Hegemony of Godmen: will it ever end?

In the last five years we have seen many renowned as well as lesser known ‘Godmen’ being arrested for committing heinous crimes and playing with the faith of their followers. So much influence they have on the masses today that there are as many Babas and Gurus, as there are Gods and Godesses across our country. But Before going into the details, we must know who exactly are these men and what makes them unique and powerful?
As per sociologist Uday Mehta, Godmen are Charismatic leaders, who usually have a high-profile presence, and are capable of attracting attention and support from large sections of the society. These Godmen seems to have originated from the Guru-Shishya Parampara of ancient India, where there was a teacher or a person in authority who was respected for his wisdom by his students or followers.
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The recent years have seen sordid details of these public figures being involved in scandolous activitites which make us wonder, are they even worth the hype? and are they worth the reverence that so many followers bestow over them? But first lets take a case by case scenario to undertand what exactly has made us queation these people with divine and spiritual power and when and why we are starting to loose our belief in these charismatic leaders.
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As the earliest memory goes, our faith was shattered when a famous Kanchi Seer was arrested for an alleged murder in the vicinity of his Mutt, although the charges on him were not proven yet at that time it had shocked the nation to the hilt.The Next big newsmaker who stirred the nation was Swami Nityanand's sex scandal caught on camera in 2010. The self styled godman, Nityananda Paramhansa who runs Dhayanapeetham ashram near Banglore was shown in compromising position with a Southern actress Ranjitha in a video clip splashed all across TV channels. After this incidence several more cases with similar allegations surfaced against the Swami, But Not much has changed for him in all these years. As the cases against him lingers on, he continues to go about his daily routine, talking to his diciples and organising various national and international programs.
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It was not untill the arrest of godman Baba Rampal from his fortified Satlok Ashram near Barwala,Haryana that we realised what authority did these Godmen yielded over their followers. While the Police machinary was on its toes to arrest the Baba for the murder charges against him, more than 250 people were injured in violent clashes, where the police had to use batons and tear gas to disperse away the stone throwing supporters of Baba Rampal , who wanted to prevent his arrest. As per an investigator in his case Rampal preferred "hostesses," whom he called "sadhikayaen" and during one of the many raids police recovered pregnancy kits from Rampal's room along with sexual potency drugs. The officer further added that, "For a man who claimed to be an incarnation of the 15th century mystic poet Kabir, he had all the trappings of luxury. Women were an integral part of it ".
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Then came the very famous and luxuriant Babas of all time, Asaram BaPu and Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh of Dera Saccha Sauda, who have recently been convicted on Rape charges, again whose arrests made a lot of noise and led to uprising among devotees and followers, which led to widescale Bandh in Northen India and unprecedented violence
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Prof Ashutosh Kumar of Punjab University has elaborately discussed the reasons for these men to strive and why does a common man even need to follower such leaders? In a national daily , The Hindu he says that Eagerness for a quick-fix solution to a seemingly intractable problems of everyday life, which may arise due to economic and social marginality but may also be the by-product of a fast-paced, rapidly changing materialistic life, people rush to godmen in the hope that the miracle men will heal them
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Another question that has been discussed very appropriately by dw.com is, how do these aged and supposedly holy men take advantage of women while preaching against vice? To amswer this Bhavdeep Kang, author of "Gurus: Stories of India's Leading Babas" states that godmen are rarely held accountable, least of all by their devotees. Further adding that "The centrality of the godman in the lives of their flock - as spiritual preceptor, family confidante and business advisor - creates a dependency syndrome, making the devotee as invested in the purity of the guru as the guru himself," Kang told DW. She also states that the self-styled gurus assume the role of counselor, offering an answer to the dissonance and stresses of modern life, triggered by high-speed socio-economic transformation, dislocation of communities and the atomization of society. "The scope for abuse of trust is enormous. Often, even the family of the alleged victim prefers the guru's version to that of a blood relative," she explains.
On going through the dynamics of "Baba-logy", the question arises, how these men sitting on such a position carry on with their notoriety without getting caught? The answer is the nexus between these religious establishment and the political leaders, with mutually exclusive benefit sharing strategies working for them. Which help them and their clouts grow without getting caught.
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Moreover with this background we have understood that the menace of Godmen is easier said than done. As professionals with a Legal background we must dwelve deep into the fact to know whether we have any Law to deal with them at all? We have not many but few provisions mentioned in Indian Penal Code, to deal with these men, these are -
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417. Punishment for cheating.- Whoever cheats shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to one year, or with fine, or with both.
419. Punishment for cheating by personation.- Whoever cheats by personation shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three years, or with fine, or with both.
420. Cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property.- Whoever cheats and thereby dishonestly induces the person deceived to deliver any property to any person..... shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to seven years, and shall also be liable to fine. Of fraudulent deeds and dispositions of property.
508. Act caused by inducing person to believe that he will be rendered an object of the Divine displeasure-..... He shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to one year, or with fine, or with both.Â
Further passing of The Maharashtra Prevention and Eradication of Human Sacrifice and other Inhuman, Evil and Aghori Practices and Black Magic Act, 2013, made Maharashtra, the first state to bring Anti- superstition Law in the country. Other states seems to be taking a cue from Maharashtra and extending ambit of this law to their regions also, slowly but steadily.
Famously and rightly it is said that, "faithless opportunists present as big a threat to a thriving democracy as the fraudulent prophet". For India to develop well and attain its constitutional ideals, there is a need that politicians do not mix religion with politics, when these two mix, things get murkier and as a result no one but the common man suffers as the Hegemony of the Godmen continue....
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Author Name: Kalyani Buche