The special CBI court will pronounce the verdict in the case against Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh on August 25. But in order to maintain law and order, the sector 16 stadium in Chandigarh has been declared a ‘temporary jail’ by the Home Department of Chandigarh on that day.The jail will be used to confine all the people suspected of creating law and order problem. But this could lead to a lot of loss to the ground, especially the pitch. This is the stadium where famous Indian cricketers like Kapil Dev, Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh trained to become international stars. A total of five international matches have been played on this stadium between 1985 and 2007.
Actually, verdict of a rape case in which Ram Rahim is accused of raping 2 women followers 15 year ago is scheduled to be announced on August 25. Intelligence agencies have informed that his followers are planning to rage violence if the verdict went against Ram Rahim. While Khattar government has imposed section 144 across Haryana, Security has been beefed up in Punjab. Society and government together should think how the image of a Guru became so larger that gives a threat to system.
In 2002, CBI on directions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court had registered a sexual exploitation case against the Dera chief . Anonymous letters were circulated about the alleged exploitation of two ‘Sadhvis’ (female followers) by Gurmeet Ram Rahim.