Rohtak clash: Sant Rampal triggered it

ROHTAK: There existed a strong undercurrent of dislike between the followers of Arya Samaj and those of Satlok Ashram ever since the later was founded in 1999, but it was Sant Rampal who provided the fuel and the fire to spark off the clash that turned Karontha into a battleground.
It was in 2006 when Sant Rampal, for the first time, publicly raised objections to certain parts of the ‘Satyarth Prakash’ (The light of truth), a book written by Samaj founder Swami Dayanand Saraswati in 1875, and is considered its central text.
As Sant Rampal’s following continued to grow in the region, especially in the villages in Rohtak and Jhajjar districts, he made references to Satyarth Prakash and termed some inscriptions of the book “impractical and anti-social.”
He allegedly also made derogatory remarks against Swami Dayanand which further provoked the Arya Samaj followers.
Rampal kept on repeating the references to Satyarth Prakash and Swami Dayanand, eventually leading to a clash between the followers in July, 2006.
Rampal set up his base in Barwala after coming out of jail in 2008.
Arya Samajis have never objected to Rampal’s Barwala ashram perhaps because Rohtak, Jhajjar, Sonipat and Rewari districts are the ones predominantly under Arya Samaj influence from several years.
Since Hisar region has a small presence of arya samajis they have no objections to Sant Rampal at Barwala located in Hisar district, said a follower of Rampal.
“Arya samajis don’t want Rampal to eat into their support base in this region. So they are trying to corner him to Hisar and despite the Supreme Court orders that Sant Rampal owns the Satlok Ashram and its land, Arya Samaj followers want to forcibly evict us,” the follower added.
Meanwhile, Balwan Dass, a coordinator of Rampal’s ashram at Barwala in Hisar told TOI that Sant had done nothing wrong in pointing out some anti-social and impractical inscriptions mentioned in the chapter 4 of Satyarth Prakash.
He made it clear that they would never vacate the Karontha ashram under any kind of pressure. “These people are getting violent against us but our people gathered at the ashram are safe and at peace. The police have been tackling the protesters. There is no question of vacating the ashram and land at any cost”.