For a law against Superstition at the National Level
These are really ‘bure din‘ for the spiritual gurus of India.
While the likes of Ram Rahim, Asaram Bapus and Rampal are cooling their heels behind bars for their not so spiritual acts, Sant Swami Bhimanand Ji Maharaj Chitrakoot Wale who is also known as “Ichadaari Baba” among his followers has also joined them for running a high profile sex racket.
It was unprecedented moment in recent history that Odisha had witnessed mass movements targeting many such Babas/spiritual gurus which had compelled the state government to arrest few of them. In fact the judiciary had also expressed grave concern over such Babas masquerading as spiritual leaders, robbing innocent followers of money and leading a “licentious life”.
With increasing instances of the blurring of boundaries between spiritual and criminal where the legitimacy of the whole fraternity is under scanner, the list of 14 fake babas brought out by Akhil Bharatiya Akhara Parishad – apex organisation of Sants and Sadhus – comprising of 14 Akharas, seems to be an afterthought. The Akhara also plans to put in place a mechanism to award the title of Sant because it has suddenly realised that it is being “increasingly misused”.
A cursory glance at the list makes for interesting reading. At least half among the list are either behind bars or have come out on bail only recently and rest of them are facing a litany of court cases, for their various acts of omission and commission.
A layperson could also say that the list is merely a rehash of a few of the old cases which have been under public glare recently and this sudden declaration should also put a spotlight on the functioning of the apex body itself. In fact, the Akhara Parishad has invited lot of ridicule for the inclusion of one Sacchdanand Giri – who was earlier a beer bar owner and real estate baron- and who is prominently on the list, as he was anointed as a “Mahamandaleshwar” in July 2015 in Allahabad by the same body. People are curious to know what actually transpired between the Akhara and the ‘Guru’ over these two years to compel the apex body to today declare him fake.
And it is not for the first time that such a controversy has arisen. Few years back Radhe Maa, was herself declared Mahamandaleshwar by Juna Akhara, a major Shaiva militant ascetic order, which led a situation of implosion in the group itself and there were , “[s]trong allegations that huge amounts of cash had changed hands.”.
The adhocism in preparing the list is evident. What is more that the Akhara Parishad should itself invite scrutiny; the body needs to explain the basis for inclusion of the names contained in the list. For example the ápex body’ will have to explain whether delivering hate/inciteful speeches which create a serious disaffection between communities ( an offence which is prosecutable under law) has at all, or also been considered a criterion for declaring someone fake. This query is particularly important, as of late because we have been witness to a rise in such speeches by Sadhus who enjoy a more than amiable relationship with the current ruling establishment.
The Akhara has announced that it would bring out another list in ‘next few months’, but absence of many other ‘notables’ in this first list do raise question marks about any such future exercise.
Take the case of Shankaracharya Dayanand – a godman who had established his peetham in Jammu – who has been behind bars for his alleged role in the Malegaon bomb blast where recordings on his own laptop had provided important clues to the designs of the Hindutva terror module. If Swami Assemanand, an accused in many such blasts – who is on bail these days – has been included, what stopped the Akhara from including this self-proclaimed Shankaracharya in the list, as well ? Or what stopped the Akhara from including a so-called ‘spiritual group’ – especially its founder – from Western India which formally talks of ‘spiritual salvation’ and ‘awareness of righteousness’, but where ‘destruction of evildoers’ is an integral part of ‘spiritual practice’ and to facilitate this ‘Dharm Kranti’ (religious revolution) the seekers are also provided with training in arms – rifles, trishuls, lathis and other weapons? Remember its activists have also been found to be involved in various types of terror acts including killing of rationalists.
Believe me, these are but a sample of such examples.
It also appears that the Akhara has based its efforts on media reports or public perception than doing any groundwork and then fixing any criterion.
For example it has not taken care to refer to already widely available material in the public domain where other exploits of these Godmen/Conmen are visible and where they were found to be sheltering fugitives from the law, laundering money, ‘arranging’ for government contracts, solving your financial woes or even bumbing off a pesky blackmailer.
‘Tehelka’ had done a story few years back titled ‘The Guns and Godmen of Ayodhya’ narrating how ‘”[m]ost of the 7,000 mutts temples and maths in Ayodhya have become centres of crime'” and now over the last few years more than 250 Sadhus have been booked for crimes including murders and some have been even killed in encounters.
Over the last few years, leading TV channels of the country have also provided an inside view of this fraternity – thanks to the sting operations done by their confidants, – which have further exposed not so bright side of these spiritual gurus. The programme aired on TV under the title ‘Hey Ram’ had brought forth interesting commonality between the likes of Asaram Bapu and four others from the fraternity. (‘Godmen’s unholy link with criminals, Mailtoday, 11 Sep 2010). This particular sting operation was preceded by an expose done by CNN-IBN and Cobrapost jointly which had showed godmen laundering money, in the name of God, all for a commission ( (CNN-IBN Posted Sunday , May 06, 2007 at 20:30 Updated Monday , May 07, 2007 at 02 ; CNN-IBN Posted Monday , May 07, 2007 at 08:11). A leading light among these godmen/women , who was proactive in the early nineties movement of majoritarian consolidation had even shared a secret with the interviewer that he has formed a separate trust to facilitate his work of converting black money to white money for a commission.
There are other problems as well in the modus operandi adopted by the ápex body’.
The crucial question of the locus standi of this self-appointed apex body, whose proximity to Vishwa Hindu Parishad is an open secret, has also raised eyebrows and serious questions. Voices are also being raised about the conspicuous silence and deep slumber in which the body found itself when the news of depradations of these Sadhus and Sants was openly discussed in the media. Remember the exploits of Ram Rahim have been discussed in the media since 2002; the killing of brave journalist Ramchandra Chhatrapati allegedly at the hands of followers of the sect took place way back in 2003; the unnatural deaths of children in the Ashram run by Asaram Bapu or his other not so spiritual deeds were freely reported in the media for years together. And it is not for the first time that Ïcchadhari Baba has been apprehended for some illegal misdemeanour but the apex body of sants and sadhus preferred to remain silent, rather busy in settling internecine battles or gaining (and displaying) its proximity to the ruling establishment of the day.
Perhaps the best way to move forward is not to leave the task of identifying the ‘fakes’ to the fraternity itself and think of something like anti superstition law at the national level, a law for which Dr Narendra Dabholkar led a struggle for more than eighteen years. He was assassinated by right-wing fundamentalists for his tireless efforts in this direction in 2013. The bill was hastily passed merely four days after he was shot dead in August 2013 by two bike-borne assailants near his home in Pune.
A report which appeared in the ‘Mint’ reveals how “..In the three and a half years since Maharashtra passed this law against such practices, there have been hundreds of cases against fraudulent godmen who thrived on the superstition and fears of many”. An advocate told the reporter of the Mint that of the 400 cases registered under the anti-superstition act in the state so far, seven cases have been brought to trial and six witnessed convictions.
It was only last month that the capital witnessed a programme organised under the auspices of Maharashtra Andhashradha Nirmulan Samity (MANS, http://antisuperstition.org/) wherein Avinash Patil, executive president of MANS, stated that in his 30-odd years of working on the issue, the organisation has busted over 5,000 dishonest gurus across the state.
Not a small figure definitely. Enough to worry anyone concerned of the modernisation and secularisation of Indian society.