Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, August 18
Dera Sacha Sauda followers are pressuring the sect head Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh not to appear in the special CBI court in Panchkula on August 25, the day of verdict in a rape case registered against him.
During a function organised last evening to felicitate ‘sewadars’ for performing exemplary duties during the week-long celebrations of the dera chief’s 50th birthday, hundreds of dera followers urged Gurmeet Ram Rahim not to appear in the court.
Sources said the followers told the dera chief that they would not allow him to leave the dera on that day.
A senior functionary of the dera said similar demands were made by ‘premis’ (dera followers) across the region at ‘sangat ghars’ in various blocks in Haryana and Punjab. He, however, said the dera chief had always been respectful to the law of the land and believed that the legal system would provide him justice.
Meanwhile, an uneasy calm prevails in Sirsa where the headquarters of Dera Sacha Sauda is situated as the people are worried about the ramifications if the dera chief is convicted in the case.
Chandigarh: Followers of Sirsa-based Dera Sacha Sauda today prepared the world’s largest 356.98-sq ft candy mosaic with birthday wishes for dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh. Pushpa Insan, organiser of the mosaic, said it took 75 dera followers about five hours to complete the mosaic. The work had begun at 6.30 am. As many as 1,00,062 candies were used to prepare the mosaic wishing Ram Rahim on his 50th birthday, which was on August 15. The details of the mosaic have been sent to the Guinness Book of World Records for an entry. TNS