Dera Sacha Sauda using social media to keep followers intact
History has been witness to injustice meted out to incarnations of God and great personalities SURJEET KUMAR, dera follower › We followed him blindly for years, but now the reality is out and we believe that he is paying for his wrongdoings DARSHAN LAL, follower
KARNAL: The IT (informationation technology) team of Dera Sacha Sauda is using social media in a big way to keep the flock of followers of disgraced sect head Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh intact.
The controversial dera chief is currently undergoing a 20-year sentence in Rohtak jail after his conviction on August 25 for raping two of his female disciples.
All social media platforms and networking sites, including Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram and YouTube, are abuzz with video, audio and text messages glorifying Ram Rahim as a “real saint” and “social worker” and alleging a conspiracy behind his conviction.
At a time when many of his followers are reported to be losing faith in the sect, his die-hard devotees are also circulating and forwarding messages, appealing to their fellows not to get carried away by the “false propaganda” against their master.
BLAMES MEDIA FOR VILIFYING DERA
Some video messages being circulated also show an inside view of the dera and seek to “clarify” that the police did not find anything wrong in the commune and that the media is deliberately showing it in a bad light.
The messages also refute media reports about the dera head’s much vilified ‘gufa’ (cave), claiming that the so-called gufa is just a covered passage to link two buildings inside the dera premises.
A special video message has been uploaded on the You Tube to counter the media reports about the “wrongdoings” of the dera head and his lavish life style. This video denounces the “onesided” reporting of the media, especially the electronics media.
This 10-minute video message also highlights the several “achievements” and social works of the dera head.
Also, various dera followers are responding to these messages, resposing faith in the belea- guered guru. Surjeet Kumar, a devotee, writes, “Itihas gawah hai ke avatar aur mahapurusho ke sath samaaj ne nainsaafi ki hai (History has been witness to injustice meted out to incarnations of God and great personalities).”
Notably, the conviction of the dera head, which is also facing trial in two murder cases, has put reportedly put a dent on his image among the mind sofa large number of his followers.
“We followed him blindly for years, but now the reality is out and we believe that he is paying for his wrongdoings,” said Darshan Lal of Kurukshetra.
“Followers are the only strength of a guru, but he has failed our faith,” he added.