Why Sikhs will accept AAP's apology

In Sikh philosophy, forgiveness and reconciliation are equivalent.

In gurbani - the faith's sacred writings - God has also been referred to as "bakhshanhaar" or forgiver.

The Gurus and a host of Hindu and Muslim spiritual figures, in many of their hymns compiled in Guru Granth Sahib, ask for forgiveness for intentional or unintentional wrongdoings, religious or mundane.

In everyday Sikh prayers called "ardaas," worshippers again seek divine pardon for their advertent or inadvertent misdeeds.

A Sikh code of conduct, which applies to the Sikhs and was adopted in the past century, also prioritises forgiveness over punishment or chastisement.

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If a member of the community is found guilty of breaching Sikh discipline, s/he can be ordered to perform congregational service as part of the correctional course delineated in the charter.

"The congregation should not take an 'obdurate' stand in granting pardon," it states, rejecting any notion of rigidity coming in the way of religious amnesty.

"Nor should the defaulter argue about the chastisement. The punishment that is imposed should be some kind of service, especially some service that can be performed with hands," says the code.

Why is it then that the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and Punjab's Congress under Capt. Amarinder Singh's watch are not ready to accept the AAP's apology, as rendered at the holiest Sikh sanctum by Arvind Kejriwal's trusted lieutenant HS Phoolka, over the party's comparison of its youth manifesto with Guru Granth Sahib?

Kejriwal's AAP also apologised for publishing the image of its party symbol on the cover of the booklet featuring the Darbar Sahib (the Golden Temple).

At most, the act displayed an acute deficit of political sophistication and cultural intellect in the rank-and-file of the Aam Aadmi Party in Punjab. It's no secret that the AAP is faced with shortage of suave leaders in the state, barring few.

Still, it's popularity has grown there largely as an alternative to the SAD and Congress.

The AAP went rapidly into damage control as the furore over the manifesto blasphemy erupted.

Phoolka performed correctional service, saying Kejriwal too would be volunteering similarly soon.

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The Delhi chief minister is no Sikh and is not required to approach top Sikh clerics, appointed by the Badal-controlled Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), to say sorry.

More so, when a large section of the community accuse the Badals of having reduced the stature of the Akal Takht, the highest seat of Sikh temporal authority, to a tribunal for settling personal scores with opponents.

The AAP's apology, coupled with community service, therefore, completes the pardon.

The more the SAD insists on something beyond it, the more Akalis will become vulnerable to questions about their own record in handling desecration of Guru Granth Sahib last year and of the holy Quran last month.

They already have a lot to answer about what is largely perceived as misuse of Sikh religious institutions under their control.

For an ordinary Sikh, well-versed with his or her faith's philosophy, the AAP has atoned for its disrespect of Guru Granth Sahib and the Darbar Sahib.