Bid to fuel Dera-Sikh row

Bid to fuel Dera-Sikh row
Rajay Deep
Tribune News Service

Gill Kalan (Bathinda), March 4
In yet another attempt to fuel Dera-Sikh tension in the state, some unidentified persons pasted handbills in this village, warning the Dera Sacha Sauda followers to give up their proximity to the sect or get ready to face the consequences at the hands of radicals.
According to the villagers (Dera followers), it was a surprise for them on Wednesday, when they found such handbills with the name of ‘Tiger Force,’ pasted on the walls of their houses and shops.
The handbills, a copy of which was procured by The Tribune, clearly warns the Dera followers to avoid organizing the religious discourses of Dera Sacha Sauda in the village or they would be taken to task.
Besides using derogatory language for the Dera chief, the unidentified persons have asked all Dera followers to join Sikhism. Bearing provocative slogans, the handbills mention pro-Khalistan slogans also. Soon after the information spread in the village, the Dera followers brought the matter to the knowledge of their district level committee, which further forwarded it to the Dera headquarters and also informed the police to take action in this regard.
Sensing the gravity of the situation, a team of cops rushed to the village and removed all the posters and took some of them in their custody.
When The Tribune team today visited the village, it found people unaware about the identity of the persons, who pasted the handbills.
Terming it as an unusual incident in the light of the Dera-Sikh controversy that erupted in Punjab, some elderly persons sitting at a common place in the village said, “We are curious to ascertain the identity of the ‘miscreants’, who wanted to create a void in our relations by creating communal tension.”
Speaking to the TNS, four among a group of elderly persons disclosed they were Dera followers but had no differences with the others, said to be Sikhs.
“We have been living in this village for the past couple of decades but we have never let religious diferences come in our friendship. We are free to observe our religion in any way we like,” said Nachattar Singh, an elderly Dera follower.
When contacted, SSP Bathinda, Sukhchain Singh Gill said, “Though we have not yet ascertained the identity of the persons behind the incident, prima facie, it seems the handiwork of some miscreants.”
“We are investigating the matter in detail and once the accused got identified, we will send the paper seized to the handwriting experts. We also assure that the accused would not be spared at any cost,” added the SSP.