Dera chief wants his followers to marry them
Infamous for stirring controversy, Dera Sacha Sauda chief
Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh has asked his young followers to marry sex workers. Addressing a huge crowd of devotees in his hometown, he said: “It’s important to understand that poor women and girls, who are trapped into a life of perpetual slavery, have no opportunity to escape this dreary existence. A benevolent society can help them out.”
Over 50 followers have already obliged him by publicly announcing their intention to marry sex workers. Appreciating the move, Aditya Insan, a Dera spokesman said: “Guruji has proposed that young men should marry disease-free sex workers and those suffering from disease should get treatment and be rehabilitated in different ways.”
Even transgenders are being cared for. There are plans to provide them free schooling and vocational training. Keeping this in mind, a Dera delegation has zipped to Kanpur to attend a national congregation of eunuchs to discuss the issue. The sect already runs a campaign, Shahi Betian Basera, under which girl children are adopted.
But several Sikh organisations are apprehensive of the radical social reform being initiated by the Dera chief. Is he encouraging some kind of a free sexual commune? they ask. Lashing out at the Dera chief, Jasvir Singh Dhindsa, chairperson of the International Religious Tolerance Organisation, said: “These marriages will just be a drama because it is not so easy to end sex trade.” Others who criticised him included Naib Singh Khalsa and Gurjant Singh, conveners, Shahid Bhagat Singh Society, Village Tungiwal. One of them said: “Social reform is not Dera chief’s main concern, he just wants to be known as a great religious leader.”
But the Dera spokesman is least deterred. He said they were the first to rebuild houses in Gujarat and Jammu & Kashmir after earthquakes struck the states. So it is all a part of the tradition, huh?
Infamous for stirring controversy, Dera Sacha Sauda chief
Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh has asked his young followers to marry sex workers. Addressing a huge crowd of devotees in his hometown, he said: “It’s important to understand that poor women and girls, who are trapped into a life of perpetual slavery, have no opportunity to escape this dreary existence. A benevolent society can help them out.”Over 50 followers have already obliged him by publicly announcing their intention to marry sex workers. Appreciating the move, Aditya Insan, a Dera spokesman said: “Guruji has proposed that young men should marry disease-free sex workers and those suffering from disease should get treatment and be rehabilitated in different ways.”
Even transgenders are being cared for. There are plans to provide them free schooling and vocational training. Keeping this in mind, a Dera delegation has zipped to Kanpur to attend a national congregation of eunuchs to discuss the issue. The sect already runs a campaign, Shahi Betian Basera, under which girl children are adopted.
But several Sikh organisations are apprehensive of the radical social reform being initiated by the Dera chief. Is he encouraging some kind of a free sexual commune? they ask. Lashing out at the Dera chief, Jasvir Singh Dhindsa, chairperson of the International Religious Tolerance Organisation, said: “These marriages will just be a drama because it is not so easy to end sex trade.” Others who criticised him included Naib Singh Khalsa and Gurjant Singh, conveners, Shahid Bhagat Singh Society, Village Tungiwal. One of them said: “Social reform is not Dera chief’s main concern, he just wants to be known as a great religious leader.”
But the Dera spokesman is least deterred. He said they were the first to rebuild houses in Gujarat and Jammu & Kashmir after earthquakes struck the states. So it is all a part of the tradition, huh?
