Sikh body asks Dera followers to vacate Gurdwara shops

Fatehabad, June 22 (UNI) The standoff between Sikhs and followers of the Dera Sacha Sauda over stoning of gurdwara at Chandpura village in this district today deepened when the Shri Guru Granth Sahib Satkar Sabha, Haryana, told all Dera followers to vacate shops in the premises of gurdwaras.

Talking to mediapersons at Rattia town in this district today, Sukhwinder Singh, president of the Sabha said that legal notices for vacation of shops would be issued to all followers of the Dera Sacha Sauda who were having their shops in gurdwara buildings.

He added that the dera followers would not be allowed to take home the 'swaroop' of Guru Granth Sahib for marriage or any other ceremony but at the same time clarified that at the same time they would not allow any fissures to appear in the Hindu-Sikh relations.

He led a group of Sikhs to present a memorandum to the SDM, Rattia, demanding arrest of those guilty of desecrating the gurdwara.

Meanwhile, a local court today reserved its decision, till tomorrow, on the application of anticipatory bail filed by eight followers of the Dera Sacha Sauda.

The dera followers Baldev Singh, Baba Singh, Kaka Singh, Ram Chander, Bhola Singh, Darshan Singh, Ram Singh and Tarsem Singh had moved an application of anticipatory bail in the court of Additional District and Sessions Judge J S Dahiya.

Members of the Sikh community were also present in the court in large numbers and opposed the bail application through their counsel.

The police had booked 169 dera followers in connection with stoning of the gurdwara.

Deputations of Sikhs and the Dera followers later met the Deputy Commissioner O P Sheoran and the SP Saurabh Singh to present their memoranda.

While the Sikhs demanded immediate arrest of the Dera followers responsible for attack on gurdwara, the Dera followers claimed that cases registered against them were false and they were being prevented from professing their religion.

UNI