Tension in Punjab as Sikhs, sect followers clash
May 15, 2007 - 4:47:16 PM
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Incidentally, the Dera leadership had openly sided with the Congress in the February assembly elections in the state. It asked its followers to vote for Congress candidates, which led to the ruling Akali Dal suffering major reverses in the cotton-rich Malwa belt in southern Punjab.
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By IANS,
[RxPG] Chandigarh, May 15 - Tension prevailed Tuesday in several Punjab towns, especially Bathinda, following clashes between followers of the Dera Sacha Sauda sect with activists of various Sikh organisations.
Police had to fire teargas shells in Bathinda where thousands of followers of the sect had gathered since Monday to protest the burning of an effigy of their sect leader by various Sikh organisations all over Punjab.
The Dera followers, called Premis, damaged property and came on the streets in Bathinda with sticks. They even forced police to retreat at some of the places. Eyewitnesses said that police fired a few rounds in the air to scare the agitators.
The Dera followers outnumbered the police force in Bathinda. Police later rushed reinforcements and also used water cannons to disperse the mob.
The agitators damaged several vehicles, including those belonging to police and ambulances.
Dozens of people, including several policemen and women, were injured in clashes Tuesday.
On Monday, 15 people were injured, four of them seriously, in Bathinda when sect followers clashed with activists of various Sikh organizations, including the Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee -.
The Sikhs are objecting to Dera chief Baba Gurmit Ram Rahim portraying himself in the attire of 10th Sikh guru Gobind Singh and inserting advertisements in newspapers saying that he will give nectar to his disciples.
The issue generated controversy after Sikh organisations objected to the portrayal of the godman in the manner of the revered Sikh guru.
The effigies of the godman, whose headquarters are in Sirsa town of neighbouring Haryana and has over a million followers in Punjab, were burnt by Sikh activists Monday and Tuesday.
The Sikh activists, carrying swords and sticks, also took out processions against the Dera chief in Amritsar, Ludhiana, Jalandhar and other places.
This brought hundreds of supporters of the godman on the streets in nearly half a dozen towns in Punjab. The Dera followers demanded that those who burnt effigies of their religious leader should apologise.
Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has warned anyone from taking law in their own hands and fanning rivalry on religious lines.
Incidentally, the Dera leadership had openly sided with the Congress in the February assembly elections in the state. It asked its followers to vote for Congress candidates, which led to the ruling Akali Dal suffering major reverses in the cotton-rich Malwa belt in southern Punjab.
A close relative of the Dera chief won on a Congress ticket from the Bathinda assembly seat.
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