Punjab’s latest anti-sacrilege law has reopened an old wound, but the debate it has triggered is no longer confined to the punishment of those who desecrate the Guru Granth Sahib. Instead, it has evolved into a far more fundamental question: where does the authority of an elected government end and that of a religious institution begin? There is little disagreement over the need to deter deliberate acts of sacrilege. The desecration incidents of 2015, followed by police firing on protesters at Behbal Kalan, transformed the issue into one of Punjab’s deepest political and emotional fault lines.

Successive governments ~ led by the Shiromani Akali Dal, the Congress and now the Aam Aadmi Party ~ have all promised justice and stronger legal safeguards. That consensus explains why attempts to enact a tougher law have persisted for a decade. The present controversy, however, is rooted elsewhere. The Akal Takht has not objected to stringent punishment for sacrilege. Its reservations concern the state’s decision to regulate matters relating to the custody, registration and administration of the Guru Granth Sahib. From its perspective, these are not merely........

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