Akal Takht's decision should be followed by all: Dera Sacha Sauda chief

Chandigarh: Dera Sacha Sauda head Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh on Sunday said the decision of Akal Takht, the highest temporal seat of the Sikh religion, to exonerate him should be accepted by all followers of the faith.

"If the Akal Takht has adjudicated something I don't feel that one should take it in a wrong spirit.

"The previous edict by Akal Takht calling for my social boycott was followed, but now the supreme temporal seat of Sikhs had issued new edict so it should also be followed," he said during an interaction on the sidelines of a spiritual event at Dera Sacha Sauda headquarters in Sirsa in Haryana.

The dera head, who tendered a written apology, was recently pardoned by the Akal Takht for his alleged blasphemous act in 2007 when he imitated a Sikh guru following which clashes took place in Punjab and Haryana.

Welcoming his exoneration by the Akal Takht, the dera head said that the decision "is in the interest of amity and brotherhood of the society."

About the protest by some radical Sikh groups in Punjab over the Takhts decision to pardon him and charges that it was a politically motivated move, he said, "They (radicals) should not draw any conclusions on the verdict."

Responding to the demands of Sikh outfits Dal Khalsa and Akali Dal (Panch Pardhani) that Singh personally visited the seat of the Akal Takht to seek an apology, he said, "I have been visiting places of spiritual interest. When the opportunity arises I will certainly visit the Golden Temple (where the throne of the sect is located)."

On the occasion, about 9,000 youths took pledge to refrain from consuming drugs, the Dera said.

Talking about his foray into movies, the Dera chief said his films are aimed to promote spiritual knowledge and to connect to the youth.

"If one succeeds in reforming the youth, one succeeds in reforming society," he said.

He further said that his movies were not a means for business and that the earnings made through them would be proceeded to building a skin bank in Haryana's Sirsa for women victims of acid attack and other forms of torture.

Satisfied with the "success" of his films "MSG: The Messenger" and its sequel, the Dera chief said he would next make movies based on the Vedas.

"And why should we do not use the legacy of the Vedas to spread our message widely to the world," he said.

There are about five crore followers of the Dera Sacha Sauda, the sect head claimed.