High alert in Punjab and Haryana after violence by followers of dera Sacha Sauda
PunjabNewsline.com - High alert in Punjab and Haryana after violence by followers of dera Sacha Sauda
By Satinder Bains
CHANDIGARH: The governments of Punjab and Haryana on Saturday announced high alert following wide spread violence acrosss two states by the followers of dera Sacha Sauda.
The followers of dera Sacha Sauda Gurmit Ram Rahim Singh started after CBI registered a fresh case of murder against the dera chief. Gurmit Ram Rahim Singh is already facing four cases of rape and murder.
The followers of Sacha Sauda dera burnt government property and attacked members of other community. The situation is tense in Moga. Bathinda, Ferozepur, Mansa in Punjab and Hissar, Ambakla and Sirsa in Haryana. The dera followers have burnt atleast six buses in Hissar, several shops in Sirsa beside heavy damage to public property in Bathinda and Ferozepur.
The protesters set afire a compartment each of the Ferozepur-Ludhiana Sutlej Express and two local passenger trains in Punjab, a northern railway spokesman said.
They also vandalised railway property at Tapa, Moga and Kalaiyat in Punjab, he said.
The protesters torched six roadways buses in Moga and stoned and damaged vehicles at Bathinda, Mansa, Talwandi Sabo and Bhagapurana in Punjab and at Kaithal, Sirsa and Fatehabad in Haryana. In Kaithal, the unidentified bikers set on fire four buses on national highway 65. At Narwana also, few persons set on fire a Haryana Roadways Bus. Bus passengers were asked to vacate the bus before the incident.
Last week, the CBI had booked Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh for the murder of sect Manager Faqir Chand in 1991.
The sect head also faces three other cases, including one of sexual exploitation and two of murder of another sect Manager and a Sirsa-based journalist.
Both Punjab and Haryana Governments have issued orders to contain the violence. Deptuy Chief Minister Sukhbir SIngh Badal Saturday directed law enforcing agencies in the state to deal firmly with anyone trying to take law into his own hands and to ensure that no one was allowed to diturb the hard-earned atmosphere of peace and communal harmony in the state.
"Anyone trying to indulge in acts of lawlessness or violence or tryng to play up communal passions will have to face the consequences under the strictest provisipons of the law. "Let there be no confusion in anyone's mind: no one willbe allowed to get away with lawless acts. Peace and communal harmony will be maintained at all costs, " said the Deputy Chief Minister .
In a statement here, Sukhbir Singh , who also holds the Home Portfolio, said that there was no justification whatsoever for indulging in protests other than peaceful. "There is no place for violence in a democratic society, and the Punjab government is fully alive to its obligation to the people of Punjab in this regard. "
Haryana Chief Minister Bhupender Singh Hooda said that in view of the sporadic incidents of damage to iGovernment property in some parts of the State by anti-social elements today, he had issued stern instructions to all the district Superintendents of Police to deal with such elements with a firm hand.
Hooda also urged the people to maintain calm and not to play in the hands of vested interests who were trying to vitiate the peaceful atmosphere in the State and making vain attempts to hamper the pace of development.
The Chief Minister said that an alert has been sounded and vigil was being maintained. He made it clear that nobody would be allowed to take law in one’s own hands.
PunjabNewsline.com - High alert in Punjab and Haryana after violence by followers of dera Sacha Sauda
By Satinder Bains
CHANDIGARH: The governments of Punjab and Haryana on Saturday announced high alert following wide spread violence acrosss two states by the followers of dera Sacha Sauda.
The followers of dera Sacha Sauda Gurmit Ram Rahim Singh started after CBI registered a fresh case of murder against the dera chief. Gurmit Ram Rahim Singh is already facing four cases of rape and murder.
The followers of Sacha Sauda dera burnt government property and attacked members of other community. The situation is tense in Moga. Bathinda, Ferozepur, Mansa in Punjab and Hissar, Ambakla and Sirsa in Haryana. The dera followers have burnt atleast six buses in Hissar, several shops in Sirsa beside heavy damage to public property in Bathinda and Ferozepur.
The protesters set afire a compartment each of the Ferozepur-Ludhiana Sutlej Express and two local passenger trains in Punjab, a northern railway spokesman said.
They also vandalised railway property at Tapa, Moga and Kalaiyat in Punjab, he said.
The protesters torched six roadways buses in Moga and stoned and damaged vehicles at Bathinda, Mansa, Talwandi Sabo and Bhagapurana in Punjab and at Kaithal, Sirsa and Fatehabad in Haryana. In Kaithal, the unidentified bikers set on fire four buses on national highway 65. At Narwana also, few persons set on fire a Haryana Roadways Bus. Bus passengers were asked to vacate the bus before the incident.
Last week, the CBI had booked Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh for the murder of sect Manager Faqir Chand in 1991.
The sect head also faces three other cases, including one of sexual exploitation and two of murder of another sect Manager and a Sirsa-based journalist.
Both Punjab and Haryana Governments have issued orders to contain the violence. Deptuy Chief Minister Sukhbir SIngh Badal Saturday directed law enforcing agencies in the state to deal firmly with anyone trying to take law into his own hands and to ensure that no one was allowed to diturb the hard-earned atmosphere of peace and communal harmony in the state.
"Anyone trying to indulge in acts of lawlessness or violence or tryng to play up communal passions will have to face the consequences under the strictest provisipons of the law. "Let there be no confusion in anyone's mind: no one willbe allowed to get away with lawless acts. Peace and communal harmony will be maintained at all costs, " said the Deputy Chief Minister .
In a statement here, Sukhbir Singh , who also holds the Home Portfolio, said that there was no justification whatsoever for indulging in protests other than peaceful. "There is no place for violence in a democratic society, and the Punjab government is fully alive to its obligation to the people of Punjab in this regard. "
Haryana Chief Minister Bhupender Singh Hooda said that in view of the sporadic incidents of damage to iGovernment property in some parts of the State by anti-social elements today, he had issued stern instructions to all the district Superintendents of Police to deal with such elements with a firm hand.
Hooda also urged the people to maintain calm and not to play in the hands of vested interests who were trying to vitiate the peaceful atmosphere in the State and making vain attempts to hamper the pace of development.
The Chief Minister said that an alert has been sounded and vigil was being maintained. He made it clear that nobody would be allowed to take law in one’s own hands.
