The Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh’s conviction for rape on Friday resulted in a complete law and order breakdown in and around Panchkula near Chandigarh. More than 30 people died as state government helplessly watched and allowed supporters of Ram Rahim to go on rampage and create absolute mayhem. The utter lack of seriousness on part of the Haryana government in preparing for the verdict despite clear indications of a crowd build-up as early as on Wednesday is questionable. The situation was so bad that it forced the Punjab and Haryana High Court to intervene decisively.
The court came down hard on Haryana government. Chief Minister ML Khattar and his cabinet miserably failed to deal with the situation. But so far no one has been held responsible for the failure which is absolutely shocking. Tomorrow CBI judge will pronounce sentence in the rape case. Hopefully this time government will not allow another round of violence. Also this whole case exposes how these religious leaders manipulate the followers to pressurize police and government. To his millions of supporters – mostly underprivileged, lower caste men and women – Singh is a protean leader of his flock. He mutates effortlessly from spiritual leader to flashy entertainer. Singh is known to use his political clout to influence the decision of government. Both BJP and Congress have been accused of taking his help in the elections.