Dera Sacha Sauda imitation controversy

Who: Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, head of the Sirsa-based Dera Sacha Sauda; the Sikh clergy under Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Joginder Singh Vedanti; the SGPC under its president Avtar Singh; and the SAD-BJP government of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, then about two months in office.

What: In May 2007 Sikh bodies accused the Dera chief of dressing like Guru Gobind Singh and serving amrit. Ram Rahim told The Tribune on 16 May, "I have never imitated Guru Gobind Singh."

• 13 May: The All-India Sikh Students Federation demanded a ban on the Dera, citing an advertisement in the press.
• 14-16 May: Effigies were burnt. In Bathinda SGPC workers and Dera followers clashed near the deputy commissioner's office and 12 people were hurt. Sikh youths with swords forced a bandh in Amritsar, and there was violence in Patiala.
• 17 May: At a Panthic gathering at Talwandi Sabo the Sikh clergy issued an edict directing the Sangat to cut all ties, social, religious and political, with the Dera chief and his followers. The Tribune judged the wording harsher than the 1978 edict against the Nirankaris. Many in the crowd shouted against Vedanti and Badal, wanting stronger action. That night a Sikh, Kanwaljit Singh, aged 28, died in firing near the Dera's Naam Charcha Ghar at Sunam, and more than 50 people were hurt across the state.
• 18 May: Badal called the Dera chief a "religious quack" and said he would never visit the Dera again, admitting he had gone there before the election. Vedanti said Ram Rahim could not be summoned to the Akal Takht because he did not respect the Ten Gurus.

Where: Punjab and Haryana, with flashpoints at Bathinda, where the Dera's branch at Salabatpura needed paramilitary guards, and at Talwandi Sabo, Amritsar, Patiala, Sunam and Sirsa.

Why it mattered: The Panth took on a Dera with a vast following. Outlook put its Punjab votes at about 40 lakh and reported that it backed the Congress in the February 2007 election, which hurt the Akalis in Malwa. Outlook also reported that Akali workers then disrupted Dera prayer meetings and that Dera activity in Punjab almost stopped for a year and a half.

By March 2009, Outlook wrote, the Akalis were courting the same votes, letting the Dera reopen branches. Sikh groups such as the Akali Dal (Panch Pardhani) accused them of double-speak. In 2015 the Akal Takht pardoned the Dera chief on 24 September and withdrew the pardon on 16 October, the Tribune reported.