State Governments in Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Delhi had already been warned by intelligence agencies about a possible outbreak of violence in case Dera Sachcha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh was arrested. It is a matter of investigation as to why state governments, especially the Haryana Government headed by Manohar Lal Khattar did not pay heed to this warning. It speaks volumes about Ram Rahim’s political clout. A delegation of BJP leaders and ministers led by Haryana’s senior minister Anil Vij had not called on Ram Rahim on his birthday on August 15 but also presented an amount of Rs 51 lakh as a gift. BJP chief Amit Shah’s photographs seeking Ram Rahim’s blessings by touching his feet have already gone viral. Ram Rahim had reciprocated by congratulating Shah on his victory in Rajya Sabha election last week.
Famous cricketers like Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan are already brand ambassador of Baba. It is a matter to ponder that how such a heinous criminal can be included in the list of 36 most influential Indians and provided Z-category security. A fan of Bollywood movies, Baba used to be the cynosure of all eyes when he used to go out of his 700-acres Dera campus in a cavalcade of more than 100 vehicles. His clout was so much that owner of a small newspaper ‘Pura Sach’ Ram Chander Chhatrapati was killed because he published all black deeds of Ram Rahim. He had published accounts of the Sadhvis who had accused Ram Rahim of repeatedly raping them for years. Chhatrapati after being shot, struggled for life for 22 days, before succumbing. But, police did not record his statement nor did it register a case of murder, because of Ram Rahim’s political clout. The proverbial last straw was Ram Rahim’s glorification by BJP MP Sakshi Maharaj in the name of nationalism. How long will this continue?