India, April 10 -- Nearly a decade after the torn pages of the Guru Granth Sahib were found at Bargari in 2015, the anger that followed still lingers-quiet at times, explosive at others. Governments have changed, laws have been promised, and commissions have submitted reports, but the political aftershocks of that episode continue to travel through every election cycle. That is why the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-led Punjab Government's decision to hold a special Assembly session on April 13, Baisakhi, to amend sacrilege laws is not just legislative business. It is a political message wrapped in religious symbolism.

Baisakhi, after all, is not merely a festival in Punjab. It marks the birth of the Khalsa in 1699, a foundational moment in Sikh ...