Hectic activity at Sacha Sauda HQ, Sirsa tense

Sirsa, May 17 (UNI) Tension gripped this city as hectic activity was witnessed at the Dera Sacha Sauda headquarters here with truck-loads of followers arriving and leaving the commune even as authorities slapped prohibitory orders and sought paramilitary support.

The heightened movement around the Dera after 1900 hrs in the evening has put the administration and police on guard regarding their strategy in the wake of reports on attacks on other Dera centres in Punjab as well as the Sikh clergy's edict against the Sauda chief Sant Gurmit Ram Rahim Singh.

The administration here has sought 4 companies of BSF and 2 of Rapid Action Force to deal with any untoward incident in wake of the accelerating tension between the Sikh activists and Sauda followers over the controversy regarding the dress worn by the Dera chief during a baptisation ceremony on Saturday, which the Sikh claim was an attempt to emulate their tenth Guru Gobind Singh.

Meanwhile, in a reaction to the controversy, Sant Gurmit Ram Rahim has categorically denied that he was trying to copy the Sikh Guru by donning similar robes.

Asserting that there was no similarity between the robes, the Sauda chief said he had been wearing such dresses, given by his followers, on many occasions and was 'amazed and sad' over the unprecedented Sikh protests this time.

Talking to mediapersons, he, however, refused to comment on the possibility of ''political vendetta'' being at the back of the protests against the Dera, which had supported the Congress in the recent assembly polls.

In reaction to the Sikh clergy's demand for the arrest of the Dera Chief, a ban on the organisation and its social boycott, a statement issued by the Dera here described the move as ''unfortunate and reflective of narrow mindedness.'' A spokesman, stressing that the Dera promoted secularism and had many Sikh followers, appealed to the Sikh Sangat to reconsider its stand.

UNI