Modi on Ram Rahim Singh controversy: Violence in faith's name won't be tolerated

Narendra Modi, Prime Minister

Talking tough, Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday asserted that violence in the name of faith won't be tolerated and the guilty would be punished, in a clear reference to the mayhem caused by the followers of self-styled godman Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh.

The PM was speaking on Mann Ki Baat. Several followers of the Dera chief went on rampage (top) killing 38 after his conviction

"On the one hand, the country is in the midst of celebrating festivals and on the other, when news of violence from any part of the country comes in, it is only natural to be concerned," the prime minister said in his monthly radio programme 'Mann Ki Baat'.

Though he did not take names, he was clearly referring to the mayhem caused by the followers of Ram Rahim, chief of Dera Sacha Sauda, in Haryana after his conviction in a rape case on last Friday.

"Ours is the country of Buddha and Gandhi. It is the land of Sardar Patel who gave up his all for the unity of the nation. For centuries, our forefathers have imbibed community values, non-violence, mutual respect - these are inherent to us," Modi said. "From the ramparts of the Red Fort, I had said (in the recent Independence Day address) that violence in the name of faith will not be tolerated, whether it is communal belief systems, whether it is subscribing to political ideologies, whether it is allegiance to a person or customs and traditions," the PM asserted. "No one has the right to take the law into one's own hands in the name of one's beliefs," he added. "I want to assure my countrymen that people who take the law into their own hands and are on the path of violent suppression, whether it is a person or a group, neither this country nor any government will tolerate it," he said.

Gurmeet supporters held for sedition
The Haryana Police on Sunday arrested eight supporters of Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim, including a woman, under sedition charges.

The Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Panipat, Aatma Ram, said, "The accused have been arrested under sedition charges after they issued inflammatory statements against the nation and warned to infuriate violence in the state 'if Baba Rahim gets convicted'." The DSP informed that more arrests would be made after completion of the ongoing investigation.

On August 25, the Special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court, Panchkula, convicted Dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in a 2002 rape case, after which violence unleashed in Haryana and Punjab, claiming at least 38 lives. The sentence will be announced today.

38
No of people who died in violence after Gurmeet was convicted