हिंदी
(Says CM and Gandhi family have struck deal with Dera head, SIT following game plan of Cong govt)
Chandigarh, July 14 2021 The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) today asserted the Congress government was deliberately not holding Sirsa Dera head Gurmeet Ram Raheem responsible for hatching the conspiracy to commit the sacrilege at Bargari in exchange for support from the Dera in the forthcoming assembly elections.
In a statement here, SAD Spokesman Virsa Singh Valtoha said the relief given to Gurmeet Ram Raheem was part of an understanding chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh and the Gandhi family had struck with the Dera head to secure his support for the Congress party.
Mr Valtoha said it was condemnable that Gurmeet Ram Raheem had not been nominated as an accused in the desecration case (FIR number 128) even though his role was established in the conspiracy of theft of Sri Guru Granth Sahib ji Maharaj case (FIR number 63). He said since both the cases were inextricably linked the Dera head should be named as an accused in FIR number 128 also.
Stating that the Congress government had been trying to save the Sirsa Dera head in the sacrilege case from the very beginning, Mr Valtoha said the Ranjit Singh Commission had laid the foundation for this in 2017 by limiting the sacrilege incident to six Dera supporters only. “The Commission in its report said that the incident was limited to Kotkapura only and that the six Dera followers had both planned and executed the crime. This was done to protect the Sirsa dera head from police action. The SIT, which has filed the challan in the case now, has also followed the Congress government’s game plan and let the Dera chief off under pressure from the government”, SAD leader asserted.
Condemning the politicization of the probe into the Bargari sacrilege, Mr Valtoha said this was not all. He said the Congress government had got permission to interrogate the Dera chief in the case but failed to do so. “It has also not taken any effort to nab the three accused Dera followers who have been declared as proclaimed offenders in the sacrilege case. This despite the fact that a rival Dera faction has gone on record and stated that the three accused – Harsh Dhuri, Sandeep Baretta and Pardeep Kler are still associated with the Dera”.
The SAD Spokesman said the Congress government had not proceeded against Gurmeet Ram Raheem even in the 2017 Maur bomb blast case. He said Punjab Police had indicated that the bomb used in the Maur blast, which had killed seven people including five children, had been assembled in the Sirsa Dera. “The kin of the blast victims have also demanded action against the Dera chief but the Congress government has put the case in cold storage since the last four and a half years”.
Mr Valtoha said in stark contrast to this policy of appeasement and collusion with the Dera for votes, the SIT formed by the erstwhile SAD led government had named Gurmeet Ram Raheem as an accused in the sacrilege case. “It is also a fact that the SAD has never had a political understanding with the Dera. This is in stark contrast to the Congress party which has had a formal arrangement with the Sirsa Dera which has announced its support to the Congress party both in the 2007 and 2012 assembly elections”, the SAD Spokesman added.
