In a space of 24 hours, Punjab was shaken by two attempted and alleged cases of sacrilege, followed by lynchings, on 18 and 19 December in Amritsar and Kapurthala districts respectively.
In the case in Amritsar, there is CCTV footage showing a man jumping the railing of sanctum sanctorum at the Golden Temple and grabbing the Siri Sahib, the sacred sword and was then a split second later, tackled by the Sevadars and was seen being dragged out.
And with these cases, sacrilege has returned to the center stage in Punjab politics, with condemnations pouring from politicians across the spectrum. From the Congress and BJP, to the SAD and AAP, all described the “heinous act to attempt sacrilege” and that it can be part of a larger conspiracy. The Punjab government has also constituted a special investigation team to investigate these two cases.