SearcH on for ram raHim’s tailor

No one bothered for a decade after Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim figured in a 2007 blasphemy case, when he had appeared in a pink attire of the 10th Sikh Guru Gobind Singh during a religious congregation in Bhatinda on 13 May 2007. It had led to clashes between Sikhs and “Premis” (Baba’s followers) in Punjab and Haryana. Now that he is in jail, everyone is eager to nail him in all kinds of cases, even those which more or less stayed “closed” or were lying in the cold storage. In New Delhi, a few days back, some men from Punjab (they refused to disclose their identity—they could be plainclothesmen) were sniffing among the best known tailor shops to find out the one who had specially stitched the pink robe “to make Baba look like an avatar of Guru Gobind Singh.” A new theory is that even the tailor comes under the blasphemy case. Why were the authorities sleeping to reach this conclusion for 10 years? The robe in question is gathering dust in the “malkhana” of Punjab’s Bathinda Kotwali for the past decade. It was recovered from Ram Rahim’s possession from his Sirsa headquarters in Haryana by the then Bathinda Deputy Superintendent of Police, Surinder Pal Singh, who is currently posted as an SP at Barnala. A case was registered under Section 295-A of the Indian Penal Code for deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings. So much was Baba’s clout that he never appeared in the court to attend hearings. When contacted, Singh told The Sunday Guardian that during investigations the police had come to know that a New Delhi-based tailor had designed the robe as per Ram Rahim’s specific instructions. But the Dera chief had claimed after the controversy that the “beautiful robe” was given to him by one of his followers and that he did not know from where that person had procured or got it stitched. When contacted, Rajinder Singh Sidhu, the complainant, alleged that a “fake affidavit” was filed on his behalf with the intention of closing the case. “I am now moving the Punjab & Haryana High Court to seek the reopening of the case,” says Sidhu, who is the president of the Khalsa Diwan Gurudwara Singh Sabha, Bathinda. Bathinda Zone Inspector General of Police M.S. Chhina, and SSP Navin Singla say that they are getting the issue examined by the district attorney. Interestingly, Ram Rahim had been absolved of the charges after the police filed a “cancellation report” in the court of the Additional District and Sessions Judge in 2014.On 24 September 2015, the then five high priests of the Sikh Gurudwara Prabhandhak Committee (SGPC) had “pardoned” the Baba on his written apology and spent Rs 91 lakh on advertisements in the newspapers to publicise their decision. But, following sharp criticism from the Sikh community, they reversed their decision on 16 October 2015. And, now, it has been discovered that the SGPC “never scrapped” the earlier resolution of pardoning Ram Rahim. This speaks of the tremendous clout that the Baba had within the highest Sikh body.