Dera Chief’s followers protest; Violence breaks out; curfew imposed in many places in Punjab

PANCHKULA, HARYANA (TIP): Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh was found guilty of rape by a special CBI court in Panchkula, Haryana, on Friday. He was immediately taken into judicial custody; he will be sentenced on Monday.

The Dera head was present in court when the judgment was read out.

A rape conviction carries a minimum sentence of seven years and a maximum of 10 years.

The court delivered its verdict in the case against the 50-year-old Dera chief after 14 long years and amid unprecedented security, as thousands of Dera followers gathered in Panchkula ahead of the judgment.

In fact, just two hours before the verdict, the Punjab and Haryana high court told the Haryana government it can go ahead and use force, if required and file FIRs against any Gurmeet Ram Rahim follower breaking the law or making provocative statements.

Haryana’s chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar said on Friday his government was ready to deal with any fallout from the verdict.

“Whatever the verdict, will implement it. Ready to deal with any circumstances, security arrangements are in place, I appeal for peace and calm,” said Khattar.

The charges against Gurmeet Ram Rahim date back to 2002, when a Dera sadhvi wrote an anonymous letter to then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee saying she was raped by the Dera chief. In the letter, the sadhvi also accused Gurmeet Ram Rahim of raping several other female followers inside the sprawling Dera campus on the outskirts of Sirsa in the state of Haryana.

Ahead of the verdict on Friday, Army columns moved into Panchkula early in the morning. As well, around 53 companies of the paramilitary forces and 50,000 personnel of the Haryana Police were deployed in the states of Haryana and Punjab.

The 50-year-old Gurmeet Ram Rahim left the sect-headquarters at Sirsa, about 260km from Chandigarh, at about 9am, in a huge convoy. The Haryana director general of police (DGP) was asked if there were 200-plus vehicles in the Dera chief’s convoy. He didn’t confirm that number but did say that the convoy size would be cut en route to Panchkula.

“Only a couple of cars which include escort vehicles will be allowed,” said BS Sandhu, the Haryana DGP.

In 2002, the Punjab and Haryana high court took suo motu cognizance – action of its own accord – of the sadhvi’s letter to then PM Vajpayee, and directed the CBI to register a sexual exploitation case against the Dera chief in 2002. The case was then handed over to the CBI.

The investigating agency questioned 18 sadhvis and two of them levelled allegations of rape against the spiritual leader.

Their statements are part of the CBI chargesheet which was filed on July 30, 2007, in the CBI special court.

One of the sadhvis said in her statement, that when she entered the Dera chief’s sprawling chamber, the doors automatically closed and she found him watching a pornographic movie on a big screen. The CBI is said to be banking heavily on this statement as only a select few have access to that chamber.

The trial against Gurmeet Ram Rahim commenced in 2008 and on September 6, 2008, he was charged under Section 376 (rape) and Section 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code.

The Dera chief consistently called the charges false and baseless and has told the court that he is “not capable of” engaging in physical relations.

Gurmeet Ram Rahim is also facing trial in two separate murder cases – those of Dera follower Ranjit Singh in July 2002 and of journalist Ram Chander Chattrapati in October that same year.

Meanwhile, the news of Dera Chief’s conviction spread like wild fire and his followers took to streets and violence.

Clashes break out in Panchkula and Police resorted to firing teargas shells.

Malout Railway Station and petrol pump set on fire by protesters in Punjab post Ram Rahim Verdict, similar incidents also reported in Bathinda. Curfew has been imposed in Punjab’s Muktsar, Bathinda and Mansa following Gurmeet Ram Rahim’s conviction.

Developing story:

Farm, Dera and now prison: The story of rise and fall of GRR

His Twitter profile describes him as “Spiritual Saint/Philanthropist/Versatile Singer/Allrounder Sportsperson/Film Director/Actor/Art Director/Music Director/ Writer/Lyricist/Autobiographer/DOP”.

For his followers, who gathered in the thousands in Panchkula ahead of the verdict in the case of rape and criminal intimidation, their leader is all this and more. The bejeweled head of the Sirsa headquartered sect, who turned 50 this Independence Day, holds sway over millions in Haryana,

Many trains bound for Punjab and Haryana were cancelled, schools and colleges shut and thousands of security personnel deployed to ensure that no trouble breaks out. But it did with ‘premis’, as his followers are known, going on a rampage.

As curiosity grew about the man at the center of the frenzied storm, Gurmeet, who drove to Panchkula in a large convoy of scores of vehicles, put out a tweet appealing for peace and saying he would go to court even though he had a backache.

It was the familiar blurring of lines between the larger than life image of the man of bling who would be god and superstar.

For somebody who commands so much attention, the personal details are just a few.

He was born in Sri Gurusar Modia village in Rajasthan’s Sri Ganganagar district on August 15, 1967, to a landlord father. An only child, Gurmeet helped his father in the farm in his early years.

Gurmeet, it is said, was always spiritual. When he was seven, he was picked out by Shah Satnam Singh, then head of the Dera Sacha Sauda in Sirsa, who anointed him Ram Rahim.

Sixteen years later, in 1990, Satnam Singh invited his disciples from all over the country for a grand satsang where 23-year-old Gurmeet Ram Rahim was chosen as his successor.

The Dera chief, who completed his high school, is married to Harjeet Kaur. They have two daughters, Charanpreet and Amanpreet, both of whom are married, and a son Jasmeet. He also adopted a girl.

The story also goes that he loved butter and ghee and took part in several sport activities.

Combining entrepreneurial skills with his job as the spiritual head of the sect, he launched the ‘MSG’ range of “swadeshi and organic” products about two years ago.

The business is looked after by the Dera chief’s children, who live inside the Dera in Sirsa, about 260 km from here.

MSG is perhaps a reference to his first film “Messenger of God”, which he made in 2014 when he underwent an image makeover. Since then, he has made three more films, playing the lead role in each and performing ostentatious, dangerous stunts, quite like any other tinsel town superhero.

Dera functionaries claim their chief has contributed in motivating millions of people to perform selfless services while the sect itself has devoted itself to humanitarian tasks such as blood donation and organ donation drives and educating the poor.

In 2002, Gurmeet’s tryst with controversy and criminal charges began. He has since been named in cases dealing with rape, murder and forced castration.

In 2002, a case of sexual exploitation case was registered against him. This followed anonymous letters alleging that the sect head had sexually exploited two ‘sadhvis’.

He was held guilty in this case by the CBI court in Panchkula.

Other cases in which his name figures include a murder case dating back to 2002 and the forced castration of some sadhus in 2014.

In 2007, he earned the ire of Sikhs who accused him of replicating the attire of 10th Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh, following which Punjab remained on the boil for several days.

Notwithstanding the notoriety, Gurmeet has reigned over the sprawling Dera Sacha Sauda headquarters in Sirsa, where he dons glittering costumes and holds satsangs.

Thousands of ‘premis’ gather from various parts to hear the message delivered by the ‘Pita ji’ (Dera head).

The sprawling Sirsa Dera, spread over nearly 1,000 acres, is a township on its own, with schools, sports village, hospital, cinema hall and the like.

It is common to find politicians from across the spectrum flocking to the Dera premises. However, no politician comes on record and Gurmeet himself maintains that as sect head he does not indulge in any political activity. He leaves it to the sect’s political wing to decide on whom to support.

In the 2014 elections, the Dera’s political wing supported the BJP in Haryana.

With sentencing in the case to be announced on Monday, will this all change for ‘rockstar baba’?

(Source: TOI)