy with the Akali rulers because they neither accepted nor atoned, although acceptance and atonement are the fundamental tenets of the Sikh ethos. “Now that Sukhbir Badal and others have repented, I hope Punjab will forgive them. Sikhs have learned the lesson of humility from our revered Gurus and the majesty of Akal Takht remains unquestioned,” Gujral added.

He admitted that rebuilding the party would be a colossal task, with Akal Takht ordering its reorganization from the primary membership and the process to be completed in six months. “All Akali Dal leaders, irrespective of their factions, appeared before Akal Takht with complete humility and accepted their hukma. We will now rebuild the party,” Gujral said.

Mentioning the election of ‘Waris Punjab De’ leader Amritpal Singh to Lok Sabha, Gujral said Amritpal’s victory reflected the concerns of the Punjabi youth.

“Delhi doesn’t understand this. Punjabi youth are angry. In Punjab, there is also a feeling that the Center is punishing farmers to the brink. The paddy supply crisis that we have seen has never happened before,” Gujral said, adding that the Akali Dal, in its restructuring, must reflect the sentiments of Punjab.

When asked if Akali Dal and BJP might reunite after suffering electoral losses following their split, Gujral said the rift was not just a result of numbers games. “After Arun Jaitley, we believe that no one in the BJP understands the psyche of Punjab. The Akali Dal and the BJP had come together for the cause of Hindu-Sikh friendship. Moreover, we are a party of farmers and we would not have been able to ally with the BJP if it did not fulfill the promises made to the farmers during the recall of the farm laws,” Gujral said, adding that at the he current Akali Dal is only focused on rebuilding itself.

On whether a new leadership should emerge after Sukhbir, Gujral said, “It is up to the party cadre to elect their leaders.”