Punjab remained peaceful on Monday following an apology by Dera Sacha Sauda chief Baba Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh.
The Dera Sacha Sauda sect on Sunday tendered an apology to Guru Gobind Singh to diffuse the situation. “In the best interest of peace and tranquillity, the Dera Sacha Sauda tenders an apology to Guru Gobind Singh,” it said in a statement.
The Sikh clergy is meeting today to consider the apology, while Sikh devotees have welcomed it cautiously.
“We will go by whatever (Giani Joginder Singh) Vedanti directs us to do. The main objective here should be bringing peace in the region,” said Nikita Gumber, a Sikh devotee in Amritsar.
“It was a good thing that Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh apologised. It will help maintain peace. We will go by whatever decision the Akal Takht takes anyways,” said Manmit Singh, another Sikh.
The statement by the sect came as the Sikh clergy’s deadline to the sect to vacate its camps across Punjab ended on Sunday.
Clashes between the Sikhs and the sect, which combines spirituality with social work, erupted on May 14, a day after an advertisement appeared showing the sect’s religious leader dressed up as Guru Gobind Singh, the revered 17th century Sikh guru.
Skirmishes between the rival groups flared into mob violence when the Akal Takht urged Sikhs to boycott the sect.
The Dera sect, which has tens of thousands of followers, says it is a social organization that believes in the oneness of god and does not adhere to a particular faith, though its leader wears a turban and has a long beard in the Sikh style.
Posted By Staff Reporter
in Punjab News
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