Walking towards the police check point near Gate number 10 of the Dera Sacha Sauda on Tuesday were not just followers of Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh but migrant labourers who had been working inside the Dera premises for years.
They had lockets with pictures of all the three Dera chiefs – Shah Mastana, Satnam Singh and Gurmeet Ram Rahim – tucked inside their bags, for fear of being mistaken for ‘premis’, as Mr Singh’s acolytes are known. The labourers got their luggage checked by government officials and iterated their names and addresses for record.
Mahesh Harijan, 30, worked as a mason inside the Dera. He had joined a year ago with two of his friends while his family stayed back in his village in Bihar. “Someone who used to follow the Satguru told me that I could work here. Life inside the Dera was stable, unlike what it is for a labourer outside,” he said.
He is among the 2,000-odd labourers from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Haryana who associated themselves with the Dera for a better life, Mr Harijan said.
Explaining why they chose the Dera despite a smaller wage of Rs300 a day as opposed to Rs500-700 outside, Sunil Kumar, 28, who hails from UP and joined the Dera three years ago told The Hindu, “We get Rs9,000 on the 6th or 7th of the month without fail. For a labourer, nothing is more important than receiving his wages on time.” He added that his previous employer in Lucknow never paid him on time or gave him his full dues.
Life inside the Dera was bliss, claimed Krishan Kumar and Ramvir Paswan, both from Bihar’s Samastipur village. “We stayed there for free. The meals were free. Our lunch and dinner were delivered to our workplaces by premis,” said Mr Krishan. Those with families were given one-bedroom accommodation on a rent of Rs1,500 for a month. “That was all they had to pay; no water, electricity or other bills,” he said.
In return for all the perks reportedly given by the Dera, the workers were only expected to perform ‘sewa’ (service) for one day in addition to their daily work. “It means we had to work for a day for free,” said Mr Paswan.
Mr Kumar said that if a labourer fell ill or got injured, he was properly attended to by the administration inside. “We were fully taken care of. Even if we missed a day’s work, our salaries were not cut and we were paid in full. If a person is unable to bathe by himself due to an injury, the premis would help him,” he claimed, adding that an ethos of equality was one of the major reasons for their belief in ‘satguru’.
As they walked towards the Dera’s exit, they requested the officers near the gate to inform all the other labourers inside that they need not be afraid to come out. “There was an announcement at 7 am asking people not come out on the roads, and that they would be shot if they did,” said Mr Paswan. Haryana government’s Deputy Director (Information and Public Relations Department) Satish Mehra denied that there was any such announcement.
13 FIRs registered, 47 arrested
Meanwhile, a total of 13 FIRs have been registered and 47 people arrested so far in connection with the violence that broke out in Sirsa after the Dera chief was convicted on rape charges on August 25.
“Several people were booked for arson, rioting, illegal assembly, attempt to murder, and obstructing officers discharging their duty. Of them, 47 have been arrested,” said Superintendent of Police Ashwin Shenvi.
The police said that the accused were arrested from various places in Sirsa after they were identified. “Most of them were apprehended from the spot. Some were identified later with the help of witnesses,” said Mr Shenvi.
