Bitterness in Punjab over Dera chief’s parole, satsangs

Jalandhar: With bitterness brewing in parts of Punjab over the grant of parole to rape and murder convict Gurmeet Ram Rahim, the head of Sirsa-headquartered Dera Sacha Sauda, political parties and their leaders are maintaining a stoic silence in the state, barring few exceptions.
The dera chief has significantly increased his online activity during his latest parole, his third this year. There have been a few incidents of the dera sending its followers to invite people for gatherings in different villages being confronted by Sikhs. These indicate that things could take a turn for the worse in the state.
So far, only Punjab assembly speaker Kultar Singh Sandhawan, Congress deputy chief minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, Congress MP Ravneet Bittu, Shiromani Akali Dal (Sanyukt) leader and former finance minister Parminder Singh Dhindsa, and SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia have spoken out against the dera head’s parole and his increased activity. Punjab Youth Congress president Brinder Singh Dhillon has questioned the silence of political leadership across parties through a Twitter thread.
The contrast within Congress gets even bigger as Randhawa has been acerbic in his comments against the dera chief but Punjab Congress president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring and LoP Partap Singh Bajwa have been silent.