CHANDIGARH: The political row surrounding a controversial video allegedly linked to Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann intensified on Thursday, with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) approaching the Punjab Director General of Police and seeking a comprehensive probe into what it termed a conspiracy.
The party claimed that two independent, government-recognised laboratories had found the videos circulated by the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) to be "fake".
Meanwhile, the SAD announced a "Dharam Yudh Morcha" from the Akal Takht, the highest temporal seat of the Sikhs, from July 19 to seek Mann's removal as chief minister, alleging that he had committed "heinous sacrilege and the most unforgivable outrage against the Akal Takht".
SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal also challenged Mann to undergo a lie detector test if he was not "guilty".
Citing forensic investigations conducted by two independent Government of India-recognised laboratories, Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema said the propaganda campaign had been demolished by scientific evidence. He said forensic experts examined 1,191 frames from the video.
"Every aspect, including facial features, height, body structure, posture, movement patterns, side profile and back profile, was thoroughly analysed. The reports clearly conclude that the person shown in the video does not match CM Mann. The entire episode was part of a larger political conspiracy aimed at defaming a popular Chief Minister who has consistently worked for the people of Punjab," he said.
Cheema added: "The truth has now come before the people of Punjab. Those who attempted to mislead the public and hurt religious sentiments by using a fabricated video have been completely exposed."
Cheema claimed that the forensic reports estimated the height of the individual in the video at around 5 feet 10 inches, while Mann's height is 5 feet 8 inches. Significant differences were also found in body structure, shoulder alignment, facial features and overall posture. "Both laboratories independently arrived at the same conclusion and found no match between the person in the video and the Chief Minister," he added.
Cheema further referred to the 2015 beadbi incidents and the police firing at Behbal Kalan and Kotkapura during the Akali Dal-BJP government. "The pattern is the same. Whenever Akali Dal and BJP were in power, beadbi incidents took place and justice was denied. The people of Punjab have not forgotten these painful chapters," he alleged.
AAP Punjab Media In-Charge Baltej Pannu said a party delegation had met the Punjab DGP and formally sought a comprehensive investigation into the alleged conspiracy. "We sought a thorough probe into the individuals and organisations behind this fabricated video," he said.
He added that the party had sought identification of every individual, organisation and network involved in creating, circulating and amplifying the alleged fake content with the objective of provoking religious sentiments and defaming Mann. "Those behind this conspiracy must be identified, exposed and brought to justice," said Pannu.
On the other hand, SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal declared that the 'Dharamyudh Morcha' would be launched under the 'Chhattar Chhaya' (overall spiritual patronage) of Akal Takht Sahib.
"What Bhagwant Mann has done against the great Guru Sahiban and against established Sikh heroes is beyond the capacity of anyone to tolerate. He has tested the patience of devout Sikh community for far too long. This now is the limit," he said.
The SAD president appealed to religious organisations, religious leaders, Sikh scholars, intellectuals, socio-religious groups and political parties, including Sikh leaders from AAP, Congress and the BJP, to join the movement against what he termed a "Guru Dokhi and Panth Virodhi" Mann. For this purpose, he constituted a five-member coordination committee headed by senior Akali leader Balwinder Singh Bhunder.
Badal also announced that SAD legislators would not attend the Vidhan Sabha as long as Mann remained chief minister.
"Akal Takht Sahib had asked Mann to nominate two Forensic Labs of his own choice so that the video's authenticity could be verified. For nearly six months, he did not do that. He did not even respond to two separate reminders in this regard by Jathedar. At his total indifference and refusal, the video was referred by Jathedar to two leading forensic labs in the country. The labs found the video to be totally authentic and not AI generated, as had been claimed by Mann," he said.
Badal alleged: "Now suddenly, he has gone back on that public admission and now claims that the person in the video is not him. When found totally exposed, he has manipulated two fake lab reports within two days. This is humanly impossible task in such a brief period. Any forensic lab examination takes a minimum four weeks for verification."
"I want to ask him, if he was not guilty-- why did nott he get the video examined from the Central Forensic Science Laboratory, which is situated in Chandigarh only," questioned Badal, adding: "I just learnt that they have approached Punjab DGP into this matter, so I challenge them to approach CBI if Mann is not guilty of this heinous crime."
Badal also challenged Mann to undergo a lie detector test.
Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring said: "AAP is trying to defend the indefensible and telling one lie after the other".
"Even when you knew you were going to lie, you should have lied properly and waited for some time", he said, questioning the credibility of the "clean chit" reports allegedly obtained within 24 hours.
Warring alleged that AAP's defence was weak and contradictory. He pointed out that when Mann appeared before the Akal Takht a few months ago, he had dismissed the videos as artificially generated.
"But when it was established that the videos were genuine and not artificially generated, the AAP's defence shifted to the person in the video that he was not Mann," he said, adding that it was Mann himself who had suggested to the Akal Takht Jathedar that the videos be subjected to forensic examination.
Warring also questioned why AAP had not acted for months when the videos were allegedly circulating in the public domain.
"Why only now and so quick and so fast?" he asked, adding that AAP's latest defence had raised more questions than it answered and reinforced public perception that the party was a "party of serial liars".