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Such A Sauda
BATHINDA: Caught in a cleftstick of a
CBI murder case and a thinly-veiled political alliance with the
Congress in Punjab, the self-styled 'Sant' Gurmit Ram Rahim had a
trump card up his sleeve. A thought that had not occured to anyone
ever since 1699. Last Saturday, he appeared in public, dressed in
robes akin to the popular photographs of tenth Sikh Guru, Guru
Gobind Singh, prepared a sort of 'amrit' in a huge vessel, and asked
his followers to follow a largely copy-cat code of conduct.
Worse, he inserted a huge front page advertisement in newspapers,
complete with a photograph of himself preparing the so-called 'Jaame-Insa''.
The ad appeared on Sunday. On Monday, Punjab exploded in rage, and
in Bathinda, the followers of the Sacha Sauda sect ran amok, beating
up Sikh protesters. Sikh organisations sought to burn effigies of
Gurmit Ram Rahim, which triggered his supporters' anger.
On Tuesday, the rage spread, and the cult showed its power, with
riotous mobs ruling Bathinda as police squirmed and state government
was left witless.
The heady violent concoction of caste, religion and politics swept
across large swathes of Punjab, singing in its wake the ctities,
towns and villages of Bathinda, Amritsar, Jalandhar and Ludhiana.
Scenes of bloody splurge made it to media front pages, TV channels
lingered in angry dera women armed with sticks and officials went
into a huddle. None of course was in the field where blood-thirsty
dera men burned police vehicles, ambulances, fire brigade vehicles
and attacked journalists and Sikhs.
Later in the day it had spilled over to Jammu and parts of
Rajasthan. Just as this edition of the WSN was going to the press,
the state ordered closure of schools in Bathinda and Patiala for
three days, there was curfew like situation in many areas of
Bathinda, clashes had taken place in Tripri and Anardana area of
Patiala, sword-carrying Sikh youths were having a tiff with the
Amritsar SSP and Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal was
blaming the Congress for the entire saga.
"It is the Congress and its government at the Centre which is
responsible for vitiating the atmosphere," Badal said. In Haji
Rattan Gurdwara of Bathinda, senior Sant Samaj representatives had
gathered and were very angry but Jathedar Balwant Singh Nandgarh was
able to coax them into peace and wait for Thursday, May 17,
direction from Damdama Sahib conclave.
The violent clashes, that first erupted in Bathinda before flaring
up in Amritsar, Mansa, Moga, Ludhiana, Sangrur, Jammu and
Sriganganagar, revived dark memories of the Sikh-Nirankari clashes
of 1978 and sent the Akali-BJP government barely three months old
into spasms of anxiety.
As TV footage and pictures of policemen cowering under Dera attack
surfaced, there were charges that the administration, which had
sensed trouble on Saturday itself, had been struck by inertia. With
politicians busy in the blame game, Bathinda sank in fear and panic.
Residents ran for cover as lathi and sword-wielding Dera men and
women attacked both policemen and members of various Sikh groups.
Outnumbered and unarmed the cops, who were directed by higher-ups
not to use force ‘‘at any cost’’ hid themselves and begged for mercy
instead.
After ransacking the circuit house and burning an anti-riot van, a
splinter group headed towards Liberty Chowk where they severely beat
up police sub-inspector Gulzar Singh and set his jeep on fire. As
the police made feeble attempts to contain the mob, they came under
direct attack from the agitators.
In Sriganganagar, the border town between Punjab and Rajasthan, some
Sikh groups and SAD(B) leaders made an attempt to burn the effigy of
Rahim Singh, plunging the town in tension. Police resorted to lathi-charge
which left about two dozen persons injured. Section 144 of CrPC was
clamped in many parts of the town to stop the gathering of more than
four persons. By evening there was heavy police presence at all
gurdwaras.
It was no different in Patiala, Jalandhar and Ludhiana where angry
fighters were seen brandishing naked swords and menacingly marching
through the streets.
16 May, 2007
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