| Apparently the Dera sect has both Hindu and Sikh members, from the Tarkhan sub-caste. They are being opposed by "orthodox" Sikhs from the Jat sub-caste. Interestingly the Amritsar protests are being led by a former Khalastani militant with ties to the Pakistani ISI named Gurnam Singh Bandala |
The rapidly escalating clashes between Dera Sacha Sauda followers and Sikhs in Punjab claimed its first victim on Thursday when one person was killed near Sunam in Sangrur district. Even as the Sikh high priests called for a social boycott of Dera followers and gave the Punjab Government time till May 20 to act against the Dera for its "anti-Sikh activities", both sides marshalled their forces for a dangerous standoff.
| The Dera leader Gurmeet Singh and many high ranking members are supporters of the Congress party. They have called for the State Government to be dismissed and Presidential Rule (government rule from Delhi) declared. The Sikh priests are being backed by the Akali Dal (the Sikh party in power) and the BJP. This is looking like a political fight for the control of the Punjab under the guise of religious conflict. |
Late night reports said more than 25,000 Sikhs had gathered outside Salabetpura, Punjab's biggest Dera campus that is 30 km from Bathinda, and were set to attack it. Across the border in Haryana, 20,000 followers of the Dera have assembled at Sirsa and are threatening to march towards Bathinda.
The Punjab Police is desperately trying to disperse the crowds at Bathinda. A PTI report, quoting the police, said the protesters have begun to disperse and a "major sectarian clash has been averted".
The inter-State border has been sealed at Dabwali. The Governments of Punjab and Haryana have sought paramilitary forces from the Centre as a "precautionary measure". Additional forces have been rushed by the Union Government, which is in touch with the Governments of Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan.
The Sikh high priests, who met at Talwandi Sabo Gurdwara near Bathinda on Thursday morning, said if the Punjab Government failed to act in the next three days, Sikhs would be "forced to act against the Dera". They called for a social boycott of the controversial Dera sect for allegedly insulting Guru Gobind Singh. Anti-Dera sentiments have been running high ever since the sect's chief Gurmit Singh Ram Rahim appeared in an advertisement dressed like the 10th and last Sikh Guru.
Sangrur resident Kamaljit Singh was shot dead at a Dera ashram near Sunam that was attacked by Sikhs returning from Talwandi Sabo.
He was among the mob that attacked the Dera.
A group of 100 Sikhs, returning from Talwandi Sabo, attacked the Dera's property at Ram Nagar near Maur Mandi in Bathinda district, injuring 22 people, including a policeman. The Sikhs demolished the walls of the property, damaged vehicles and attacked male followers while sparing the women. Some 80 policemen were deployed in the area but allegedly did nothing to save the Dera followers.
In Mansa, a chowk named after the Dera was demolished. In Bathinda, Dera followers surrounded Kila Gurdwara while a number of Sikh devotees were inside.
The Punjab Government has denied having issued instructions to the police to vacate Dera ashrams, a claim made by the group. The Chief Minister's media adviser Harcharan Bains said police were only trying to persuade the two factions to disperse peacefully.
At the meeting in Talwandi Sabo, the high priests authorised the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabhandak Committee (SGPC), the apex religious body of Sikhs, to check the activities of the Dera and its followers in Punjab.
Sikh protesters organised marches at several places, including Patiala, Karnal and Yamuna Nagar, and a bandh was observed in Amritsar. The shutdown was complete in the walled city around the Golden Temple.
Leaders of the Dera, after a meeting held at their headquarters in Sirsa, expressed anguish at the social boycott call issued by the Sikh high priests and said the move would divide society.
Central forces rushed to Punjab, Haryana
Faith divided Punjab in a way not seen in the last two decades as the battle between Dera Sacha Sauda, a sect with a large following in Punjab and Haryana, and various Sikh groups claimed its first life on Thursday.
In a late-night development, the Centre decided to rush 125 companies of RAF, BSF and CRPF to different cities in Punjab and Haryana in a bid to contain the violence.
Forces also remained deployed in parts of west Delhi where the authorities feared trouble. As Punjab's administrative machinery, clearly at sea, failed to control frenzied mobs baying for each other's blood, calls went out for imposition of PresidentÂ’s rule to prevent the state from descending into chaos.
The entire state went into spasms of violence and fear as clashes on the fourth day killed Kamaljit Singh, a Sangrur resident, in Sunam.
At least 15 others received serious gunshot wounds, with eight believed to be critical, after Dera supporters in Salawatpur, surrounded by a mob, opened fire. A police contingent which was there failed to stop the rampaging groups, too scared and too unprepared to retaliate.
When reports last came in, about 20,000 Sikh youths were on their way to attack and empty out another Dera shelter in Sangrur with at least 5,000 followers of Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, leader the Sacha Sauda cult, inside the colony.
Hemmed in from all sides and exposed to death and injury, they now only have the police to defend them. A TOI correspondent in Sangrur said the cops were trying their best to push the attackers back. "But it's all very dangerous," he said.
What is of most serious concern to Punjab's new Akali Dal-led government is the decision taken by Sikh clergy at the Sarbat Khalsa in Damdama Sahib, Talwandi Sabo, to suspend all social relations with Dera followers. They have also demanded a total ban on activities of the cult.
It didn't help matters that leaders of the Dera refused to back down and said no apology was coming for their leader dressing up as Guru Gobind Singh, 10th guru of the Sikhs
