Followers of Daduwal,Dera clash again

The growing intolerance and rift between the followers of Dera Sacha Sauda and those of Baljit Singh Daduwal came to the fore once again.

The growing intolerance and rift between the followers of Dera Sacha Sauda and those of Baljit Singh Daduwal came to the fore once again on Sunday at Sadhanwala village near Golewala,in Faridkot district.

This is the second incident of violence reported between the two groups within a month. Village Bikhi in district Mansa was rocked by similar violence in the first week of January this year and curfew was imposed in the area for close to three days to help the situation return to normal. However,in Sundays incident,Daduwal was not present in person while at Mansa it was his speech that had angered the Dera followers.

Dera members and followers of Daduwal clashed at Sadhanwala village leaving five persons injured. Police has been deployed in the area and the situation,as per SSP Gurmit Singh Randhawa,was under control at the time of writing this report,but tension persisted,said witnesses.

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Meanwhile,it has been learnt that tension in this village was brewing for some days after Jora Singh,a Premi living in this village,decided to hold naam charcha (Sunday prayer meeting held by Dera followers),at his home. This move was opposed by Avtar Singh Sadhanwala,who is a follower of Daduwal. The police intervened and a compromise between the two groups was reached with Jora Singh promising that no Premi from outside the village will be invited.

However,the situation turned ugly on Sunday afternoon when some Premis traveling in a mini truck tried to enter the village. These Premis were stopped by some 35 followers of Daduwal. As per the police,the Premis fired in the air to protect themselves,in response to which Daduwals followers began pelting stones. Soon the two groups clashed with each other. However no one is seriously injured.

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