The Aam Aadmi Party's MLA Manwinder Singh Giaspura has been sharply criticised by the Shiromani Akali Dal for his request to grant the title of 'Fakhar-e-Kaum' (Pride of the Community) to Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann.

The spokesperson from SAD, Arshdeep Singh Kaler, cast doubt on the request, pointing to a letter sent by the Punjab Home Department in February which had rejected parole for Jagtar Singh Hawara, a convict involved in the 1995 assassination of the former Chief Minister Beant Singh. Hawara's application for parole was rejected on the grounds that he had 25 criminal cases still pending and because local law enforcement had opposed it, even though his elderly mother was in poor health and despite appeals from Akal Takht Jatheder Kuldip Singh Gargaj. Kaler argued that the fact that Hawara, who has already served his sentence, is being given only a 10-day parole is being presented as an act of kindness in order to justify the demand for a title for Mann, a title which has important religious and community significance for the Akalis.

The controversy over the title has not ended since the Akal Takht has taken back the 'Panth Rattan Fakhar-e-Kaum' award which was originally given to Parkash Singh Badal, the late five-time Chief Minister of Punjab. Hawara, who is currently serving a life sentence in Delhi's Tihar Jail, was named Jathedar of the Akal Takht by a Sarbat Khalsa meeting in 2015.