In the face of widespread protests over desecration of Sikh holy books, ruling Shiromani Akali Dal today asked the people of Punjab to unite against what it called "extremist forces" bent on faning religious passions and urged them to uphold the supremacy of Akal Takht and SGPC.
SAD also took a strong exception to statements of the opposition parties, including Congress and AAP at Bargari today and alleged that they were hell bent on "disturbing" the peace and harmony in the state.
In a joint statement here, senior SAD leaders and MPs including Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, Balwinder Singh Bhundur and Ranjit Singh Brahmpura said "extremist forces" were working to "dilute" the authority of both Akal Takth as well as the SGPC.
The leaders urged Sikhs to have faith in both the SGPC and the Akal Takth and work with the Sikh institutions to tackle and resolve the issue of desecration of Guru Granth Sahib.
"They are simultaneously targeting the SAD so that all panthic institutions are destroyed in Punjab and earlier turbulent times return in the state," they said.
The leaders asserted that the desecration of holy books was planned to fan religious passions, which is now being directed against the very religious institutions as well as the party which had "always stood to protect the interests of Sikhs and Sikhism."
"The decade-long spell of terrorism had also started in Punjab with provocative actions like the recent desecrations. Even then, the first institution to be attacked was the SGPC with many of its members being killed by extremist elements," they said in the statement.
"Extremist forces are spreading hatred against SGPC members and the five Sikh head priests and inciting people against them," they said.
In the current scenario, it was the need of the hour to unite and reject all extremist elements who want to disturb the peace of the state, they said.
Coming down heavily on the people trying to get "political mileage" out of the "dastardly act", the leaders alleged some extremist groups were trying to score brownie points by unleashing a malicious propaganda against the state government.
The leaders said that such elements and agencies had divided the people on sectarian lines in the past also and now again they were trying to create a wedge between peace loving people by fanning such incidents.
Urging the people to uphold the sanctity and supremacy of Sikh institutions Akal Takht and SGPC, the leaders said their foundations had remained steadfast even after "planned attacks".
