Patiala: Former deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal and other Akali leaders on Saturday performed sewa (service) at the historic Gurdwara Sri Fatehgarh Sahib for around three hours – performing the duty of sewadar, listening to gurbani kirtan, and washing utensils at Mata Gujri Ji Langar Hall for one hour each.
The historic gurdwara marks the site where two younger sons – Sahibzada Fateh Singh and Sahibzada Zorawar Singh – of Guru Gobind Singh, the 10th Guru of the Sikhs, were entombed alive on Dec 12, 1705, by Wazir Khan, the then governor of Sirhind.
Wearing a placard around his neck, Sukhbir reached Gurdwara Sri Fatehgarh Sahib around 8.30 am. Seated in a wheelchair due to a fracture in one of his legs, the senior leader performed his duty for one hour as a sewadar at the main entrance of the gurdwara, holding a spear in his hand.
Sukhbir then listened to Gurbani Kirtan for an hour and later proceeded to was utensils at Mata Gujri Ji Langar Hall, where his wife and Bathinda MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal also joined him.
Harsimrat had earlier joined Sukhbir on both days of his service at Takht Sri Kesgarh Sahib.
Sukhbir, as per the religious punishment imposed upon him by the Akal Takht, has so far performed two days of sewa each at Sachkhand Sri Harmandar Sahib, Amritsar, and Takht Sri Kesgarh Sahib at Anandpur Sahib in Ropar district.
On Dec 2, the highest temporal authority of the Sikhs, the Akal Takht, imposed the religious penance on Sukhbir for the “mistakes” that were committed during the Shiromani Akali Dal govt’s tenure in Punjab between 2007 and 2017. Saturday was the fifth day of Sukhbir’s penance.