Of 'Godmen', Society and Politics

Perched at the intersections of religious fervour, public support, political power and often massive wealth, 'godmen', in India, have assumed unimaginable and multidimensional powers- both at societal and political levels. This immense non-state and non-corporate power also leads some of them to believe that they can do anything, act against anyone, mostly women, with impunity. Dipankar Gupta, a noted author in his essay 'India's Godmen Syndrome', aptly sums up this dilemma in his observation "godmen do extraordinarily well in our country than in most other, and that is where the puzzle lies. Is our society more vulnerable?" From a distance, 'godmen' in India are darkly comic. Consider Guru Ashutosh Maharaj, whose followers have stored his body in deepfreeze since a fatal heart attack three years ago, claiming he is meditating. While his family wished to cremate him, Punjab and Haryana High Court sided with the devotees, emphasising the 'freedom of conscience'.

Society and 'Godmen'

Many believe that millions of people flock 'godmen' or their Deras, like Gurmeet Ram Rahim Sing and his 'Sucha Sauda', because the society, mainstream politics and religion has failed them. In what they perceive to be an increasingly inequitable world, they feel let down hence compelled to turn to unconventional religion, propagated by these 'godmen', in search of dignity and equity in society.

Punjab, which has maximum concentration of Dalit/lower cast population in India, has more than 100 major Deras setup by 'godmen'. Deras' devotees are overwhelmingly Sikhs. A key message of Sikhism - equality among the faithful- has in the past inspired to convert people from lower Hindu castes to its fold. But, so deep rooted is the prejudice in Indian society that many converted Sikhs found their new co-religionists of higher castes, who dominate faith's religious bodies, treated them no better than Hindus had.

Faced with entrenched status quo, Sikhs of less privileged backgrounds became disillusioned. Their feeling of anger and helplessness, compounded by poor education and soaring unemployment, often drove them to drugs and alcohol. For them, these 'godmen' and their Deras emerged as their saviours. Deras offered free education to their children and free food to all the devotees. It kept them off drugs and alcohol, provided them employment in their enterprises; offering not only a livelihood but also a sense of meaning and purpose. They thus delivered to their followers the most tangible and precious of human needs - a sense of worth and belonging. At the heart of 'godmen's' appeal is social and economic security and ability to fulfill people's basic needs. Where the governments failed, charlatans succeeded.

Howsoever noble the cause and intent of these 'godmen' be, they often stumble over the very ideals they propound. Personal popularity, unflinching loyalty of their devotees and political clout they cultivate are the reasons of their moral undoing. Over the years, 'godmen' from all over the country - from Swami Nithyananda and Seer Raghavendra Bharti in Karnataka, to 'godmen' Mehdni Kasim in Maharashtra, to Asaram Bapu in Gujarat, now Gurmeet Ram Rahim Insaan in Haryana and many others - have been accused of and, at times, convicted for crimes ranging from rape, harassment, criminal intimidation and even murder.

Most preyed on their devotees and couched sexual assault in verbiage that makes it seem as if it was part of their spiritual process. While Ram Rahim called it 'Pitaji Ki Mafi, Nithyananda told his victims that they were engaging in 'Madhura Bhava' or a relationship a lover has with God-like Radha had with Krishna. He even took it further by asking his 'chosen few' to sign a contract to make them eligible for special 'Learning from the Master' programme. Most women victims were either brainwashed or intimidated to sign the contract without even reading it. This contract also included a non-disclosure clause. It can't get more bizarre than that. Ingenuity with which these 'godmen' committed crime is scary.

So how do supposedly holy-men, at times as aged as Asaram, take advantage of women while preaching against the vice itself? Bhavdeep Kang, author of 'Gurus: Stories of India's Leading Baba's' says 'godmen' are rarely held accountable, least of all by their devotees. She further observes "The centrality of godmen in the lives of their flock - as spiritual preceptor, family confidant and business advisor - creates a dependency syndrome, making devotees as invested in the purity of the guru as guru himself". She reckons the self-styled gurus assume the role of counsellor, offering an answer to the dissonance and stresses of modern life, triggered by high-speed socio-economic transformation, dislocation of communities and atomization of society. Here the scope of abuse of trust is enormous. Often, families of alleged victims prefer the guru's version than that of the blood relatives. Prabir Ghosh, General Secretary of the Science and Rationalist Society of India, adds another dimension to this debate when he says, "We Indians are great believers in miracles and feel that somebody can get us out of our miseries".

'Godmen' and Politics

At the core of the problem of 'godmen' is the way our political leaders play their politics. It exposes that much-touted India's economic growth story has shallow roots as it has failed to deliver caste equality and social justice to the underclass. It reveals how official institutions of governance are too eager to delegate their responsibility to these 'godmen' and their Deras. Political parties cultivate them for votes. Winning elections by playing 'godmen' card is perfectly acceptable because politicians see their voters to be dumb, driven, religious cattle.

"Godmen catering to their gullible folks would hardly be a social nuisance if politicians did not meddle in this 'magician-client' relationship. Bhindrawale's case is the best illustration how a petty soothsayer can become a monster and cause enormous damage. Had Indira Gandhi left him alone thousands of innocent Shiks would not have been caught in the crossfire. Recently, had Khattar not pandered to the political clout of Rampal or Ram Rahim, lives that were lost would not have been. In backdrop of current political context, when BJP ministers of Haryana, like Anil Vij, Manish Grover and Ram Vilas Sharma, frequently donated money to Ram Rahim as a payback for latter's political support it passed off as a non-issue. Even in 2001, when child sexual abuse allegations came up against Satya Sai Baba, the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee as well as two former Chief Justices of India wrote an open letter rubbishing the allegations against the 'Bhagwan'.

Conclusion

Many may not appreciate Nehru's oppositions to President Rajinder Prasad's decision to inaugurate Somnath temple after its post-Independence make over. It was a warning to keep religion out of the functions of the state and not, as most would like to believe, an objection of an atheist against a believer. Had this warning been taken note of, politicians would have refrained from including 'godmen' of all hues in their power calculations. We need to recollect how, in 1905, French President stood firm against the Catholic Church when former banned wearing of the Cross by government functionaries. Eventually, the Church had to relent. G. W. F. Hegel, French philosopher, famously said, by separating church from state we are doing both a favour. While secularism means keeping religion out of politics, democracy truly means keeping politics out of religion. Hope Indian politicians take a cue from this fact and purge our society of the growing menace of 'godmen' and the state functionaries of talisman, earrings or coloured robes.


News Updated at : Friday, October 27, 2017