Uneasy calm in Punjab and Haryana, High Court castigates CM Khattar & PM Modi

An uneasy calm prevails in Punjab and Haryana following the mayhem witnessed on Friday, when the supporters of Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh resorted to large scale arson and violence after his conviction in a rape case by a CBI court in Panchkula.

The situation in Sirsa, where the Dera headquarters are located, remained tense, as the Army and the administration kept trying to get the thousands of followers holed in the Dera premises to vacate and go home.

Curfew was relaxed in the districts and towns of Punjab following no untoward incident.

However, the situation remains tense, as the sentence in the case will be delivered on Monday. Gurmeet will not be brought back to the Panchkula court; instead, the judge will travel to Rohtak to pronounce the sentence.

Meanwhile, Haryana's Deputy Advocate General Gurdas Singh was sacked for reportedly carrying Gurmeet's luggage.

High Court blasts state and Centre

Saturday's action was centred at the Punjab and Haryana High Court, where the Haryana government under Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar stood castigated for 'protecting Dera followers and extending political patronage'.

The court didn't even spare Prime Minister Narendra Modi. When Additional Solicitor General Satya Pal Jain, representing the Centre, said Friday's violence was a matter for the state, the court said: “He is the Prime Minister of not the BJP but of India... Is Haryana not a part of India? Why are Punjab and Haryana treated like step children?”

The court said there was a sea of difference between administrative and political decisions, and that administrative decisions were paralysed because of political considerations. “You let a city like Panchkula burn for political motives. You let the situation escalate. You surrendered to the situation. You are trying to crucify a small DCP of Panchkula what about those political masters who have been giving wrong directions?” the court said.

Having made it clear on Friday that the proceedings for attachment of assets for damage to public property would be initiated against the violators and instigators of the violence, the court on Saturday asked district administrations across Punjab and Haryana to prepare a list of Dera properties. It has also directed that the Dera cannot part with its properties.

The Bench, comprising Justices SS Saron, Surya Kant and Avneesh Jhingan, directed Deputy Commissioners across Punjab and Haryana to invite, through public notices, claims for damages to property in the violence.

The court has asked the state to inform about its plans to sanitise the Dera and its branches. The court came down heavily on the state for misleading it by furnishing wrong information on the number of vehicles in the convoy of the Dera chief that had come from Sirsa to Panchkula on Friday. It has asked for the name of the officer who provided the information to the Advocate General.

The court also slammed Haryana Education Minister Ram Bilas Sharma for giving a grant of Rs 51 lakh to the Dera recently, and sought its status.

The Haryana government was also asked to verify a report in a vernacular daily about instigation by the Dera leaders. The court issued directions for an FIR to be registered if the journalist stands by his report.

Haryana govt gives details

Meanwhile, the Haryana government claimed that there had been no problem on the law and order front in the state since 6 pm on Friday.

Chief secretary DS Dhesi, Director General of Police (DGP) BS Sandhu and additional chief secretary (Home) Ram Niwas disclosed that 28 people died in the violence at Panchkula, including three women and a child. Three people died in the violence in Sirsa. The number of injured stands at 250, including 50 police personnel.

Dhesi said efforts were on to get the deceased identified. He further said that 28 vehicles were burnt.

He further informed that 101 companies of paramilitary forces were deployed in the state, along with 10 columns of the Army, six of which were in Panchkula and four in Sirsa.

He said during the search operations, one AK-47 rifle and one Mauser rifle were recovered from a vehicle belonging to the Dera, while two rifles and five pistols were recovered from another vehicle. He said two cases of sedition had been registered against Dera supporters.

What Punjab got right

While the two epicentres of the violence, Panchkula and Sirsa, are both in Haryana, the violence did not spread like wildfire through neighbouring Punjab, like it did through Haryana to Delhi and even Uttar Pradesh.

There were many reasons for this: the message from the Punjab government was loud and clear – that no violence would be tolerated. Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh himself had given instructions that at the slightest of provocation, curfew was to be imposed. Maintaining law and order was the focus.

Frisking and checking of vehicles for travelling between Punjab-Chandigarh and Punjab-Haryana was very stringent. Those identified as Dera supporters were asked to deboard vehicles. Haryana could've stopped them from entering Panchkula, but didn't. The government also boosted police morale through the ranks, which Haryana didn't do. In fact, there was confusion among the ranks.

On Saturday, Amarinder gave details about the situation in Punjab, claiming that everything was under control. He said that curfew was relaxed for a few hours in the seven districts for few hours, but would continuing. He said deputy commissioner had been asked to take a call on lifting it after taking stock of the situation.

“We were confident. The Punjab government was on the ground. The people also pitched in to help maintain peace and order. It was a collective effort,” he said, while underlining that violence of any kind would not be tolerated and no one would be allowed to destroy peace in the state.

He also disclosed that seven of those killed in the violence in Panchkula were from Punjab. He also said that a total of 39 cases had been registered in Punjab with regards to the violence on Friday.

Dal Khalsa statement

Meanwhile, Dal Khalsa leaders HS Dhami, Kanwar Pal Singh, Amrik Singh Issru, Hardeep Singh Mehraj and Jasbir Singh credited the High Court for bringing the situation under control.

The party said had the court not taken cognisance of the situation and ordered security personnel to use force if needed, Dera 'goons', after going on rampage and damaging property and vehicles, would have wreaked havoc on the lives of innocent citizens.

Condemning the senseless violence unleashed by Dera followers, they said the violence was predictable, and also called the Haryana government 'complicit' with Dera.

The party has attacked both the Congress and the BJP for hobnobbing with the cult leader. “A rape accused going for court appearance with 100-plus cavalcade cars under Z-plus security is enough for the world to laugh at the Indian political system,” the leaders said.

They hailed the courage shown by the judge, Jagdeep Singh, in delivering justice to the victim, despite the pressure.