No immediate move to name successor to Gurmeet Ram Rahim

Chandigarh, September 1 : With Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, head of the infamous Dera Sacha Sauda, being sentenced to 20 years’ rigorous imprisonment by a CBI special court for the rape of two female disciples, a leadership crisis looms over the Rs 1,000-crore sect in Haryana that is said to have over 60 million followers.
With family and non-family claimants to the legacy of the disgraced sect chief, there is uncertainty over who will lead the cash-rich sect.
Well-placed sources in the sect told IANS that, as of now, there is no move to immediately name a successor to Ram Rahim.
“Pitaji (father, as Ram Rahim is called) has been convicted and sentenced by the trial court. His counsels will appeal in the high court and, if need be, in the Supreme Court. They will try till all legal options are exhausted. We are hopeful that the judgment of the CBI court will be over-ruled and he will be back to lead the sect,” said one source who did not want to be named.
Sect insiders say that, as of now, an arrangement needs to be in place to manage the affairs of the sect and to give direction to its millions of followers who continue to have full faith in the sect and on Ram Rahim, who turned 50 on August 15 this year.
“Even though he is in jail, he will continue to guide affairs through family members and others who will be allowed to meet him,” the source said.
Within the family of the sect’s jailed leader, the name of his 33-year-old son, Jasmeet Singh Insan, is being propped up to manage the affairs of the sect in Ram Rahim’s absence. Those behind the move include Ram Rahim’s aged mother Naseeb Kaur and wife Harjeet Kaur, who normally keep a low profile compared to the rather flashy and even controversial lifestyle of Ram Rahim himself.