Political
Diary
New Delhi, 29 August 2017
Game Changing
Verdicts
SPRITUALITY, SEX & scam
By Poonam I Kaushish
Phew! Three momentous
judgments in a short week! All game changers which will have rippling effects
for times to come. One, the practice of triple talaq was struck down as “void and illegal” by Supreme Court
because it was against the basic tenets of Quran. Two, it upheld privacy as a
Fundamental Right and last but not least, a CBI court convicted a Godman for
rape. Three cheers for the judiciary!
Undoubtedly, the 3:2
verdict declaring talaq-e-bidat as
“unconstitutional” by a Bench headed by Chief Justice Kehar will unshackle 21
Century Muslim women trapped in archaic medieval Personal Laws. Thereby, not only
giving a leg up to equality before law and protection against discrimination on
the basis of her gender but also underscoring Islamic feminism as modern.
Indeed path-breaking
was the unanimous nine-judge Bench 547-page ruling upholding the right to privacy
as a Fundamental Right overruling its earlier judgments of 1954 and 1962. The
Court observed that privacy is intrinsic to freedom of life and personal
liberty guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution. Recall 92-year-old ex
Justice K S Puttaswamy had challenged the Centre’s move to make Aadhaar
mandatory to benefit from social and welfare schemes.
Undeniably, this
judgment will have bearing in matters relating to decriminalization of
homosexuality, a person’s choice to practice religion, eat, how to dress, whom
to associate with in their personal, social or political life as also right to
dissent, criticize and tolerance. The
Government could place limited restrictions on grounds of national security,
sovereignty and public order.
But it is the third
verdict which has brought three States to a grinding halt. When a CBI special
trial court in Panchkula held Dera Sacha Sauda Chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim guilty
of raping two female followers in 2002. And all hell broke loose with lakhs of
followers turning violent, creating mayhem leaving over 30 dead, 200 injured
and counting. Consequently Punjab and Haryana cancelled trains, schools and
colleges shut, internet and cable TV disconnected with pleas for peace falling
on deaf ears.
Notably, the Dera
Chief is no regular Godman. He glides
through the air dressed in pink robes in his promotional videos and in real
life rides powerful souped up bikes to congregations, travels in a 200-car
'Love Charger's convoy the persona as flashy as the vehicle itself. This ‘Baba of Bling’ is a curious amalgam of
reel and real God and superstar and has starred in two movies, Messenger of God
(MSG) and its sequel, MSG2.
Arguably, what is it
about self-styled Godmen whom people blindly worship in the belief they have
magical healing powers that will cure them of illness, drive out evil spirits,
solve problems with tantra-mantra and
lead to redemption. Sans logic and rationale masses are lured with sermons, jagrans
and succors for miracles wherein Guruji connects them to a ‘hotline’ that
they believe will take them to God and find instant solutions. Faith in the
unreasonable and irrational remains firm.
This art of
performing chamatkars has propelled
the Baba business to an endemic cultic industry flourishing across villages, towns
and metros wherein radio and TV channels are paid to telecast their sermons and
assemblies. Millions are in thrall of these smooth-talking "Godmen"
who have built vast empires preying on their gullibility
Exploitation is the
name of the game whereby Swamis are rarely held accountable by their devotees.
Consequently, modern Babas have been found to harbour a fondness for money, outright
sexual abuse and fame. While some love to wield the political axe others have
corporate connections.
Alas, despite his
arrest and fall from grace the 50-year old Dera Chief is not the first to be
embroiled in a rape case. His compatriot Asaram Bapu who has 425 ashrams and
over 50 gurukuls languishes in
Jodhpur jai for raping a minor girl in 2013. Sant Rampal a rags-to-riches
junior engineer who owns a fleet of luxury cars, wealth and a private militia outfit is
followed by over 25 lakhs in the Hindu heartland. Even post his arrest for
sedition in 2014 his Facebook and You Tube page is overflowing.
Remember
how self-styled Guru Swami Nityanand’s
got caught in a sexual escapade with an actress which went viral on
social media opening floodgates of sexual exploitation by female followers. A
search of his ashram led to seisure of condoms and ganja.
Ditto
cases of Bhubaneshwar’s Sarthi Baba and
Nirmal Baba arrested for fraud, cheating and blackmailing young women with
their nude photos taken from hidden cameras in their ashram. What to speak of the
23-year-old law student in Kerala who took revenge on a Godman who had sexually
abused her for years by cutting off his penis.
Then
there is controversial Godman-tantric Chandraswami who was an influential
powerbroker during ex-Prime Minister Narasimha Rao rein and the “spiritual Guru”
of former British Premier Margaret Thatcher, Elizabeth Taylor and underworld
don Dawood Ibrahim. He fell from grace when his name cropped up in Rajiv
Gandhi’s assassination case. Arrested in
1996 for duping a London bussinessman he died in May.
‘Bhagwan’,
Sathya Sai Baba was revered by many Presidents, Prime Ministers and powerful in
his long list of devotees. When he died in 2011 his wealth was estimated at
over Rs 40,000 crores. True, he built
multi-specialty hospitals provided free treatment and schools but his life was
marked by serious controversies, faking ‘miracles’, sexual abuse and even
pedophilia. Who can forget “Sex Guru" Rajneesh who discouraged marriage
and children and saw families as prone to dysfunction.
Of course, Baba
Ramdev and Sri Sri Ravi Shankar are the current hot favourites of the ruling
BJP dispensation and Opposition alike.The former is known for popularising yoga
boastfully claiming to cure cancer, has a vast business empire encompassing
ayurvedic medicines, toiletries etc and has been very vocal about political
issues.
Politicians love and
flock to Godmen. Not only as the soothsayer of their fortunes and fame but also
because his captive followers provide committed vote-banks whereby the become
power centres of changing events. An example: Modi’s anti-corruption crusade
drew in Baba Ramdev and Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, both played influential roles.
Said Ravi Shankar , “We cannot sit back
..we have to take action…play role of reformers, not rulers.
As the Dera Chief
incident underscores the chickens have come home to roost for our leaders.
Scandalously, he was provided with
Z+security.Why? And both the Punjab and Haryana Administration looked the other
way his devotees continued to flock. Recall, prior to the 2014 elections even
Prime Minister Modi and his ardent Sangh followers made a beeline to Sirsa to
solicit is blessings and votes. Worse, three Ministers of the Khattar
Government have donated Rs 51 laks each from their discretionary funds.
What next? Clearly
this social malaise must be identified and addressed. True, swamidom is clearly
a massive emotional, spiritual lever and vote leveler. Our nets must desist
from succumbing to them which makes entire Governments beholden and vulnerable
to such exploiters emboldening them to think they are above the law.
It is doubtful
whether the ubiquitous Guru will scale down his influence and step off the
elevator to Heaven which everyone is scrambling to get on. People need to realize that they are worshipping false
gods who are as vulnerable and fallible as any one. In the end what counts is not
how bad the Godman is. Time to get rid of them.---- INFA
(Copyright, India
News & Feature Alliance)
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