The office of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and chief justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court received an anonymous letter from a person who identified herself as a sadhvi and follower of the Dera Sacha Sauda, headquartered outside Sirsa town of Haryana.
She claimed in the letter that Dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh had raped her and many other women followers.
After the letter went public, a Dera follower, Ranjit Singh, was found murdered. His wife maintained that he was killed because the Dera chief suspected him of circulating copies of the anonymous letter.
That was in 2002. But by the time the CBI, on instructions from the high court, had probed the rape case against the godman, it transpired he had said the act (of rape) was aimed at purifying the victims.
The CBI had traced the author of the anonymous letter and questioned 17 other women from the Dera. Two of them recorded before the CBI that they were raped by the godman. The rest of their statements seemed straight out of a Hindi movie—the godman dressed all fancy and seated on a throne with a remote control in hand in a high-tech air conditioned room inside a facade of a cave with mood lighting and automatic swing doors and with a huge television. There was fruits, dry fruits and nuts on a cabinet top. One of them said he was watching a porn film when she entered the room.
That statement and further investigations led to the chargesheet against the Dera chief, filed by the CBI sometime in the summer of 2007. About 15 months later, in September 2008, he was charged with rape and criminal intimidation.
About six years later, the Punjab and Haryana High Court again called for a CBI probe against him—this time into allegations of forced castration of hundreds of followers as alleged by a petitioner who maintained that castration was the only way to meet their god—Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh!
The Dera chief is also facing trial in the case of murders of Ranjit Singh and Ram Chander Chattrapati, a journalist who had consistently exposed the illegal activities inside the Dera.
The godman, with his flowing mane and beard and fancy metal accessories on hand and neck, looks like a middle aged rock star with poor taste in fashion. He has even tried to make a foray into the glamorous world of Bollywood, with films written, directed and starring him. The film The Messenger of God and its sequel had his name credited for 50 different aspects of making. In May this year, he acted in a Punjabi comedy titled Jattu Engineer directed by him along with his daughter Honeypreet.
He blesses his followers, often calling them premi and suffixes insaan to their names. The followers are seen as volunteers. It is unclear why he has a 'Dr' prefix to his name on his twitter handle. His twitter handle @gurmeetramrahim describes him as a “spiritual saint/philanthropist/versatile singer/all-rounder sportsperson/film director/actor/art director/music director/writer/lyricist/autobiographer/DOP. The man is fond of powerful bikes and if often seen speeding on the highways outside of Sirsa.
The Dera claims to do a lot of outreach work, one of them being the Shah Satnamji's Green Welfare Force Wing, which reaches out during natural calamities.
Originally from Rajasthan's Ganganagar area bordering Punjab, he became the third head of the Dera Sacha Sauda, taking over from Shah Satnam Singh. In fact, Satnam Singh is said to have identified in him the qualities to take over and lead a “spiritual” organisation like the Dera which has four dozen ashrams all over the country.
Most of his followers are extremely poor and belongs to lower or backward classes. However, this correspondent has met two then Indian Airlines pilots, and a doctorate holder at the Dera in Sirsa a few years ago. His followers from Punjab are those who have been marginalised by the rich jat peasantry, who have almost completely taken over the major gurdwaras. There have been allegations that most of the followers appear drugged inside the Dera, access to which has always been next to impossible for the media.
Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh is not reputed for religious discourses or motivational speeches and it is not very clear what he tells the congregation inside the heavily fortified and highly secured Dera campus spread on almost 50 acres.
But his political clout in Punjab is for all to see. A few years ago, both Captain Amarender Singh of the Congress and Parkash Singh Badal of the Shiromani Akali Dal had visited him at the Dera, apparently seeking his blessings, but in fact seeking votes of his followers. For whatever reasons, Badal was the chosen one then. But this time around, Captain Amarender Singh found favour with the godman. The Badals and the SAD government had to pay a heavy price for rescinding the directive calling for social boycott of the Dera followers. Though this was done to get Dera votes, the angry Sikhs including the SGPC and Akal Takhat leaders, turned against them.
