This
week saw another of India's so called Godmen finally ending behind
bars. Self styled Godman Rampal, who proclaimed himself to be an
reincarnation of fifteenth century mystic poet and saint of India,
“Kabir” was finally arrested along with about 400 of his
supporters by police, after clashes with his supporters that lasted
for several days. However, this was not the first encounter Police
had with Rampal. He and 38 others have been charged in the past with
murder and other offences, after a clash between his supporters and
another group had killed one person in July 2006. He was freed on
bail, which was cancelled after his followers entered a courtroom and
threatened lawyers in July 2014.
Rampal,
who is an engineer by training, has ignored 43 court summonses,
seeking exemptions each time. The court set a final deadline for him
to appear in court on 16th
November 2014, which he ignored. A non bailable warrant was issued on
his name. This caused the standoff between him and the followers in
which a few of his followers even have lost their lives.
Police
have slapped charges of murder and violence over the death of six
people besides a charge of planning and waging a war against people
of India. Rampal maintained a small personal army and police have
found number of weapons in his premises. These include .32 bore
revolvers, .315 bore rifles and 12 bore guns. ammunition for 7.62mm
rifle used in self-loading rifles (SLR) and 303 rifles. The 7.62mm
ammunition is prohibited bore for private individuals, who are not
allowed to own such firearms even if they have a licence.
Rampal
is in deep trouble and has joined the ranks of two more ill-famous
self proclaimed Godmen, who are also laungishing in jail. The first
of the duo is Asaram Bapu, born Asumal Thaumal Harpalani, who had
built his first ashram on a 10 acre land in Gujarat in 1970.
Harpalani came into trouble when in the month of August 2013, he was
accused of sexually assaulting a 16-year-old girl at his ashram in
Jodhpur, on the pretext of exorcising her from evil spirits. Two days
after the alleged assault, the girl's parents filed a complaint with
the police in Delhi and a medical examination confirmed that she had
been assaulted. Harpalani did not appear for interrogation and
finally Delhi police booked him under Indian Penal Code sections
involving wrongful confinement, rape and criminal intimidation. He is
in jail since October 2013.
The
third godman languishing in jail is Nityananda swami, born as
Rajasekaran in Thiruvannamalai in Tamil Nadu. He established his
ashram at Bidadi, near Bangalore on 1 January 2003 and called it as
Nithyananda Dhyanapeetam. He has been alleged to have accumulated
₹1400 million in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. A former follower of
Nithyananda, Arathi Rao, alleged that Nithyananda had repeatedly
raped her. He was first arrested by the police on 13 June 2012 but
was released on bail the next day. After failing to appear for a
court-directed sexual potency test, passports of Nithyananda and 30
of his associates were seized at Delhi Airport. He finally undertook
the potency test in September 2014 and after he passed it, has been
charged with rape.
Wikipedia
reports that there are more than 400 Ashram or seats of saints run by
Godmen. Not all of them are run by people with criminal bend of mind.
The question arises as to why Indians find themselves so much
gullible to charms of these self proclaimed Godmen. One news item
says that Rampal was bathed in milk daily by his disciples and this
milk was used to make the sweet or “ kheer” that was distributed
to devotees. I find impossible to understand the psyche of the
desciples, who can go to such ridiculous levels. Most of these
Godmen are excellent speakers and preachers and have a power to
attract disciples and make them believe in whatever they say. The
desciples are so much mesmerized by these Godmen that they start
believing these Godmen to be infallible.
One
may argue that poverty of Indian people may be leading them to the
charms of such Godmen. But often we see that it is the rich, who are
the most gullible and easiest targets and usually become victims of
such criminal saints. It has got to do with some born mental frame
or weakness that Indians have towards mysticism.
Whatever
may be the reasons, the fact remains that these fake and bogus
Godmen, who go on cheating people merrily, continue to have a field
day in India. It is businesss as usual for them.
22
November 2014
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