The top Sikh clergy on Thursday asked the community to socially boycott the Dera Sacha Sauda sect and its chief Baba Gurmit Ram Rahim, a decision termed as “too mild” by the hardliner Sikh organisations, and gave the state government 10 days’ ultimatum to check the anti-Sikh activities of the Dera.
Even as the Jathedar of the Akal Takht, the supreme temporal seat of the Sikhs, Joginder Singh Vedanti read out the decisions after a congregation of Sikh organisations at Talwandi Sabo, about 250 km from here on Thursday, the supporters of hardliner Sikh organisations stood in protest, brandishing unsheathed swords and threatening to take matters into their hands.
The hardliners mainly belonged to the fundamental Sikh seminary, the Damdami Taksal and the Nihangs, who were demanding much harsher punishment against the dera chief, Baba Gurmeet Ram Raheem Singh for committing “blasphemy” against the Sikh religion by appearing attired in the dress akin to the tenth guru, Gobind Singh.
Massive protests by the Sikhs continued for the fourth day on Thursday in Punjab against the Dera chief as Sikh organisations forced closure of shops in Patiala, Jalandhar, Amritsar and Ludhiana. Similar protests by the Sikhs were also reported from parts of Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir. Other decisions by the congregation included the registration of police cases against the Dera supporters who had clashed with the Sikhs in various parts of the state in the past four days and a directive to the Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC), which is the premier Sikh shrines management body, to keep a check on the activities of the Dera in Punjab and neighbouring states. The congregation led by the Sikh clergy stopped short of demanding the arrest of the Dera chief owing to the impracticability of such a demand which could have also put the Akali government in the state in a quandary, sources said.
The Dera chief enjoys vast support in many parts of Punjab and neighbouring states and the state government is also said to be keen to avoid direct confrontation with the dera.
Meanwhile, followers of the Dera were said to be converging at Sirsa, the headquarter of the Dera, where its chief has called his own congregation.
A spokesman of the Dera, however, said that the decision of the Akal Takht to boycott the Dera in Punjab was “divisive”.

Government issues security alert
New Delhi, DHNS: The Centre has issued advisories to Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan to keep security forces on alert and avert any further violence between Sikh groups and followers of the Dera Sacha Sauda.
The advisories were issued by the Union home ministry in the wake of clashes between the followers of Dera chief Sant Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh and the Sikhs in the past few days, according to sources. The home ministry, which is closely monitoring the situation in these states, will give all possible assistance to them to tackle the situation, the sources said.
Parts of Punjab and Haryana had reportedly been tense for the fourth day on Thursday due to the stand-off between Sikhs and Dera followers even as Sikh high priests called for a social boycott of the controversial religious group.
The Dera head triggered a controversy by purportedly appearing in the attire of 10th Sikh Guru Gobind Singh in an advertisement.