Indian Sect Members Vow To Marry "sex" Workers

[BiggChan]

Indian sect members vow to marry sex workers

More than 1,000 followers of a multi-religious sect in northern India have pledged to marry female sex workers who want to escape exploitation.

Young Hindu, Muslim and Sikh men have been queuing up at the Dera Sacha Sauda (Abode of the Real Deal) in the town of Sirsa as "wedding volunteers".

They say they are doing so to stop the women from being exploited in brothels.

They also claim that their move is part of a campaign to stop the spread of the HIV/Aids virus.

The Dera Sacha Sauda (DSS) is one of many religious sects operating in northern India.

Most take root by offering community services, social welfare and spiritual leadership but over time, as their followings grow, they often seek political influence.

"All women forced to live as prostitutes are my daughters"

Gurmeet Ram Rahim

Correspondents say that in religious terms, the DSS is hard to classify. Many experts argue that it is not, as some have said, an offshoot of Sikhism.

More than 1,200 DSS members have signed pledges to marry the sex workers following a call from DSS chief Ram Rahim Singh a little over a month ago.

Mr Singh commands a huge following of predominantly lower caste Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs across the states of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.

Two years ago his growing influence brought the DSS chief into confrontation with the mainstream Sikh clergy who claimed he had tried to imitate their beliefs.

The sectarian violence that ensued across Punjab - as well as subsequent rape and murder charges brought against Ram Rahim Singh - have cast a shadow on the affairs and functioning of the DSS ever since, observers say.

But the group's supporters believe the new campaign is to halt the spread of HIV by offering respectable options to sex workers and is part of a long list of related initiatives against drug abuse and female foeticide.

"By helping drug users and sex workers we are trying to help remove people from the highest risk situations," said Dr Aditya Insan, a senior DSS functionary.

'Delicately handled'

He estimates that 40%-50% of women working in red light districts in cities like Mumbai (Bombay) and Delhi are HIV carriers.

Mr Singh (known as Guru-ji to his supporters) proclaimed at a congregation last month that "all women forced to live as prostitutes are my daughters".

His remarks brought forth a virtual flood of eager young volunteers from his flock.

Business graduate Ashish Sachdeva, 22, is in the garments trade in the town of Sirsa. He believes that marrying a sex worker could be his chance to repay his debt to humanity and society.

"I am very well settled and it will be the greatest honour for me to respond to Guru-ji's call."

Nearly 100 young sex workers have contacted the DSS - from Calcutta's Shonagachi red light district to brothels in Delhi and Mumbai.

"This will have to be a slow and delicately handled process," Dr Insan said.

"Many women are HIV-positive. Some have young children and are understandably concerned about their future. We need to ensure these women are protected legally once they are married."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/8416739.stm

[Mehtab Singh]

"All women forced to live as prostitutes are my daughters"

Gurmeet Ram Rahim

So he is admitting it?

[Hoshiarpuria]

"All women forced to live as prostitutes are my daughters"

Gurmeet Ram Rahim

So he is admitting it?

There is a Punjabi word to describe Ram Rahim , its to do with one who sleeps with his daughter " k**i c**d.............every dog has its day. so will this <banned word filter activated> rahim

[rupinder singh]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8416739.stm

Mr Sirsawala has managed to get himself on the BBC!

[BiggChan]

This appears to be another cleverly hatched plan of the DSS. With sensational headlines such as this, they clearly draw attention to themselves. Accordingly, those with little or no knowledge of DSS activities are likely to be impressed by their 'humanitarian' gestures.

Furthermore, if what they state is true, it is could be a strategy to spread their tentacles all over India. DSS target the most vulnerable members of society. The poor are never likely to forget DSS helping them through their poverty and these sex workers are never going to forget DSS for treating them as human beings when the rest of society washed their hands of them. This way the determination of their followers becomes stronger and stronger.

Interestingly the BBC haven't reported anything on the Ludhiana events. Clearly the DSS are much more media savvy than was assumed.

[TuhiNirankar]

what if some of the sex workers have HIV, will they get married?

[humkire]

!!!!!!!!!! WOT UTTER NONSENSE!!!!!!!!!!

This is plain , simple rubbish! u wanna help a woman in trouble, you be her social/care/support worker, and you make her your sister, your mother, you do it on the quiet, you help her to be educated , to find gainful employment, and empower her to make her own choices in life!!!! you dont flippin marry her!!!!!! W**!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cheap stupid publicity stunt to mask evil in an outward cloak of benign compassion like Sajan Thag!!!!! So she was a prostitute, and now u wanna lay her too, but in the form of a wife???? The same ugly lust demon taking on a new tactic? Honestly , these people amuse me for the extent of their stupidity and ridiculousness but try telling them! And how on earth does that have ANYTHING even remotely to do with Sikhs and Sikhi! how can anyone claim to be even 0.0000001% sikh and believe in such utter bul*****!

What a ****** liberty! as catherine tate would say hahaaa .

[BhForce]

"All women forced to live as prostitutes are my daughters"

Gurmeet Ram Rahim

So he is admitting it?

LOL.

OK, leaving aside the funny business, the takeaway here so far as I see is that in the same way as a college graduate like the fellow above is ready to do whatever his guru says to the extent of marrying an HIV+ prostitute, so too we should be ready and willing to do whatever our Guru commands.

Actually, what our Guru commands in the normal case is just to wake up early and recite the name of God. That's a lot easier than marrying a prostitute, yet we lazy **** can't even do that.

[sikhlionz]

Mehtab Singh veerji that joke was inappropriate.

Same way as old churches in the west, Do we want to see situation where Deray of Sach Sauda, Ashotosh, etc are buying Ex-GuruGhar buildings in Punjab?

it may just be a publicity stunt. if not at least these are 1000 women who may possibly be helped out of their problems.

Our institutions are entirely controlled by Jatts who themselves or their children have no interest in sikhee. as Ambedkar and many prominent socialists have said, these Jatts do not want to see a situation where poor, "low-caste" people become Sikh as they would join in such numbers as to remove them from power.

We should declare we have NO faith in SGPC and those groups outside punjab should apply pressure that Social Work in Punjab be stepped up for underpriveleged people:

healthcare for the sick needing help

prisoners

"low-caste"/poor

education for the needy & switching away from traditional work

drug addicts

blood donation

these akali dal/sgpc types and their supporters should get slapped every time they step foot outside punjab.

[apnepart2]

so jatts are the real problem? shame on sikhlion. go to punjab and lets see what you can do. in real life you probably cannot muster even 50 people and you talk about taking on sacha sauda.