Court slams Indian govt over Dera cult violence

Panchkula (India) - Authorities appealed to thousands of followers of Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Ji Insaan, holed up in his headquarters in Sirsa, a town in Haryana state, to go home.

Hundreds of security forces marched through an Indian town on Saturday to maintain calm after supporters of a sect leader protested against his rape conviction with violence that left 36 people dead.
Authorities appealed to thousands of followers of Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Ji Insaan, holed up in his headquarters in Sirsa, a town in Haryana state, to go home. "There are no instructions to security forces to enter the headquarters and forcibly clear it," said police spokesman Surjit Singh.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court came down heavily on the government's alleged inaction by saying that the prime minister is of the nation and not the Bharatiya Janata Party.
"National integrity is above parties. Are we one nation or a party nation?" the court said after additional solicitor general Satya Pal Jain argued such violence had happened in states ruled by other parties. It also criticised the BJP government in Haryana for "politically surrendering" to the Dera Sacha Sauda sect.

• India