Why has Punjab introduced a new law on sacrilege?

The story so far:

On April 13, the Punjab Assembly unanimously passed the ‘Jaagat Jot Sri Guru Granth Sahib Satkar (Amendment) Bill, 2026’, which seeks harsher punishment, including life imprisonment, for disrespecting the Guru Granth Sahib. Shiromani proposes amendments to the 2008 law passed under the Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party government. A series of alleged desecration incidents in recent years have prompted successive governments to legislate. In 2016, the SAD-BJP government passed two amendment bills – the Indian Penal Code (Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2016 and the Code of Criminal Procedure (Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2016 – which provided for life imprisonment for disrespecting the Guru Granth Sahib, but the Center returned them, arguing that all religions should be treated equally under India’s secular framework. In 2018, the Congress government again submitted two amendment bills, but they failed to get Presidential assent. Last year, the Aam Aadmi Party government tabled the Prevention of Crimes Against Scriptural Crimes in Punjab Bill, which was later sent to a select committee for consideration.