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The conviction of Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, self-styled godman and head of the immensely powerful Dera Sacha Sauda, on charges of rape, will go down as a milestone. The case dates back to 2000, when the Punjab & Haryana High Court took notice of an anonymous letter making allegations about “sexual exploitation” by Gumeet Ram Rahim Singh, and ordered the CBI to investigate. The case was brought to court seven years later, and it took 10 years for the verdict to be delivered.
Meanwhile, politicians of all hues, including of the BJP, Congress, Indian National Lok Dal and Akali Dal, flocked to him for his blessings — read his followers’ votes — for their respective parties during elections. The dera issued a statement asking people to vote for the Akali Dal in this year’s assembly election; before and after the 2014 Haryana elections, BJP members flocked to the dera, first to woo him and later to give thanks. The dera head would have believed that his political clout (rather than the godly powers he claimed to have) would see him through. He also sought to intimidate the court by getting tens of thousands of followers to camp in Panchkula where the CBI court hearing the case pronounced the verdict. That he was pronounced guilty despite all this is truly landmark in a week full of historic court judgements.
The violent aftermath was expected. But not the easy abdication by the government of its responsibility to maintain law, order and peace. Haryana’s Manohar Lal Khattar government seems to have learnt no lessons at all from its embarrassing law and order failures during the 2016 Jat agitation in which 30 people lost their lives, and its 14-day stand-off with Sant Rampal followers in which six people died. Once again, the government allowed matters to drift, waking up only when prodded, when it was too late, and then hoping the Army and central forces would bail it out if matters got hot. Where else is the army called out to protect a civilian court pronouncing a verdict in an ordinary criminal trial? Unpardonably, the administration allowed the massive build-up of the dera’s followers in Panchkula ahead of the verdict.
When the Punjab & Haryana High Court blasted the government for not invoking the right provisions of Section 144 of the CrPC, the government unashamedly passed it off as a “clerical error”. If it indeed was one, the entire administration needs to answer for this mistake. The high court’s observation that there was “collusion” between the government and the dera may not be off the mark. Or, the conclusion has to be that the Khattar government is woefully inept, and has shown itself to be just that, for the third time in three years.
