A shocking video recording has recently begun circulating the internet in which ABP News India do a live interview of the Sirsa Dera chief, Gurmeet Ram Raheem. During the interview, recorded a few months ago, the Sauda Saadh discloses how members of the Jathedar camp had approached him in negotiating, what is believed to be, a pardon letter some time prior to last week’s developments.
Ram Raheem reveals in the interview how people from the Jathedar camp visited him on many occasions, coming back and forth with amendments to the letter, which he claims he had accepted at every stage. He says, “the negotiators didn’t find it necessary for me to visit the Akal Takht, they didn’t ask me to visit and the thought never crossed my mind, but they were okay with me submitting letters.”
The Akal Takht commands the ultimate respect of the Khalsa Panth, but its current appointed Jathedar, widely believed to be under the influence of Punjab’s politicians, has recently accepted a so-called “apology” from the Sauda Saadh without consulting the Sikh community. It is under mysterious circumstances the five Singh Sahibans at the Akal Takht were either forced or pressured to give a pardon to the Dera chief, who had hurt the sentiments of the Sikh community in 2007 when he attempted to imitate the tenth Guru.
The highly controversial action by the Jathedars, considered to be traitorous by a large section of the community worldwide, is deemed to have been a political move in what many say is the result of closed door meetings to secure the Dera vote bank ahead of the 2017 state elections. Major Sikh organisations from across the world and high profile Parcharaks have all condemned the decision, whilst the likes of the DSGMC have gone out their way to defend the move, evidently due to their political affiliations with the ruling Akali Dal (Badal). Even Akali Dal loyalists like the Taksal’s Harnam Singh Dhumma of the Sant Samaj have taken a stand against the move.
The Punjabi Tribune has recently revealed that Sukhbir Singh Badal, deputy Chief Minister of Punjab and President of the Akali Dal (Badal), had closed door meetings with the Dera chief a couple of weeks ago in Mumbai where the issue of pardon and release of the cult leaders film in Punjab was discussed. After the Akal Takht management issued the pardon on 24 September 2015, within 24 hours Ram Raheem’s second film ‘MSG-2 The Messenger’ is allowed to be released in Punjab. Soon after, Ram Raheem instructs his followers to withdraw all pending cases registered against Sikhs.
This interview, recorded before the current happenings, positively corroborates the Jathedar’s and their political leaders have been colluding with the Sirsa Dera behind closed doors, without taking the Khalsa Panth into confidence. The Akal Takht certainly did not get an unexpected letter, but was most likely an architect in this whole ploy to fool the Punjabi’s.