RAM RAHIM’S SON JASMEET IS DERA CHIEF EXECUTIVE
Facing a crisis of leadership and image after the 20-year sentencing of sect head Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in a rape case, Sirsa-headquartered Dera Sacha Sauda (DSS) on Tuesday declared his 33-year-old son, Jasmeet Insan, as “karajkari parbandhak” (executive manager) with all financial and decisionmaking powers. Jasmeet’s posting as effectively the chief executive officer stops shot of handover of the ‘gaddi’ (seat), and comes amid speculations that the headship would be given to someone from outside the family.
JAIPUR: It was a quiet homecoming for the two women. Their house would have been teeming with fawning visitors but a lot has changed since August 25 for Naseeb Kaur and Harjit Kaur.
They came to Gurusar Modia in Rajasthan’s Sriganganagar district late on Monday, a few hours after a court in neighbouring Haryana ordered Dera Sacha SaudachiefGurmeetRamRahim Singh to 20 years in jail for raping his two disciples.
Naseeb Kaur is the mother and Harjit the wife of the 50-year-old self-styled godman, whose followers ran riot on August 25 after he was found guilty of rape.
The violence left 38 people dead and 250 injured. Arson was also reported from some parts of Rajasthan, including Sriganganagar.
The two women, who have shunned the limelight unlike the flamboyant sect leader, have locked themselves in. Visitors are not allowed. Little is known about them. It was Singh’s “adopted daughter” Honeypreet who accompanied him to the Panchukla court and then to Rohtak jail after he was found guilty of rape. He has two daughters and a son with Harjit. The two came to village in a cavalcade of six vehicles, Sriganganagar district collector Gyana Ram said. Dera supporters who came to drop them left soon after.
The women used to live in Haryana’s Sirsa, headquarters of the dera that has a considerable following in Punjab, Haryana and parts of Rajasthan and UP. A lot of dera followers left Sirsa ahead of the verdict as security forces patrolled the town but many were holed up inside.
Concerned that the presence of the two women could trigger trouble, police beefed up security in the region. District officials met them and sought cooperation in maintaining law and order, sources said.
Sources said some followers planned suicide if their leader was convicted. They got a pledge printed for 70,000 followers, saying no one was to be blamed for the “suicide”. That didn’t work out because of police crackdown.