On September 5, after a 21-day furlough, rape and murder convict and controversial godman Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Insan returned to Rohtak district’s Sunaria jail in a carcade amid heavy security cover. This was his 10th furlough or parole given at various times. Since his incarceration in 2017, he has spent 255 days out of jail so far. Observers note that Ram Rahim’s jail reprieves have invariably coincided with elections to local bodies, the Assembly, or Parliament. The Sirsa-based Dera Sacha Sauda sect, led by Ram Rahim, has a mass following in Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, Delhi, and parts of Uttar Pradesh. Ahead of the 2024 general election, the dera declared support for the BJP and formed a committee for election duty across 10 Lok Sabha seats in Haryana. Political analysts say that, despite anti-incumbency against the State government, farmers’ grievances, and the wrestlers’ protest, the BJP may have consolidated its vote base—even though its tally fell to 5 seats from the previous 10.
Ram Rahim’s furlough this time, just ahead of the Haryana Assembly election scheduled for October 5, follows an order by the Punjab and Haryana High Court lifting a ban on granting him furlough. Revising its earlier order, the court on August 10 allowed the State government to grant him reprieve under the Haryana Good Conduct Prisoners (Temporary Release) Act, 2022. Three days later, he was granted a furlough.
In 2017, Ram Rahim was sentenced to 20 years in prison for raping two female followers, or sadhvis. In January 2019, he was sentenced to life in prison for his involvement in the murder of Ram Chander Chhatrapati, editor of Poora Sach, a local evening daily that exposed the rape of the sadhvis. On October 18, 2021, Ram Rahim and four others were awarded life imprisonment by a CBI special court for the murder of Ranjit Singh, former Dera manager and brother of one of the women who was raped. On May 28 this year, the Punjab and Haryana High Court acquitted them in the case. The acquittal has been challenged in the Supreme Court.
According to Jagmati Sangwan, national vice president of the All India Democratic Women’s Association, the Haryana government has consistently refused to consider Ram Rahim a “serial criminal” despite the rape and murder cases against him. In 2022, the government declared that he did not fall in the category of hardcore convicted prisoners. “The State government is misusing the law time and again in Ram Rahim’s favour for electoral considerations, ignoring the concerns of civil society and his victims,” she said.
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Recently, Sunil Sangwan, an ex-jailer in whose tenure Ram Rahim was granted parole six times, joined the BJP as its candidate from the Charkhi Dadri constituency in Haryana. The government’s unusual haste in processing Sangwan’s resignation and induction into the party raised many eyebrows.
Whether Ram Rahim will be able to help the BJP electorally is debatable, but he undoubtedly has a vast following among some economically backward and non-Jat communities. “He definitely influences a large section of voters in Haryana. The BJP is trying to use his religious clout to consolidate votes,” Jagmati said.
The BJP’s patronage
Dera Sacha Sauda has for long enjoyed the BJP’s patronage. In 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi lauded the Dera chief for his commitment to the Swachh Bharat (clean India) mission. On several occasions, Ram Rahim has shared a platform with senior BJP leaders, including former Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar. In 2016, Haryana Minister Anil Vij donated Rs.50 lakh from his discretionary fund to the dera. “What is wrong with it? They run schools and promote sports there. If I had more money, I would have given it,” the Minister said at that time.
Last year, when out on parole, Ram Rahim organised a cleanliness drive, which saw the participation of Rajya Sabha member Krishan Lal Panwar and former Minister Krishan Kumar Bedi of the BJP. During this time, he was also seen celebrating his birthday by cutting a cake with a sword. During his parole breaks, he continues to produce video songs.
Highlights
- Since his incarceration in 2017, Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Insan, a rape and murder convict has spent 255 days out of jail so far. The latest reprieve he got, the 10th furlough, was on September 5.
- The controversial godman’s jail reprieves have often coincided with local bodies, the Assembly, or Parliament elections. The Dera Sacha Sauda sect had declared support for the BJP for the Lok Sabha election.
- This time, the furlough came ahead of the Haryana election scheduled for October 5. The Dera Sacha Sauda sect, led by Ram Rahim, has a significant following in Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, Delhi, and parts of Uttar Pradesh.
Ram Rahim’s frequent reprieves have reignited the debate regarding the criminalisation of politics. “There is no equality in our jails. There are two categories of prisoners. One is the VIP category who enjoy various benefits such as access to cell phones, tea and snacks with friends sitting in a garden, ability to plot crimes while in jail, send flowers to a girlfriend, get parole to attend a family function or otherwise at will. Everyone knows who they are. This is sickening,” said former Supreme Court judge Madan B. Lokur. “The other category is the ‘no-rights’ prisoners or ‘have-nots’. These prisoners, like Stan Swamy, are denied a sipper, a bed to sleep on, hygienic toilet facilities, legal assistance, bail, or release to attend the cremation of a parent, and so on.”
Significantly, Ram Rahim has used his “spiritual and humanitarian work” to cloud the controversies surrounding him. At his dera, followers pledge to donate body organs, skin, blood, and bones. In 2009, Ram Rahim declared that he would start a movement at Shah Satnam Ji Ashram at Uttar Pradesh’s Barnava to convince young men to marry former sex workers so as to bring them back into mainstream society. He also claims to have cures for ailments such as cancer and AIDS, besides visual impairment.
Members of the Dera Sacha Sauda sect overturn an OB van on the streets of Panchkula in August 2017 after a court convicted Ram Rahim Singh in a case of raping two of his followers. | Photo Credit: Altaf Qadri/AP
“From getting the initial FIR registered to petitioning the High Court and eventually securing a CBI investigation, we wore out countless pairs of shoes in our quest for justice. Yet, when we finally got justice in 2019, it feels like a cruel joke,” said Anshul Chhatrapati, 44, son of Ram Chander Chhatrapati. “It is disheartening to see how the gaps in the legal system are being exploited in favour of a convicted person,” said Anshul, who was 21 when his father was killed. The newspaper he ran had to be shut down a few years ago.
Political parties patronise religious leaders
Ram Rahim has challenged his convictions in the rape of two women and the murder of Ram Chander Chhatrapati. The High Court is expected to hear these cases soon. Anshul fears the outcome may mirror the Ranjit Singh case. “Despite a huge pendency of criminal cases in the High Court, the case was fast-tracked, and Ram Rahim was acquitted in May 2024. In the other two cases too, the CBI hasn’t appointed senior legal counsel,” he claimed. “On one side, there is a man with a powerful empire and an army of senior lawyers. On the other side are his helpless victims with limited resources. How can we compete against such might?”
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Recently, the Akal Takht declared Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal tankhaiya (guilty of religious misconduct) on several charges, including for using his influence to ensure that Ram Rahim was pardoned in a 2007 blasphemy case for imitating the 10th Sikh Guru Gobind Singh. Despite these convictions, Ram Rahim continues to have a vast following in Punjab as well. That may not be unique to Ram Rahim and applies to other deras as well.
Explaining the phenomenon of deras, Ronki Ram, the Shaheed Bhagat Singh Chair Professor of Political Science, Panjab University, said: “With the era of liberalisation, privatisation, and globalisation, the state started to withdraw from public services, health, education, and other sectors. The socially and economically marginalised communities were left on their own. Deras emerged in this vacuum as the sole refuge.”
Raja Ram Handiaya, national president of the Tarksheel Society Bharat (Rationalist Society India), noted that all political parties patronised religious leaders, seeing their followers as vote banks. “Despite the fact that they promote unscientific temperament in violation of Article 51A(h) of the Constitution, they enjoy state protection and privileges,” he said. “We endangered our lives to make sure that Ram Rahim was held accountable. Repeated jail reprieves raise serious questions about our justice system. When out of jail, he delivers sermons and enjoys government facilities. The court must take cognisance and treat it as contempt of court. His parole breaks endanger the lives of witnesses.” Handiaya said he was attacked by Dera men for being a witness in a rape case. At present, he lives in Punjab and has been given protection by the State police there.
The advocate Sudesh Kumari, general secretary of the Jan Sangharsh Manch, who has been combating deras both socially and legally, criticised the BJP for its inconsistent stance on crimes against women. “The BJP exhibits double standards when addressing crimes against women. Its position on the Kolkata doctor rape and murder case starkly contrasts with its handling of Ram Rahim’s cases in Haryana,” she told Frontline. “The BJP has reinforced the existing nexus of politicians, bureaucrats, businessmen, and criminals. We feel increasingly agitated and powerless each time the Baba receives another reprieve from jail.”
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