New Delhi,
Making a strong observation that violence in the name of religion and faith will not be tolerated, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today assured the nation that law of the land will fix accountability and the guilty will be punished.

The PM said so without naming Haryana or the Sirsa dera, whose followers left a bloody trail after sect chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh’s conviction in Panchkula, but the reference he was making was clear.

There has been widespread criticism of the BJP-led state government over the handling, or rather “mishandling”, of the situation involving the convicted dera chief.

The PM, who began his “Mann Ki Baat” address with observations about “news of violence from one part of the country while a sense of festivity pervades the land”, was definite that “no one had the right to take the law into one’s own hands in the name of one’s beliefs”.

While asserting that non-violence was the foundation of the country of Gautam Buddha, Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Patel “who gave up all for the unity of the nation”, he added: “For centuries, our forefathers have imbibed community values, nonviolence, mutual respect — these are inherent to us. We have been hearing and saying ‘Ahimsa Parmo Dharma’ from our childhood.”

Referring to his August 15 address to the nation, he said: “I had said violence in the name of faith will not be tolerated, whether it is communal belief systems, whether it is subscribing to political ideologies, whether it is allegiance to a person or customs and traditions….. In the Constitution given to us by Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar, there is every provision for ensuring justice for each and every person.”

Even though all political parties are under the cloud for pampering Dera Sacha Sauda for political gains, the BJP’s accountability is greater given the position it holds at the Centre and in Haryana. Caught in a Catch-22 situation, the party believes a strict administrative crackdown against the dera will not just help in delivering the right message to people, but also absolving Chief Minister Manohar Khattar of mismanagement charges against him.