It seemed like the top of the highway for the Dera Sacha Sauda, a spiritual cult, when its controversial head Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh was convicted in three instances. A Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) courtroom in 2017 handed him a 20-year sentence rape, and he was awarded life phrases in January 2019 and October 2021 for 2 murders.
The dwindling numbers, each by way of followers and choices, and the closure of its industrial institutions and manufacturing models introduced the cult’s operations to a halt and strained its funds. An air of despondency descended on the“premis”, because the Dera’s followers are known as. Many abandoned the sect after the 2017 violence in Haryana and Punjab after the police crackdown following Gurmeet Ram Rahim’s conviction.
The Dera’s property and financial institution accounts have been scanned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and earnings tax authorities. A standing report filed by ED earlier than the Punjab and Haryana excessive courtroom in 2018 sought an investigation of a few of its land offers by the specialised wing of the earnings tax division below the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Modification Act, 2016.
One other standing report filed earlier than the courtroom by earnings tax officers stated the names of Gurmeet Ram Rahim and his daughter, Charanpreet Kaur, had surfaced within the incorporation paperwork of abroad entities. “Investigations are being carried out and summons have been issued to Charanpreet. A reference has additionally been made to the Egmont Group of Monetary Intelligence Items for ascertaining the possession of abroad properties of the Dera,” they stated. Egmont Group is a world physique that facilitates cooperation between the monetary intelligence models of member international locations.
Extra the merrier
Latest developments, nonetheless, counsel that the Sirsa-based sect is on the trail to revival, with a serving to hand from politicians in Haryana, together with many from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Social gathering (BJP). The Dera stepped up its actions after its incarcerated chief was granted a 40-day parole on January 20. Although Gurmeet Ram Rahim remained confined on the cult’s ashram in Barnawa in Baghpat district of Uttar Pradesh, and is barred from shifting out, he has been connecting with followers throughout the nation and overseas by on-line periods, usually linking at the least 40 areas concurrently.
The Dera has organised large-scale cleanliness drives in Haryana and Rajasthan with Gurmeet Ram Rahim main the way in which, just about.
“The revival is being facilitated with the lively connivance of the Haryana authorities. There’s a tacit understanding between the Dera and the state authorities. The federal government desires crowds to return to him as his followers can affect the 2024 elections. It cuts each methods. The extra the merrier for each the Dera and the state authorities,” stated Anshul Chhatrapati, the son of deceased journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati. The Dera head and three others have been sentenced to life by a CBI courtroom in 2019 for Ram Chander Chhatrapati’s homicide.
Parole his proper: Govt
Haryana authorities officers say parole is the suitable of each convict and deny any preferential remedy to the cult’s chief. “There are excessive courtroom directives the place the divisional commissioner’s orders denying parole to a convict with out justification have been quashed,’’ says an official, requesting anonymity.
Quoting a January 18 order of the Punjab & Haryana excessive courtroom, the official stated that divisional commissioners have been requested by the courtroom to make sure “every time they cross orders and the rejection is on the bottom that the safety of the state or nation is below risk, at the least the background is checked that whether or not the petitioner has availed parole and returned on time”.
Chhatrapati says that circumstances prohibiting the Dera head from attending non secular or political occasions, public conferences, each in individual and on-line, have been imposed on the Dera head when he was granted three weeks furlough in February final 12 months. “Why are these circumstances not relevant now?” he requested. “Parole needs to be denied to the Dera head as he’s a routine offender, serving a number of sentences.”
State advocate common BR Mahajan argued that below the Haryana Good Conduct Prisoners (Momentary Launch) Act, Gurmeet Ram Rahim doesn’t fall within the class of hardcore prisoners and is entitled for non permanent launch.
All for a following
Barely 48 hours after the Dera head stepped out of Rohtak’s Sunaria jail after being granted parole on January 20, two senior BJP leaders – Rajya Sabha MP Krishan Lal Panwar and former minister Krishen Bedi – have been seen attending a digital satsang addressed by him, and interacting with him. Although the 2 denied any political motive, the opposition Congress criticised their motion as a “vote-catching ploy”. Final 12 months, Haryana BJP leaders, together with Karnal mayor Renu Gupta, attended a web based congregation addressed by the Dera head, setting off criticism.
So, what makes politicians queue up earlier than a convict with a following? Professor Ashutosh Kumar, a political scientist from Panjab College, Chandigarh, stated they do that solely when they’re satisfied that somebody is related or of use to them. “The Dera head shall be related in elections due to the next the sect instructions,” Kumar stated.
“The Dera head shall be related in elections due to the next the sect instructions. It nonetheless has a core following. The numbers could have dwindled however a devoted following stays. It’s simpler to bow earlier than one man and get a bit of votes than attain out to particular person voters. Just a few thousand votes could make a distinction in an meeting election,” stated an official who didn’t need to be recognized, and has seen Dera’s functioning intently.
Again within the fold
It helps that the Dera has at all times portrayed itself as a reformist organisation. “Social inequality and discrimination are mirrored in prejudices. If a sect vows to beat these inequalities, it immediately appeals to decrease castes. Dera leaders venture themselves as social reformers and undertake charitable work to earn goodwill. Impressed, the poor turn out to be followers,’’ Kumar added.
The Dera’s stance in opposition to liquor and drug abuse, for example, resonated properly with girls followers.
Rameshwar, a Dera follower from Khanpur Kolian in Kurukshetra, from the place former sect supervisor Ranjit Singh for whose homicide Gurmeet Ram Rahim was sentenced to life hailed, stated he’s nonetheless unconvinced about his chief’s guilt. His spouse, Sushila, believes the Dera chief is a manifestation of the divine. “Whether or not he’s in jail or exterior, his affect stays intact.”
Hemraj of Kotli village in Sirsa, who joined the sect 22 years in the past is a premi sewak who organises prayer periods on the village prayer corridor. “Authorities strain and concern of getting implicated in police instances led to desertions after 2017. Nonetheless, many followers are again. They know these are false allegations.”
Raja Ram of Arniawali village in Sirsa joined the cult three many years in the past. He stated it was solely because of the Dera’s teachings that he and his kids steered away from dangerous habits. “We’re solidly with our Dera chief.”
So, it will appear, are Haryana politicians.