Dera row: Badal appeal people to maintain peace

Former Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal today condemned acts of violence after Dera Sacha Sauda chief was convicted in a rape case and appealed to people to maintain peace and communal harmony.
In a statement here, he said Punjab needs peace and communal harmony most of all as it has already suffered grievous wounds.
"We cannot afford another bout of violence and communal tensions," he said
Badal said that violence can have no place in a civilised society nor was it a solution to any issue.
"No religion preaches violence and all gurus and prophets havesent out a message of peace and communal harmony," he said.

Badal said while violence of all kinds and in all forms deserves to be condemned in the strongest possible terms, but the worst of all is the violence against the media.

Media must be allowed to function with freedom and without fear, he said.
"I appeal to everyone, especially tothe people of Punjab and Haryana to maintain peace and the bonds of communal brotherhood at all costs," he said.
Yesterday, after the conviction of Dera Sacha Sauda sect head Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in a 2002 rape case by a CBI court in Panchkula, his enraged followers resorted to violence in which 32 people have died so far.