SAINTS AND SINNERS
The problem with India’s ‘godmen’
“The print media have been associated with the spread of knowledge and critical thinking. Electronic media have not been. They cater to consumerism,” says political commentator Manisha Priyam, who blames the latter for their uncritical coverage of holy men
India seems to be witnessing a deluge of cases involving less-than-saintly activity by Hindu “godmen” with at least half a dozen spiritual gurus under investigation for crimes ranging from rape to land grabs, hawala dealing and cheating. The latest to make the front pages is Radhe Maa, also known as Sukhwinder Kaur, a former housewife and mother of three children who is now more than 50 years old. The public has been captivated by videos of her dancing in a red-hot miniskirt and figure-hugging sweaters.
Falguni Brahmabhat, an activist lawyer in Mumbai, is threatening to lodge a police complaint alleging that Radhe Maa is promoting obscenity by allowing her devotees to kiss, hug and touch her inappropriately.
As well, a young housewife has laid a complaint against Kaur for allegedly torturing her along with her in-laws for a dowry. Kaur is believed to be a fan of the former porn star and now mainstream Hindi film starlet Sunny Leone. She also seems to be in the habit of flaunting red bridal attire.
Another case involves Sachin Dutta, the owner of a beer bar and nightclub and a builder, who is now facing allegations of defaulting on delivery of residential units after collecting money from people.
Dutta was disrobed as a “high priest” within a week after being anointed on July 30 in Allahabad, 600 kilometres from New Delhi, by Akhil Bharatiya Akhara Parishad (ABAP), a group representing 14 associations of Hindu saints. Dutta, a resident of Noida, a city bordering East Delhi, has since gone into hiding.
Sarathi Baba, a godman based in the northeastern state of Odisha, has been in the eye of the storm since a television channel on Aug 4 broadcast a story alleging that he spent a week with a young medical student in a hotel in Hyderabad in southern India.
The report included pictures of the godman clad in jeans and a T-shirt in the hotel lobby, leading to a demonstration by people outside the baba’s ashram. The site was subsequently raided and the baba arrested by state police on Aug 8.
Another baba, Asaram Bapu, has been incarcerated in connection with two rape complaints lodged against him since September 2013. India Today, a popular English-language weekly, recently reported that he was alleged to have invested 45 billion rupees in benami (property purchased in the name of other person), a couple of American firms, and loans.
Yet another baba — Mahant Trikal Bhavanta, a female ascetic — has been captured on video telling another female priest that it would take 500,000 rupees (275,290 baht) to become a mahant (chief priest of a Hindu temple).
And one more godman, Baba Gurmeet Ram Rahim, is being tried for rape of female ascetics, castration of over 400 men in his ashram and at least two murders of former devotees. Other once-revered figures including Saint Rampal have been cooling their heels in jail for months on various charges.
Political commentator Manisha Priyam blames the rise of crooked godmen in India on the lack of development of critical reasoning, singling out electronic media for much of the blame. She says numerous news, entertainment and religious channels are guilty of uncritically promoting self-styled godmen and astrologers without making any effort to look in to their credentials.
Television channels in India including prominent news networks carry paid programmes — commonly known as “infommercials” — but whether audiences realise the godmen and their followers have bought the airtime is not always clear.
“The print media have been associated with the spread of knowledge and critical thinking. Electronic media have not been. They cater to consumerism,” Priyam, a senior lecturer at Delhi University, told Asia Focus.
Mahant Narendra Giri, the president of the ABAP, said Hindu religious organisations had no magic wand to distinguish crooks from pure individuals. He justified the anointing of Sachin Dutta, who was baptised Mahamandleshwar (high priest) Sachidananda Giri Maharaj, on the grounds that a criminal had every right to reform. “Didn’t the robber Ratnakar become Balmiki and write the Ramayana (the Hindu epic)?” he asked rhetorically.
Giri advised the media not to call householders such as Asaram Bapu saints. “He is a much-married man with children and has not renounced the material world. He is only a religious storyteller and should not be called a saint,” he emphasised.
Pushpesh Pant, a historian and professor of international relations at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), attributed the proliferation of spiritual gurus to the deterioration of values in the society and the nexus between economic offenders, religious leaders and politicians.
Pant cited examples such as the late Dhirendra Brahmachari who was close to former prime minister Indira Gandhi, and Chandraswami who allegedly enjoyed enormous clout during the rule of the Congress government headed by the late PV Narasimha Rao to drive his point home.
“Babaji are wheeler-dealers. People park their ill-gotten money with them,” he claimed.
Godmen time and again have been charged with converting black money into legitimate funds. During a trip to Shahjahanpur last month, Chaudhary Karambir Singh, a transport worker whose teenage daughter was allegedly raped by Asaram in September 2013, claimed to this writer that he was duped of close to 9 million rupees (4.96 million baht) by the religious guru and his cohorts.
Karambir Singh’s daughter was a student in Asaram’s girls’ school in Chhindwara, a city in central India. Asaram, 75, allegedly abused her on the pretext of exorcising evil spirits from her.
“I and my wife were diehard fans of Asaram in 2010 and would worship him three times a day,” Karambir Singh recalled. “One day I expressed a desire to build an ashram for him in our city. He referred me to his ashram in Delhi.”
He said he delivered 354,574 rupees (194,570 baht) in cash to Asaram’s Delhi office and in return was handed over a demand draft for the same amount issued from a branch of Oriental Bank of Commerce on May 1, 2010.
“I paid for the land deal and construction and yet the property was registered in the name of the Shri Asaramji Ashram Trust,” Singh, 53, alleged, showing Asia Focus a copy of the demand draft, a letter sent from Asaram’s Delhi office authorising the trust’s Shahjahanpur unit to buy land, and registration papers for the deal.
He said he would file a case of cheating once he got through the rape trial against the godman. The rape case is being heard in a sessions court in Jodhpur in western India.
Neelam Dubey, the Asaram Trust’s spokesperson, refused to comment on Chaudhary Karambir Singh’s claim. “I have no knowledge about this,” he said, calling the investment charges against Asaram “baseless”.