Reacting to the Sikh clergy's rejection of Dera Sacha Sauda's expression of regret over the stand-off with the Sikhs, the Dera on Monday said the "instrinsic value" of its gesture was not taken in the same spirit with which it was shown.

Dera's chief spokesman Aditya Insaan sought the intervention of President A P J Abdul Kalam and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to solve their tangle with Sikhs in the best interests of the country.

Insaan during a press conference in Sirsa expressed shock that "the intrinsic value of Dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh's regret was not taken in the same spirit with which it was expressed."

He reiterated that the Dera chief had expressed his regret over all that had happened and had also asserted that there was no intention to show any disrespect to the 10th Sikh Guru Gobind Singh by imitating any of the guru's actions or his dress -- an incident that had agitated Sikhs.

The Akal Takht, the supreme temporal seat of the Sikhs, had on Sunday rejected the Dera's reget and called for a state-wide strike on Monday to protest the alleged sacrilege by the Dera chief.

Declaring that the sect would not close their Deras in Punjab as directed by the Sikh priests, Insaan said that to close or not to close the Deras in Punjab was the responsibility of the Punjab government.

The Dera had full faith in the law of the land and now they shall find redressal through law, he said adding, Dera followers were not at all frightened by the events.

Insaan also urged the Punjab government to observe 'Raj Dharma' in the wake of Tuesday's bandh. The Punjab government should work honestly and protect all sections of society, he said.