Panchkula violence big blow to BJP image: ID Swami
CHANDIGARH: Anguished by the political and administrative failure to tackle the Dera Sacha Sauda crowd that held the region hostage, veteran Haryana BJP leader and former Union minister of state for home ID Swami on Saturday described Panchkula violence as a big blow to the image of the party.
“The worsening situation brought a bad name to the party. It would have been different had the state authorities made efforts to stop the dera followers from entering Panchkula,” told Swami, the bureaucrat-turnedpolitician to the HT.
Incidentally, the 87-year-old BJP leader, who is a key political advisor of the Manohar Khattarled BJP government, was Sirsa deputy commissioner when the now convicted for rape Dera head Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh succeeded Shah Satnam Singh Maharaj. “I had even met him (Gurmeet Ram Rahim) at the time he became the dera head,” said Swami. Lamenting that the lack of proactive approach of the state machinery complicated the situation, he said that the final situation would have been better had the police and bureaucracy acted tough in advance.
According to him, it was unthinkable that the “shrewd and wise” senior bureaucrats and police officers didn’t anticipate the unfolding crisis. He said the bureaucrats and the government must have been informed in advance and repeatedly about the looming crisis. “They (bureaucrats) are very wise people but all of them seem to have miscalculated,” he added.
THE LAPSE
The main lapse, according to Swami, was the government’s move to allow free access to the dera followers to assemble at Panchkula.
All the pockets of the premis, as the dera followers are known, should have been under surveillance and they should have been “persuaded and pressured” against thronging Panchkula.
“You cannot stop all, but there should be some deterrent. Handling the less number of people and the emerging situation would have become easy for the government,” he pointed out. “This proactive approach was missing. Restrictions were not imposed on movement of people. This big crowd should not have been allowed to gather.”
Perhaps, he said, the authorities thought that the presence of police, paramilitary and army will deter and browbeat the crowd.