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Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Latest Breaking News from Punjab - Wednesday 20th June 2007


Dera chief’s arrest Decision on warrant reserved for today

Bathinda, Additional chief judicial magistrate A. L. Kitchi today adjourned the decision on the application moved by the district police for securing an arrest warrant against the head of the Dera Sacha Sauda sect till tomorrow.
Kitchi adjourned the decision when the state prosecution agencies requested him that it should be given one day’s time to remove the legal shortcomings, which had cropped up after they had moved an application yesterday.
The district police had moved an application in the local court to secure an arrest warrant against Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh. The case was registered under Section 295-A of the IPC on the complaint of Rajinder Singh Sidhu, president, local branch of the Khalsa Diwan.
Police sources said the prosecution agencies would remove all shortcomings by tomorrow and would be able to secure the arrest warrant against Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh.
The argument advanced by the prosecution did not convince the judge, who said the police did not have sufficient evidence to seek the arrest warrant against the dera chief. The prosecution sought a day’s time and the court reserved its order till tomorrow.

Leaders assemble amid tight security Sant Samaj protest peaceful

Fatehgarh Sahib, On a call given by the Sant Samaj, a large number of religious leaders from across the state today gathered at Gurdwara Fatehgarh Sahib following the ending of the ultimatum given to the state governments today.
The sants under the banner of Sant Samaj held a meeting at Dewan Todar Mal hall on the gurdwara premises during which prominent Sikh leaders criticised chief of the dera Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh.
The leaders assembled here amid elaborate security arrangements by the district police. Forces from other districts were also called in to ensure law and order. The police had arranged tear-gas guns, besides anti-rioting squads were also deputed at various places. Parking of vehicles along the Fatehgarh-Mohali road was also banned by the forces, which deflated the tyres of vehicles already parked there. Radical Sikh leaders were videographed by the police during their stay in the district. The convoy of over 150 vehicles was escorted by the police up to the district border.
Following the meeting, the gathering of religious leaders and their disciples offered ardas at the gurdwara and moved towards the state capital. On their way they halted at Gurdwara Sri Jyoti Sarup to pay obeisance. A number of radical leaders, including SAD (A) senior vice-president Daljit Singh Bittu and Dal Khalsa general secretary Kanwar Pal Singh, were also present at the meeting.
Speaking to the mediapersons before leaving the district, chief of Damdami Taksal and president of Sant Samaj Harnam Singh Khalsa said the Sikhs had already given enough time to the governments of Punjab and Haryana to take action against the Dera chief. He called upon the religious leaders to press upon their demand of arresting the Dera chief in a peaceful manner. He said in case no action was taken in this regard, the samaj would decide the next line of action.

Ask me first, Vedanti appeals to Sikhs

Amritsar, June 19Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Joginder Singh Vedanti today appealed to the Sikh masses and various Panthic organisations to take his consent before launching any programme to protest against the Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Raheem Singh.
Jathedar Vedanti said in his appeal that blasphemous acts of the Dera chief had hurt the sentiments of the Sikh community all over the world. He said there was a need to maintain unity in the Panth and to be cautious against the conspirators, who were trying to create fissures in the unity of the Panth.

Sant Samaj's Arrest Issue

The members of Sant Samaj Tuesday sat on on an indefinite dharna in Mohali at the phase 7 traffic lights and blocked the road after they were stopped from proceeding towards Chandigarh to court arrest, seeking arrest of dera sauda head gurmit ram rahim.

Sant Samaj may Court Arrest

It is expected that sant Samaj shall court arrest today as dera sauda head is not arrested even after time allowed by sant samaj for his arrest. Sant Samaj is beleived to be commited to court their arrest in protest..

Court reserves decision on arrest warrant against Dera head

BHATHINDA (PUNJAB): A court on Tuesday reserved its order till tomorrow on an application filed by Punjab Police seeking an arrest warrant against head of Dera Sacha Sauda Baba Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh for allegedly hurting the religious sentiments of Sikhs.Police on Monday had filed an application in the court of Duty Magistrate K L Khitchi seeking a warrant against the Dera Chief, claiming that they had “sufficient evidence” against him.The arguments lasted for about 20 minutes, during which the prosecution told the court that the police had raided the Dera of Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh at Sirsa twice in the recent past to arrest him.Both the attempts by police were unsuccessful, the prosecution said adding, there were several “premis” (followers) of Baba Gurmeet present in the Dera premises.However, the judge noted that police did not have sufficient evidence to seek arrest warrant against the Dera head.After the judge’s observation, the prosecution sought a day’s time following which the court reserved its order till tomorrow.The judge posed some queries to the prosecution on how the police would enter the Dera.A case was registered against the head of the Sirsa-based sect on May 20 for “hurting religious sentiments” of Sikhs.The Dera chief was embroiled in controversy after an advertisement appeared in newspapers on May 13 purportedly showing him distributing “amrit” (nectar) while attired in a dress similar to that of tenth Sikh Guru Gobind Singh.After the incident, the state was hit by violence in which one person was killed and over 50 were injured.The stand-off between the Dera head and the various Sikh organisations, including the Akal Takht, was somewhat defused after Baba Gurmeet tendered an apology.

Sant Samaj starts dharna in Mohali for arrest of dera chief

CHANDIGRH: The members of Sant Samaj Tuesday sat on on an indefinite dharna in Mohali at the phase 7 traffic lights and blocked the road after they were stopped from proceeding towards Chandigarh to court arrest, seeking arrest of dera Sacha Sauda head Baba Gurmit Ram Rahim Singh.
Over 200 members of Sant Samaj an umberella organisation of vrious Sikh religious bodies had started their procession from Fatehgarh Sahib to Chandigarh on Tuesday morning but they were not allowed to go beyond Mohali where a large police force forced them to terminate their procession. The Sant Samaj members however sat in the middle of the traffic point and raised slogans against dera Chief.
Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and SGPC president Avtar Singh Makkar came personally to request the Sants to lift the blockade and assured them legal action would be taken against the dera Chief. They also accepted the memorendum from Sant Samaj.
Badal said that he was not able to do much since Congress government in Haryana is not cooperating with Punjab. He said that he was also very unhappy over the manner dera Sacha Sauda was working against the Sikh traditions.
The dharna was continuing when reports last came. The Sant Samaj and many other radical organisations had announced to start agitation from Tuesday if dera head is not arreste by June 18. Large number of their supporters assembled in Fatehgarh Sahib. Harbam Singh Khalsa head of Damdami Taksal let the procession.They assembled at at historical Gurdwara Sri Fatehgarh Sahib and demanded action against Dera Sacha Sauda head for his recent "blasphemous act".
The police had arranged tear-gas guns besides anti-rioting squads were also deputed at various places. Parking of vehicles along the Fatehgarh-Mohali road was also banned by the forces, which deflated the tyres of vehicles already parked there. Radical Sikh leaders were thoroughly video graphed by the police during their stay in the district. The convoy of the around 200 vehicles was escorted by police up to the district border.
Talking to media persons, Khalsa said that they will adopt peaceful measures to lodge their protest. He said that that the Dera crisis was not yet over. He reiterated Sant Samaj demand for immediate arrest of Dera head and closure of all its branches in Punjab.
He said the Sikhs had already given enough time to the governments of both Punjab and Haryana to take action against the Dera chief. He called upon the religious leaders to press upon their demand of arresting the Dera Chief in a peaceful manner. He said in case no action was taken against the Dera Chief, the Sant Samaj would decide the next line of action in accordance with the prevailing circumstances.
The police had made traffic diversions at several places on the road between Fatehgarh Sahib to Chandigarh so that those travelling by buses or any other vehicles do not suffer.

BADAL PROMISES ACTION AGAINST SACHA SAUDA HEAD CAN HE REALLY BE TRUSTED?

Mohali: Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Badal today assured Sikhs that action would be taken against Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Raheem Singh for his blasphmeous imitation of Guru Gobind Singh.
The Chief Minister gave this assurance to a delegation of the 'Sant Samaj', a conglomeration of a number of Sikh religious and political groups at a meeting here. The Chief Minister came here from Chandigarh to meet the delegation, which was proceeding to the UnionTerritory to court arrest.
The 'Sant Samaj' had given an ultimatium to the Punjab government to arrest the Dera chief till June 18. As the government had failed to meet their demand, the 'Sant Samaj' decided to take out a protest march from Fathegarh Sahib to Chandigarh, where they were to court arrest.
During his meeting with the delegation, Mr Badal said ''Action will be taken against Ram Raheem as ''per law'', The state police have already registered a case against the Dera head and have even sought arrest warrants from a court in Bathinda.'' The Chief Minister told the delegation that he was equally concerned about the anti-Sikh activities of the Dera chief.
Prior to the march, leaders of the 'Sant Samaj' assembled at historical Gurdwara Sri Fatehgarh Sahib demanding action against Ram Rahim Singh for his 'blasphemous act'. The police took precautionary measures to prevent any untoward incident.
The police had arranged tear-gas guns besides anti-rioting squads were also deputed at various places. A number of radical leaders including Damdami Taksal chief Harnam Singh Khalsa, SAD (Amritsar) Senior Vice President Daljit Singh Bittu and Dal Khalsa General Secretary Kanwar Pal Singh were also present during the meeting.
The 'Sant Samaj' activists led by Harnam Singh Khalsa later moved in a convoy of vehicles to the state capital to court arrest. Talking to mediapersons, Harnam Singh Khalsa said ''we will adopt peaceful measures to lodge protest.'' He reiterated the Sant Samaj demand for immediate arrest of Dera head and closure of all its branches in Punjab.
The Sikhs had already given enough time to the governments of both Punjab and Haryana to take action against the Dera chief. In case no action was taken the Sant Samaj would decide the next line of action in accordance with the prevailing circumstances, Mr Khalsa added.

NO ONE ABOVE LAW, ASSERTS BADAL

Amid demands for the arrest of the head of the Dera Sacha Sauda sect for alleged blasphemy, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal said no one would be ‘exempted’ from the law and allowed to disturb the peace.
"Everybody is equal in the eyes of the law. One will never find an example where an exemption has been given to a person despite taking the law in his hands," he said outside the state Assembly. Asked about a Punjab police application in the Bathinda court seeking an arrest warrant for the Sirsa-based sect's chief Baba Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, Badal said, "everything will be done in accordance with the law."
He said the government was committed to maintain the law and order no one would be allowed to disturb the peace in the state. The Dera head triggered outrage among the Sikh community last month after he dressed up like Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Sikh Guru.

Sunam Sangat and Shaheeds family protests for arrest of killers of Shaheed Bhai Kamaljit Singh Ji immediately or otherwise further action will be taken.

Sikh organisations to stage protest on June 24

Moga, :In a bid to mount pressure on the state government to arrest the Dera Sacha Sauda head, various Sikh organisations have decided to undertake a protest march from Gurdwara Zafarnama in this district to Damdama Sahib, Talwandi Sabo, in Bathinda on June 24.The protesters will also include Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee president, Paramjit Singh, leaders of the SAD (A) and Sant Samaj, an umbrella organisation of various Sikh bodies.Inspector General of Police, Patiala Zone, M.K. Tiwari held a meetings at Salabatpura and Dina Sahib with DIGs of Ferozepur and Bathinda zones, Deputy Commissioners and SSPs of Moga and Bathinda districts, last evening, to take stock of the situation in view of the protest march.In a four-hour meeting, in which para-military officials also participated, it was decided to deploy 4,000 Punjab police and para-military forces along the entire stretch of the proposed march, which is approximately about 120 km and has many Sacha Sauda Deras falling along the way.Sant Samaj members comprising some radicals yesterday had blocked a road at Mohali seeking immediate arrest of Dera chief.Punjab Police on Monday had filed an application in a Bathinda court seeking arrest warrant for the Sirsa-based Dera head Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh for allegedly hurting the religious sentiments of the Sikhs.

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