A well planned BLUNDER!

A self styled head of a religious sect who dons many hats got convicted of rape charges and his followers showed their strength by bringing the state administration to its knees. This certainly can not be a religious sect as no religion teaches so. The dera chief (the head of the sect) has had a weird profile. He appears like a rock star to his followers at the congregations, acts and produces movies where he presents himself as a “Messenger of God”, has been facing trail for over 15 year for cases of rape and murder. His clout with the political parties is all known as political leaders from Punjab and Haryana are known to be striving on his support. On the judgment day convoy of over 200 cars of Ram Rahim Singh was escorted by the state machinery for close to 200 kilometers, while his followers were gearing up for the worst unrest that the peaceful city of Panchkula in Haryana ever witnessed. His transformation from a simple truck driver to Ram Rahim Gurmeet Singh is well explained by his acquired name- one which cuddles the Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs.
Not only was the state of Haryana appearing helpless, but the states of Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and the national capital New Delhi also faced the blunt of the mob. Loss of lives, loss of property and a mayhem! Somebody has to be responsible. The Punjab and Haryana High Court has rightly asked that properties of Dera Sacha Sauda be attached in order to compensate for the loss. The violence in Haryana that followed Dera Sacha Sauda Chief Ram Rahim Gurmeet Singh conviction left 33 dead and hundreds injured. This was not an incident that unfolded within few minutes or few hours, it was brewing for over a week as the supporters were allowed to sneak in to the city. They were able to reach the court premises too.
Not that the police and the other paramilitary forces were caught napping, they were under instructions from the government to do so despite a week’s advance warning of a possible backlash in case of an adverse verdict. The laxity on the part of the government presented a horrific picture of India, sending a message of complete mess. Treacherous rape cases have already given a bad name to India. Now these acts of burning of cars, damage to buildings and complete breakdown of the administration over a rape convict has given another bad name to India’s repute.
The whole drama is an epitome of the unholy alliance that exists between religion and politics. The nexus between the Manohar Lal Khattar government and the dera head was evident. Treating Ram Rahim Gurmeet Singh and his followers with kid gloves was a political compulsion, for not just the BJP but Congress, Akalis in Punjab and INLD in Haryana too reaped political mileage due to his following. Even PM Narendra Modi himself had showered praise on the dera chief once to get votes of his supporters.
The kind of inaction by the Manohar Lal Khattar government was expected. The government had done nothing to maintain law and order during Jat agitation a year ago. The inaction was expected ,as on 15 August 2017 two cabinet ministers of Haryana, Education Minister Ram Vilas Sharma and Health Minister Anil Vij visited Dera Sacha Sauda, prostrated full body in full public view before Baba Ram Rahim and presented to him a cheque of Rs 5100000 (fifty one lakhs) out of the consolidated fund of Haryana government as birthday gift ! The government was fully aware of the misdeeds of this man, his two ministers were busy presenting him a birthday gift. Which amounts to a gross misappropriation and misuse of the taxpayers’ money and does call for a probe.
Clearly, the elected government of Manohar Lal Khattar has a lot to answer. When Section 144 of Cr PC that bans the assembly of four or more people was imposed in Panchkula, how come lakhs of followers were allowed to congregate? Why was the state machinery pressed into ensuring a VIP treatment for the dera chief?
It was not just an administrative lapse but a blunder for which heads must roll. The situation has thrown off the veil of deceive of the face of the chief minister. He failed in providing necessary sense of security to the people of Haryana. Good governance might have been on the agenda of his party, but the chief minister was dumb founded. It’s a fit case for a change of guard at Haryana.