Why can't the Indian government propose to the Chinese a corridor circumambulating the Holy Mountain where people from both sides could perform the yatra again? asks Claude Arpi.
The allegation is that the Dera plotted against VVIPs like Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, his son Sukhbir Singh Badal and several others.
A special CBI team, escorted by heavily armed police, reached the Dera headquarters in Sirsa on Saturday morning and was made to wait for over three hours before the notice could be served to the Dera chief in his gufa (cave), CBI sources said.
Acting on the court's directive, the Punjab government had on Wednesday given the go-ahead for the arrest and prosecution of Dera Sacha Sauda head.
"I thought that rediff.com was only a portal and had nothing to do with news," he said.
"We are trying to simplify the draft statement which we will telephonically discuss with the Sikh leaders", he said.
Haryana and Punjab remained on high alert with officials warning that violent miscreants will be shot at sight.
The home ministry, which is closely monitoring the situation in these states, will give all possible assistance to them to tackle the situation
The CM also said the damage caused to some media personnel's equipment during the violence will be taken care of the government.
Additional security personnel were deployed in the Poonch district on Monday even as a search operation was ongoing in the forested terrain of Dera ki Gali, where two Army vehicles were ambushed by heavily armed terrorists from across the border last week.
Clarifying on reports of proving Ram Rahim Singh with 'luxurious' items, KP Singh said that no RO system or attendants have been provided to him, as it was said in media reports.
The release of the movie was cleared by the Film Certification Appellate Tribunal.
The losses caused to property due to violence and arson by the followers of self-styled godman Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh will be recovered from Dera Sacha Sauda, the Punjab and Haryana high court ruled on Fridayy, according to a senior government lawyer.
An average voter turnout of 20 per cent was recorded in the first four hours of voting in the bypolls to 15 assembly seats spread across Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Kerala and Uttarakhand on Wednesday amid an incident of stone pelting in a village in UP's Meerapur and allegations of police personnel deterring voters from casting their ballot.
As the Sikh's highest temporal seat gave an ultimatum to the Punjab government to close down the Deras by May 27, it rejected the regret expressed by Dera head Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh.
The army was kept on standby and curfew imposed in Dabwali town in Haryana's Sirsa district on Friday after a group of Sikhs and supporters of the Dera Sacha Sauda fought pitched battles in which one person was killed and 30 injured. Late on Friday night, violence spread to Gukanwali village, about 25 km from Dabwali, as Sikhs attacked an ashram belonging to the Dera and set it on fire.
State govt said it is not averse to seeking Army's help to maintain law and order.
A special CBI court on August 28 had sentenced Ram Rahim Singh to 20 years in prison.
Singh said he took stock of the situation in Haryana, Punjab and Chandigarh in the wake of violence following conviction of the Dera chief.
The court also directed that Singh shall remain present and join investigations as and when required in future and adjourned the matter to September 19.
The request is under "active consideration" of the Union home ministry, he said.
The bench, comprising acting Chief Justice S S Saron and Justices Surya Kant and Avneesh Jhingan, directed that no FIR registered by the two states during the episode shall be cancelled without the permission of the high court.
One person was killed on Friday in firing by a bodyguard of Dera Sacha Sauda chief Ram Rahim Singh, which is at loggerheads with the Sikh clergy, during clashes between Sikhs and supporters of the group in a mall in a north-east Mumbai suburb, police said. The clashes occurred during a visit by Singh in the Nirmal Lifestyles mall in suburban Mulund late on Friday evening, they said.
The Dera Sacha Sauda on Friday moved a petition before the Supreme Court seeking protection for all the Deras across the country against an alleged ultimatum given by the Akal Takht to vacate them by May 27 and stop their activities.
Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh has been accused of hurting the religious sentiments of the Sikh community.
"Police have sent an application to the government seeking sanction to prosecute the Dera head," Bhatinda police chief Naunihal Singh told PTI over phone in Chandigarh on Saturday.
The apology letter addressed to Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Joginder Singh Vidanti was delivered to Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee chief Avtar Singh Makkar by Congress legislator from Bathinda Harminder Singh Jassi.
Special Judge, CBI Court, R K Saini framed charges against the five -- Kishan Lal, Avtar Singh, Inder Saini, Jasbir Singh and Sabdil Singh -- in the Ranjeet murder case.
Honeypreet Insan's former husband also claimed that the self-styled godman used to organise a 'Bigg Boss'-like show in his secret cave involving couples.
"Our investigations in the various cases against Dera Sacha Sauda are over," a senior CBI official told PTI in Chandigarh on Tuesday.
Notably, all the games played inside the academy are created by Gurmeet Ram Rahim himself and are not played at national or international level.
Known for his flashy outfits, the Dera chief was attired in a white kurta-pyjama with matching white shoes as the judge sentenced him to 20 years in jail.
Even as the home ministry sent out alerts to states over Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Singh Ram Rahim's movie, Messenger of God, the Censor Board has refused to certify the film taking exception to the spiritual leader depicting himself as god on the silver screen.
Dera Sachkhand leader Sant Rama Nand, whose death in a shooting incident in Vienna triggered large-scale violence in Punjab, will be cremated on Thursday with full state honours, amid tight security in Ballan. The body of the Dera leader was brought to Ballan, 15 kms from Jalandhar, early today morning by a special flight from Vienna for the last rites. Many sect followers gathered to pay their last respects to the leader.Tight security arrangements were put in place.
Punjab Congress chief and former chief minister Amrinder Singh on Friday visited the Dera Sacha Sauda in Sirsa and met its chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh to seek the support of the sect followers in favour of his party for the January 30 assembly polls.
A youth was killed and a woman injured in Jalandhar district on Tuesday after a Dera head allegedly opened fire on Dalits objecting to his "derogatory" remarks against Valmiki.
Impressed by PM Modi's initiatives, the sect will extend support to BJP
One person was killed when a group of Sikhs clashed with Dera Sacha Sauda supporters in Dabwali town in Sisra district of Chandigarh on Friday morning.
said the CBI verdict has been challenged on several grounds. "One of the grounds was that there was a delay of more than six years in recording the statements of the women (victims) by the CBI after the incident," the defence counsel said.
The Dera had approached the apex court last Friday after the Akal Takht, the highest religious body of Sikhs, served an ultimatum to the Punjab government to close down all Deras in the state by May 27.
