What happened
In April 2026, Punjab's Bhagwant Mann government passed the Jaagat Jot Sri Guru Granth Sahib Satkar Act unanimously, introducing life imprisonment for sacrilege and requiring details of holy scripture copies to be uploaded to a government-monitored website. Akal Takht — the seat of Sikh temporal authority — rejected the Act in May, calling its provisions an intrusion into Panthic affairs. The acting Jathedar went further: CM Mann had 'not even read the anti-sacrilege Act' he signed into law. Mann refused to withdraw it 'at any cost.' When the 15-day ultimatum expired with no response from the government, the Jathedar announced a gathering of the five Sikh high priests — the Singh Sahibans — to take a firm decision on what to do about a government that passed a law to defend Sikhism and declined to ask any Sikhs about it first.