War was being waged against the Indian state, less than 200 kilometres from the capital. On Wednesday night, the government finally arrested Sant Rampal, a cult leader who had been holed up in his ashram in Hisar, Haryana, defying the authorities. The last few days of Indian television have been dominated by sights of Rampal’s fervent supporters clashing with authorities outside the ashram, barely three-and-a-half hours away from Delhi. At least six people—including an 18-month-old child—have died and many more have been injured in the violent standoff, as Rampal attempted to avoid appearing in court on charges of murder dating back to 2006. The visuals were reminiscent of other famous religious standoffs, from Operation Blue Star in 1984 which was aimed at flushing Sikh militants out of Amritsar’s Golden Temple to the horrific Waco siege in Texas in 1993, when 76 people were killed after a fire broke out at the campus of a fringe religious group suspected of weapons violations. In Hisar, too, supporters chucked petrol bombs and traded fire with authorities, who in turn have claimed that women and children were being used as shields. Other than a general sense of law and order breaking down easier in Haryana than most other states, the question that usually comes up in situations like this: how did it come to this? How could a cult leader be running a little fief of his own so close to New Delhi? 
 
 Religious fervour 
 
 One answer is simple and obvious: religion. Faith is always a tricky subject to navigate in Indian culture and cult leaders, from Sai Baba to Asaram Bapu, make everything much trickier for law enforcement.Taking on a campus filled with supporters of such a leader who see him as divine is not the same as invading the headquarters of a criminal gang. In this case, those standing in the way were willing to go much further in an attempt to stave off the authorities, whether that meant self-immolation or essentially going to war with the police. Their reaction was serious enough to prompt police to step back after an attempted invasion of the ashram on Tuesday when they were unable to locate the cult leader. 
 
 And this isn’t just an Indian problem. One of the chief criticisms of the handling of the Waco incident was their inability to understand how exactly to deal with a doomsday cult leader. 
 
 “To the F.B.I. agent, Mount Carmel was a hostage situation, and the purpose of the ‘negotiation’ was to get the man behind the barricade to release some of his captives,” wrote Malcolm Gladwell in a piece looking back at the Waco incident. “But Koresh saw his followers as his students. They were there of their own free will, to learn the prophecies of Revelation. How could he release people whom he was not holding in the first place?” 
 
 Police, not army 
 
 It’s often said that if the government really wanted to end India’s left-wing militancy problem, all they would have to do would be to send the army in. India’s military has more than enough firepower and competency that the issue would be solved within months if not weeks. But it could potentially create as many problems as it would fix.Armies are meant to be used against enemies. Against your own citizens, you use police and paramilitary forces, who are trained to do different things. Hence the issues that those in India’s periphery, Kashmir and the Northeast, have with the centre’s approach, but this is one of those reasons that a standoff like this can drag on. The government might have sent 14 Central Reserve Police Force companies to Hisar to help handle the situation at Rampal’s ashram, but their task is not to invade with shock and awe. It was apprehend the cult leader to ensure his court appearance with, as expressly instructed by the High Court, “as little bloodshed as possible”. 
 
 Martyrs and backlash 
 
 Three years ago, a large yoga meet in the middle of the capital was suddenly broken up by the Delhi Police. Around midnight, the cops raided a large camp where thousands of followers of Baba Ramdev had gathered for a three-day event, featuring plenty of yoga as well as political posturing.The sudden raid by the police, including lathi charge on thousands of sleeping supporters which led to the death of one woman, was widely criticised as a sign of the trust deficit between those governing and those governed as well as an example of excess force. A similar situation came up when the head of the Dera Sacha Sauda cult had to be arrested in 2007. 
 
 While that may have been a different government and a more prominent leader, the memory is still reasonably fresh. Indeed, the incident earned much criticism from those who are currently in charge both in Haryana and at the centre. Moreover, the midnight raid was one of the many incidents that built up an image of the previous government’s inability to relate to the people—something the new Bharatiya Janata Party administration would not want to risk, after forming the government in Haryana for the very first time. 
 
 This post originally appeared on Scroll.in. ||||| Image copyright AP Image caption Rampal was arrested late Wednesday night and produced in court on Thursday 
 
 Controversial Indian guru Rampal, who was arrested on Wednesday night after a week-long stand-off at his ashram in Haryana state, has been remanded in custody until 28 November. 
 
 The self-styled guru is wanted in connection with a 2006 murder case and for contempt of court. 
 
 He was arrested a day after his supporters fought a pitched battle with the police at his ashram. 
 
 At least six people died during the stand-off, police said. 
 
 The bodies of four women and a child were found at the site on Wednesday. 
 
 A fifth woman, aged 20, died at a local hospital after leaving the ashram. The causes of their deaths are being investigated. Police say the bodies did not "bear any injuries". 
 
 The 63-year-old guru, who is facing charges of waging war against the nation, told reporters on Thursday that he "regretted" the deaths, but denied police allegations that he had used his followers as human shields during clashes. 
 
 "I did not use them (as shields). They were acting on their own," he said. 
 
 The guru also denied all the charges against him saying "I am innocent, all the charges against me are baseless". 
 
 After being led out of his fortress-like complex in an ambulance late on Wednesday, the guru was taken for a medical examination. 
 
 Before arresting Rampal, the police managed to evacuate more than 16,000 followers from the ashram and sent them home in buses and trains. 
 
 "There could still be between 3,000 and 4,000 people inside the complex," local police official Satender Kumar Gupta told reporters after the guru's arrest. 
 
 Police accused his armed devotees of holding people hostage, and using women and children as human shields. 
 
 One man said the private securitymen - who were known as "commandos" - had threatened the people inside the ashram and refused to let them leave during Tuesday's bloody clashes. 
 
 "We were separated from our families so that we couldn't leave. They also used coercion to make us attack the [police] forces and said they would shoot us if we didn't throw stones to protect the guru," Ram Kumar, a follower, told The Indian Express newspaper. 
 
 More than 200 people were injured in the clashes - police fired tear gas and water cannon, and used bulldozers to try to break into the sprawling complex, while ashram members threw stones and other missiles and opened fire. 
 
 At least 270 people have been arrested in connection with the violence and charged with rioting, illegal detention, attempt to murder and waging war against the state. 
 
 Who is Rampal? 
 
 Image copyright AFP 
 
 Rampal is accused of involvement in a murder case dating from 2006 in which a man died in a clash at another of his ashrams. 
 
 He denied the allegations and was released on bail. The authorities ordered his arrest on contempt charges after he repeatedly failed to appear in court. 
 
 The Punjab and Haryana High Court had set a final deadline for Rampal to appear in court on Monday in the contempt case. 
 
 Rampal ignored the summons and his lawyers said he was too ill to make the 250km (155-mile) journey to the court in Chandigarh, which serves as the capital of both states. 
 
 The judges criticised the government, saying they "lacked the will" to arrest the guru and said he must be in court by Friday. 
 
 Many people visit the guru, believing he can cure illnesses. 
 
 Rampal: How did an engineer become a revered guru? 
 
 Why so many Indians flock to gurus ||||| Story highlights Commissioner: The guru is arrested without resistance from his followers 
 
 Police wanted to arrest the 63-year-old guru, who was wanted in a murder case 
 
 Police clashed with his followers on Tuesday, leaving scores of people injured 
 
 Ashram authorities handed over 6 bodies; authorities believe they died of illness 
 
 Police on Wednesday arrested an Indian guru after clashing, sometimes violently, with his supporters over the last 10 days. 
 
 Also on Wednesday, his followers turned over six bodies that authorities believe died of illness. 
 
 The spiritual leader, Rampal Maharaj, was arrested by Indian police without resistance from his followers, said regional administrative commissioner M.L. Kaushik. 
 
 Police had surrounded the ashram and ordered its evacuation, cutting off the water and electricity, and warned they wouldn't leave until they had arrested Rampal. 
 
 His supporters clashed Tuesday with police officers who were trying to storm the sprawling ashram -- a kind of religious compound -- to take the guru into custody, according to Kaushik. 
 
 Tensions between police and the guru's supporters started some 10 days ago when the followers didn't let officers arrest him, the commissioner said. The situation began to escalate, culminating in the full-blown clashes. 
 
 Several security personnel were injured in the clashes with the guru's followers, who fired shots and pelted police with stones at the site in the northern state of Haryana, police said. 
 
 Television footage showed hundreds of police in riot gear aiming water cannon and tear gas at stone-throwing crowds. As many as 85 of Rampal's followers were hurt, authorities said. 
 
 After the clashes, thousands of the supporters left the ashram overnight and into Wednesday, police said. Early Wednesday afternoon, they estimated that about 5,000 people remained inside the 2½ acre complex, which was reported to be calmer. 
 
 Police said the six dead bodies, with no visible signs of injury, were handed to them by the ashram authorities. 
 
 "We believe they were sick and died because of lack of medical attention on time," Kaushik said. 
 
 The bodies will undergo autopsies at a nearby hospital to determine the cause of death. 
 
 Rampal, 63, is a worshiper of Kabir, a 15th-century Indian mystic, according to his website. 
 
 Authorities were carrying out arrest orders for him after he had repeatedly failed to appear in court in connection with a 2006 murder case, Kaushik said. 
 
 Officials at the ashram couldn't be reached for comment Wednesday.
– An Indian guru was arrested yesterday after a 10-day standoff during which at least six people died. Police say up to 20,000 followers of the guru Rampal Maharaj, who is wanted in connection with a 2006 murder, battled police at his ashram, a 2.5-acre religious complex in Hisar, the BBC and CNN report. Though police say followers used women and children as human shields, five women and an 18-month-old child "were sick and died because of lack of medical attention on time," authorities add. Rampal, 63, says he "regretted" the deaths but argues his supporters, who believe he can cure illness, "were acting on their own." Some 200 were injured as police used tear gas, water cannons, and bulldozers to penetrate the complex. Police evacuated 16,000 followers, some of whom say they were coerced into fighting, but say several thousand more may remain. "We were separated from our families so that we couldn't leave," one supporter says. Commandos "said they would shoot us if we didn't throw stones to protect the guru." Others threw petrol bombs and fired on authorities, Quartz reports. Some 270 people were arrested and charged with rioting, attempt to murder, and waging war against the state. Rampal, a follower of the Indian mystic Kabir, had repeatedly failed to appear in court after he was accused in the death of a man during a 2006 clash at another ashram. His lawyer said he was too ill to travel. He will now remain in custody until Nov. 28.