Dera ready to sit for talks

SIRSA: An uneasy calm prevailed at the Dera Sacha Sauda headquarters here on Friday as the group said it was ready to hold talks to sort out the stand-off with Sikh organisations over an alleged insult to Guru Gobind Singh.

"We are ready to sit across the table and sort out the tangle," Dera's chief spokesman Aditya Insaan said.

The situation remained tense at various places in Punjab and Haryana for the fifth day today due to the stand-off over an advertisement that featured Dera head Sant Gurmit
Ram Rahim Singh in the garb of the tenth Sikh Guru.

Insaan said the Dera followers want an "honourable and peaceful settlement of the issue", adding there has been no contact with the state government or any representative of Sikh groups so far.

He alleged that Sikhs had damaged some properties of the Dera in Punjab's Sangrur district in fresh cases of violence on Friday.

Paramilitary forces conducted a flag march in the town to instill confidence among the people in the wake of the tension.

Security personnel have also set up check points to stop movement of undesirable elements towards the Dera ashram as the inmates had apprehended that Sikhs might attack the complex to get it vacated.

Markets, schools, colleges and offices, however, remained open in the town.