Mohindra flip-flops on relief for dera followers
PATIALA:Even though Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh last week refused any compensation to families of Dera Sacha Sauda followers killed in clashes with police in Panchkula after the sect head was convicted of rape, health minister Brahm Mohindra on Friday batted for monetary relief for them, only to later back out.
Considered next to the CM in the cabinet hierarchy, the Congress leader from the CM’s hometown Patiala issued a statement, through the public relations department at 6.47pm, saying that ‘premis’ — the loving ones, as the followers call themselves — “also deserve our praise for maintaining peace in Punjab”. While Panchkula in Haryana saw more than 30 deaths in police action on dera followers, sect headquarters Sirsa, also in Haryana, saw six deaths. At least eight of the dead were from Punjab. But the state only saw stray arson.
The statement — headlined ‘Premis are also human beings: Brahm Mohindra’, and withdrawn an hour after issuance — was sent to journalists through the district public relations office. Underlining that the guilty had already been punished, in it Mohindra promised the devotees “all the security and whatever help and support they need from the state government”.
It must be underlined that Mohindra’s constituency, Patiala Rural, has significant population of dera followers. “They are our own people and part of our society,” the statement said.
It also expressed his sympathies with the bereaved families, anddeclared,“Notallthosepeople who were killed or injured in the police firing were guilty. They were either misled or caught unawares.” It stressed, “Congress party and chief minister Capt AmarinderSinghdonotbelievein discrimination. We stand by the victims who were caught unawares in the police action and express our sympathies to all of them. Strict instructions have beenissuedforthesafetyandsecurity of ‘premis’ all over the state.”