In a statement, Sawhney, who is also a former member of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, said going by the past experience, some forces had the tendency to become active whenever Akalis come to power in the state to malign the Panthic leadership. Non-issues are inflated into burning issues and efforts are stepped up to create internal dissensions among the Akali leaders.

In this context, he said the controversy relating to the so-called visit of SGPC chief G.S. Tohra to the Nirankari Bhavan during the last Lok Sabha election was also part of such a conspiracy. The indirect reference that the photograph was prepared by some persons close to Chief Minister P.S. Badal was a clever move to create rift between him and Tohra.

The aim was to sabotage the Akali government from within after having failed to destabilise it from outside. He said that unity between Badal and Tohra was essential in view of the forthcoming celebrations of the 300th anniversary of the birth of the Khalsa in 1999. He felt the controversy in certain circles regarding the design of the Khalsa Heritage Memorial should also be checked. The bureaucracy should ensure there is broad based approval of the design not only at the government level but also at the level of representative Panthic organisations and eminent personalities so that the spirit of the Sikh heritage should be reflected in the design, he added.