‘Will appeal for peace, but cannot control emotions’
BATHINDA: A day ahead of the August 25 verdict in a rape case on Dera Sacha Saud ahead Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, the sect’s Punjab headquarters in-charge said on Thursday, “We will appeal to our followers to keep calm in case of an adverse verdict, but we can’t control their emotions.”
Speaking at Salabatpura centre of the dera near Bathinda — 100 km from main HQ Sirsa in Haryana — Jora Singh said the biggest challenge is the emotions of followers and “everybody, including the government, is aware of this”. Some dera followers have been gathering at Salabatpura too, and plan to throng the place on Friday. There are already thousands of them in Haryana’s Panchkula, next to Chandigarh, where a CBI court is to deliver its judgment in the 15-year-old case of two sadhvis (female followers) who have accused the dera head of sexual exploitation. The dera has following concentrated in the interstate border region of Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan.
On security arrangements by the Punjab government, Jora said, “Some anti-social elements want to defame the dera, and the government arrangements are to deal only with those elements. That’s the government's duty.”
About the presence of few followers at Salabatpura on Thursday, he said, “We are avoiding a big gathering here on Friday, but followers will come which we can't stop . We will hold naam charcha (prayers).”
The der ahead has not entered Punjab since 2007 when violent clashes were witnessed between Sikhs and teh dera’s devotees after he allegedly dressed up as the tenth Sikh master, Guru Gobind Singh. There was talk of his holding sermons in Punjab — at Salabatpura — now, but that’s on hold in light of the case verdict. Sikh outfits have urged the community to distance itself from the matter, but “be ready for self-defence, if required”.
Meanwhile, amid tight security, Bathinda district remained calm but tense. Fewer vehicles were plying on the road.
In Faridkot, hundreds of dera followers gathered at the local na am char ch ag har, where some local leaders of these ct were seen threatening the government of “worst law and order situation” in case the chief is convicted.