Jun 22 2008
Anti Dera protest demands arrest of Dera cheif, violence continues!
The alleged killing of a protester by the Dera Sacha Sauda chief’s bodyguard in a mall in Mumbai has disrupted peace in the city and after the incident the Sikh organizations threatened to arrest the Dera chief Baba Ram Rahim by June 24.
The Sikh organization has warned that if the chief is not arrested then they will disrupt the railway routes. They gathered and disturbed the rail traffic in Punjab.
Baba Harnam Singh Dhuma, chief of Damdami Taksal in the meeting of Sikh religious organizations at Jalandhar stated that no train would be allowed to move from Amritsar to Delhi on Wednesday (June 25) if Baba Ram Rahim is not arrested by Tuesday.
“The rail traffic would be interrupted on June 25 from morning eight am to seven pm and further line of action would be announced in the evening on same day on Wednesday (June 25) against the Dera Sacha Sauda chief.” He added.
The chief minister of Punjab also termed the incident as shocking and said that the responsible persons should be immediately arrested.
The dera Cheif visited Mumbai to attend a function and when he reached Nirmal Shopping Complex in Mulund in Mumbai, some sikh protesters objected his visit which made the safeguards to fire killing one person and two injured. The killed person was identified as Balkar Singh.
The Shiromani Gurudwara Parbhandhak Committee (SGPC) president, Avtar Singh Makkar has announced Rs 5 lakh for the family of Balkar Singh and Rs one lakh to the injured. Makkar is coming to Mumbai on June 23 to hand over the cheque to the family of the victims.
It is also reported that Makkar will meet the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh to discuss the issue of Dera Sacha Sauda as he saught an appointment with the PM.
The chief of Dera Sacha Sauda has been surrounded by controversies since last e few months for one or the other reason. He enjoys Z-plus security cover, mostly from the Haryana police. In May last year, a long debate started when he dressed himself like Sikh Guru Gobind Singh during his sect’s religious ceremony. Sikh community protested this action and violence speeded particularly in Punjab and Haryana region. Punjab remained on the boil for over two weeks last year as the anti-sect protests intensified.
The controversial Dera chief is also facing two cases of conspiracy to murder and one case of rape in a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court in Ambala.
