Dera Sacha Sauda defiant, says centres will not be closed

SIRSA: The Dera Sacha Sauda, embroiled in a bitter controversy over its head's alleged insult to Sikh Guru Gobind Singh on Sunday refused to bulge and vacate its centres in Punjab in spite of demands by the Sikh clergy.

"The question of vacating deras does not arise at all," Dera's senior vice chairman Prithviraj told a gathering of followers here, immediately after Sikh priests gave a fresh ultimatum to the Punjab government to shut down all deras in the state.

He said the group will protest against the 'hukumnama' (edict) in a peaceful manner with its followers donating blood and organs after death.

"We have been following the path of love and peace and will continue to do that in the interest of the country and humanity," he said.

"Under the Constitution deras cannot be closed," he said, adding the group was not immediately thinking about taking any legal recourse.

Meanwhile, security has been stepped up at all deras across Punjab and Haryana, including its headquarters in Sirsa. Additional paramilitary personnel have been deployed to maintain a tight vigil and to check any untoward incident, official sources said.

The Sikh high priests, who met in Amritsar earlier in the day, rejected Dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh's regret and asked the government to close down all deras within a week.