Ram Rahim has Haryana on edge, Manohar Lal Khattar slammed

Chandigarh: In a major crackdown, the Haryana government on Saturday sealed over 30 congregation centres of the Dera Sacha Sauda across the state even as it came under attack from the Punjab and Haryana High Court over Friday’s violence that claimed 36 lives.

Four rifles, including an AK-47, pistols and petrol bombs were among the weapons seized from the supporters of the sect whose chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh was convicted in a 2002 rape case that sparked violence and arson, mainly in Panchkula and Sirsa, police said.

At a special hearing, a Punjab and Haryana High Court bench minced no words in slamming both the Centre and the state for the deaths and damage to property in riots that broke out on Friday when the Ram Rahim was convicted.

Though Prime Minister Narendra Modi condemned the violence and appealed for peace, the court termed the Centre’s response to the violence as “only a knee-jerk reaction”.

“The Prime Minister is of the nation and not the BJP,” the bench remarked. The bench also hit out at Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar for “protecting” the Dera followers and extending political patronage to them.

The court said the Khattar government had “surrendered” before the followers of the Dera head for “political considerations”.

Over 520 persons held
“Why do you (the Centre) treat the region as colonies,” asked a full bench of acting chief justice S.S. Saron and justices Surya Kant and Avneesh Jhingan.

The situation in Haryana remained tense but under control even as the state government said there was no report of fresh violence in the state on Saturday. 

State authorities are now trying to ensure that there are no untoward incidents on Sunday or on Monday. At the press conference, additional chief secretary (Home) Ram Niwas was asked if searches were also being carried out at the Dera headquarters in Sirsa to which he replied in the negative.

Baldev Raj Mahajan, Haryana’s Advocate General, told the high court that arrests of as many as 524 persons have been made in Panchkula.

“24 vehicles have been seized, five pistols with 79 rounds; besides, 2 rifles with 52 rounds were recovered,” he said.