Highlights
1
Ram Rahim's followers have threatened mass conversions to Islam.
2
Sources say, Gurmeet Ram Rahim knows how to play the religion card well.
3
The claims made by him that he has crores of followers are false, Vijay Bhardwaj.
In a bid to divert attention from the charges of 'mass rapes' that have been levelled against him, Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh's aides and followers have threatened mass conversions to Islam in a bid to stoke another controversy. The controversial Sirsa-based Dera Sacha Sauda chief's followers claim that their chief - Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh - was jailed because he is a Hindu and that Hindu organisations are easy targets.
The latest allegation and the threat of conversion surfaced on social media in a video which is being anchored by none other than the Dera spokesperson Sandeep Mishra himself. In the video, he can be seen in conversation with a Dera follower whose face is masked. The video, as claimed by Mishra himself, was shot in Sirsa. In the video, Mishra claims that the Dera followers are in touch with AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi and Shahi Imam Syed Ahmad Bukhari, the 13th Shahi Imam of the Jama Masjid, Delhi.
"If you love Hindustan... it will bring tears to your eyes that being a Hindu is a crime in our own country Hindustan. When faith is under attack, why not to convert? I am being joined by people with a similar mindset," says Sandeep Mishra in the video.
The person on the other side, whose face has been masked, says converting to Islam will be beneficial for them as nobody touches Muslims even when they throw stones. "We face bullets even when we are empty-handed. Our leader is in touch with Muslim leaders and we will convert when one lakh followers give their consent," says the Dera follower who says they will live in India after converting to Islam.
In the video, Sandeep Mishra is also heard saying that those who are followers of Ram get punished while those who pledge their allegiance to Rahim are allowed to go scot free. The follower also claims that all Dera followers will convert to Islam in batches of one lakh followers. He also says that Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh paid the price for being a Hindu.
But, sources say, Mishra is not the brain behind this fresh controversy. Sources say that Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh - the Dera chief who knows how to play the religion card well - himself is the brain behind the controversy. Sources have revealed that despite being behind bars, the controversial Dera chief is managing the sect and is guiding his aides on their next course of action from inside the jail.
Sources say besides the well wishers in the BJP-led state government, Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh also has friends in the police and bureaucracy who could possibly be helping him manage the affairs of the Dera from the jail itself.
Sources and former Dera followers allege that when the police can give a free hand to the fugitive Honeypreet and Dr Aditya Insan who have continued to evade the police for the last five weeks, they may also be helping their jailed boss by offering internet or social media access. The jail authorities have, however, denied these allegations.
Interestingly, both the mobile phone numbers that Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh provided - of himself and of Honeypreet - could not be verified by the jail authorities as both the numbers were switched off.
"Gurmeet Ram Rahim is not able to speak to anybody in the Dera as the numbers provided by him were not verified. The allegations are not based on facts," says DGP Prisons, Haryana, Dr KP Singh.
Former Dera followers like Gurdas Singh Toor and Gurmeet Ram Rahim's relative Bhupinder Singh Gora say the jailed sect chief knows how to misuse and exploit religion to divert attention when things go against him.
"He is a clever fox and knows the power of religion. He used to change the names of Hindu followers to Muslim names just to prove that Muslims are also his followers," says Gurdas Singh ToorDera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim's relative Bhupinder Singh Gora has demanded a probe into the mass conversion threat raised by Sandeep Mishra in the video.
Some right wing organisations have also taken a serious note of the threat. Chandigarh-based Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Vijay Bhardwaj has criticised Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh for using the religion card to divert public attention.
"The claims made by him that he has crores of followers are false. He has a few lakh supporters who are non-Hindus as they had joined the Dera. The society will disown the Dera chief and his followers as they are accused of exploiting innocent female followers," says Vijay Bhardwaj.
Interestingly, Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh - the controversial Dera Sacha Sauda Chief who added Ram and Rahim to his name saying that it would send out the message that the Dera is a confluence of all religions - is now accused of himself disturbing communal harmony between the two religions.