Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal has spoken exclusively to NDTV after being discharged from hospital following an attack in Maharashtra. Badal said he is not scared and that this was not the first assassination attempt against him, adding that his father, Parkash Singh Badal, never bowed down to “anti-India forces” and neither will he. An FIR has been registered in the case under charges including attempt to murder, assault or criminal force against a public servant and the Arms Act. NDTV also examines the wider debate over religious-site security, Nihang vigilantism and the political and social tensions in Punjab ahead of the 2027 Assembly elections.