Mouthpiece skirts case, spotlights the ‘truth’

CHANDIGARH: Even as spokespersons of the Der a Sac ha Saud a are mum ahead of August 25 court verdict on the rape case against sect head Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, the sect’s mouthpiece ‘Sach Kahoon’ has been playing up reports claiming swelling support to Ram Rahim.

Though the newspaper has refrained from writing on the rape trial, its reports convey a message that the der ahead has a humungous support to boast of.

The der a newspaper, which is published in Hindi, Punjabi and English (‘Saying Truth’), is said to have a large circulation, mainly among followers, known as ‘premis’ (loving people).

A perusal of editions of the past week show show reports pertaining to support extended to dera head by different fora and individuals made lead stories.

The lead on August 18, which coincided with a function held to mark 50th birthday of dera head (August 15), listed those who called on him. They included Haryana education minister Ram Bilas Sharma, BJP leader Ganeshi Lal, and former Himachal minister Rajiv Bindal. Sharma announced Rs 51 lakh from his discretionary quota for the dera.

On August 22, it carried a Page -1 report on the‘ Gurjar Gaurav Samman’ conferred upon Ram Ra him by “prominent individuals, fora and khaps of Gurjar community” from Ha ryan a, UP, Rajasthan and Delhi.

A day before, it highlighted how the biggest Jatkhap, Tomar khap, and others felicitated the dera head. It also carried a report how ‘premis’ extended help to victims of train tragedy in Muzaffarnagar (UP). On August 20, the paper had the lead story about the “strong resentment” among pr em is against what they termed a conspiracy against the chief, saying it would not be tolerated.