Patiala

Minister Charanjit Singh Channi blamed the Badal family for the death of former SGPC president Gurcharan Singh Tohra during a state-level function to pay tributes to him on his 14th death anniversary at Tohra village, near here, on Sunday.

Accusing Parkash Singh Badal of demoralising Tohra, Channi said, “Badal humiliated and insulted Tohra by forcefully removing him from the post of SGPC president. Tohra couldn’t stand these allegations, which led to his death.”

Channi, Technical and IT Minister, alleged, “Parkash Singh Badal was responsible for the death of Gurcharan Singh Tohra. Badal had passed baseless comments and called Tohra a ‘golak chor’. These allegations were later proved wrong.”

Channi said the sacrifices made by Tohra for the Panth and the state could never be forgotten. Late Akali stalwart Gurcharan Singh Tohra, who died at the age of 79 of a heart attack on April 1, 2004, had remained the SGPC head of for a record 27 years. He was one of the most influential and controversial Sikh leaders of the 20th century.

None of the Akali leaders came to pay tribute to their party’s old loyalist Tohra.

Channi said that he would personally take up the issue of Tohra’s death with Chief Minister Amarinder Singh.