Beyond Jay Shetty: Osho to Asaram – Revisiting India’s controversial self-styled ‘gurus’ and their murky past

While the controversy around the life-coach has made headlines, India is no stranger to self-styled gurus and their not-so-ordinary lifestyles. Some of them have been jailed, facing charges of heinous crimes, while others have been M.I.A after disturbing issues surfaced.



Surabhi Pandey
Financial Express
March 5, 2024


India’s self-styled godmen and their murky past


1: Osho: Known as Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh in his heydays, Osho was the it-guru not just for Indians but global devotees as well. In 1966, he quit his job as a professor at the University of Jabalpur and commenced a pan-India tour on a spiritual quest. He slammed Hindu orthodox ideas and focused on meditation. Osho’s book ‘From Sex to Superconsciousness’ had created a lot of controversies in India at the time of release. The decade-long quest culminated with Osho establishing an Ashram in Pune in the year 1974. But a few years later, Osho decided to move to what he called ‘Rajneeshpuram’, his 60,000-acre commune, based in Oregon in the US.

In a span of just three years, his followers transformed Rajneeshpuram from a barren land into the most happening place in this sleepy neighbourhood. From restaurants to malls, Rajneeshpuram had it all. There was a public transport system and a reservoir. But all this changed after Osho faced two counts of felony. After pleading guilty, Osho was deported and he came back to India. He stayed at his Pune Ashram till his death in 1990. A result of counter-culture of the swinging 60s, Osho’s cult was popular among A-list stars from Hollywood to Bollywood. Filmmaker Vikram Zuthsi once wrote that Osho’s ashram was modelled on the community of Russian mystic GI Gurdjieff.


2: Gurmeet Ram Rahim: The events leading to 23-year-old Gurmeet Singh transforming into Huzoor Maharaj Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh ji is stuff that fiction stories are based on. Born in a well-to-do landlord family, Gurmeet Singh did not have a spiritual inclination. But in a surprise turn of events, Singh was appointed as the Dera Saccha Sauda chief and rechristened as Huzoor Maharaj Gurmeet Ram Rahim. The Dera, which had massive following among Dalits and other backward sections, saw construction of a massive cave-themed park at its Sirsa headquarters.

Convicted for rape, Gurmeet Singh was profiled for sexually exploiting women devotees in name of ‘maafi’ or pardon. Ram Rahim Singh was convicted by a special CBI court in Panchkula in August 2017 for raping two women. Recently, the Punjab and Haryana High Court had raised objections over repeated paroles granted to him. Supposed to serve 20 years in jail, Gurmeet Singh has been granted nine paroles in the past four years.


3: Zakir Naik: Born on October 16, 1965 in Mumbai, Zakir Naik studied at Mumbai University before founding Islamic Research Foundation and starting the broadcast operations of Peace TV. Naik, who is a wanted criminal in India, is named in an FIR. He has been accused of instigating young men and women of the Muslim community to comment on terror attacks against India. Known for his radical Islamic preachings, Naik is currently living a fugitive life. Some reports say that he is living at an undisclosed location in Malaysia.


4: Asaram Bapu: Asaram was arrested in 2013 after a minor filed a police case accusing him of raping her at his Jodhpur ashram. Ever since then, Asaram remain behind bars. After the 2013 case, several other girls have also come forward with gruesome accounts of sexual abuse at Asaram’s ashrams. The Asaram case is pending with the top court.


5: Swami Nithyananda: In March 2010, a grainy video clip surfaced on local TV networks showing the self-styled godman involved in acts of sexual nature with a TV actor. After backlash, Nithyananda had claimed that he was impotent and that the act was not of sexual nature – it was shavasana. However, that video clip was tip of the proverbial iceberg. Soon, allegations surfaced of him raping a follower at his ashram. A search by the local police showed recovery of condoms and contrabands. In 2019, the Gujarat Police had said that the infamous godmen had fled India. A non-bailable warrant has been issued by Indian court in connection with the several cases of sexual assault and wrongful confinement.


6: Maharishi Mahesh Yogi: The man who became an icon for being the so-called spiritual guide to The Beatles, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi was at the centre of intense media frenzy back in 1960s. The band was so much in awe of the guru that they stayed at his Rishikesh-based Ashram. But later, the ‘Fab Four’ and the guru parted ways. Some media accounts said that Maharishi Mahesh had allegedly made sexual advances towards Mia Farrow. According to the New York Post report, Woody Allen’s ex-partner had claimed that the godman had groped her in his cave. And final conclusion came when John Lennon famouly said – “There’s no guru.”


https://www.financialexpress.com/india-news/beyond-jay-shetty-osho-to-asaram-revisiting-indias-controversial-self-styled-gurus-and-their-murky-past-bkg/3414036/

Ram Rahim: Anger over parole for Indian guru jailed for rape

Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh was one of India's most influential religious leaders until his conviction

Geeta Pandey

BBC News, Delhi

February 22, 2023

Last week, a video of a controversial religious guru, who is serving long jail sentences for rape and murder, went viral in India.

It showed Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, leader of the Dera Sacha Sauda sect, out of prison on parole and cutting a cake with Honeypreet Insan, a young woman he calls his adopted daughter. The celebration was to mark her Instagram account reaching a million followers.

A few days earlier, another video had gone viral that showed the guru cutting another, much larger cake with a sword.

The videos made headlines in India, with critics asking why the authorities are allowing Singh "frequent parole".

Singh has been held at Sunaria jail in the northern state of Haryana since August 2017 when he was convicted of raping two female followers and sent to prison for 20 years. In 2019, he was sentenced to life for the murder of a journalist and in 2021, he received another life sentence for the 2002 murder of one of his employees.

But despite being convicted of such serious crimes, Singh has been out of prison for a total of 131 days in the past 13 months - he was granted a 21-day furlough in February 2022; parole in June for 30 days and again in October for 40 days. And on 21 January, he was let out for another 40 days.

An official from Singh's Dera Sacha Sauda told the BBC that "parole is a right of all prisoners, it's a human right".

"He's spending his time in spiritual discourse, he's working hard to address problems of people, working on the de-addiction programme," the official said, claiming that every day 100,000 people were quitting drugs because of him.

But Singh's release has been greeted with dismay on social media, with many wondering how a man found guilty of crimes such as rape and murder could be allowed out of prison.

Sikhism's highest religious organisation, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), has filed a petition in court challenging his parole, saying "it sends a wrong message to society".

SGPC General Secretary Gurcharan Singh Grewal told the BBC that Singh was "a disgrace" and his presence outside jail was "bad for society".

Until his conviction in 2017, Singh was one of India's most influential religious leaders. With tens of millions of followers, his sprawling headquarters in the town of Sirsa in Haryana, where he was based, was visited by hundreds of thousands of devotees every year.

Known as the "guru of bling" because of his love for outlandish outfits and jewellery, Singh was also called "rockstar baba" - he acted in films he made, performed rock concerts and rubbed shoulders with the high and mighty in India.

For years, he was courted by India's main political parties, the Congress and the governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), for his ability to influence election outcomes by asking his followers to vote for one party or the other.

In recent years, he's thrown his lot behind the BJP. In the run-up to the 2014 Haryana state assembly elections, he urged his followers to vote for the party, which went on to win the vote.

Before his fall from grace, he was photographed with Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on a number of occasions.

Even after his convictions and the long jail sentences he received, it appears that Singh's influence hasn't waned.

Reports say that from his ashram in Barnawa, in Uttar Pradesh state's Baghpat district, where he's staying during parole, he's been holding virtual meetings with tens of thousands of followers.

After several BJP politicians were seen in attendance, opposition parties began accusing the party of having a hand in the parole he had been given.

The party's chief spokesman in Haryana, Sanjay Sharma, denied that the BJP or its government had any role in granting Singh parole.

"The individuals who visit him or attend his discourses do it because they have faith in him. We don't have a soft corner for him, we let the law take its own course," Mr Sharma told the BBC.

Besides, he said that "it's the jail authorities or the district administration that approve parole" and that "it's all being done within the ambit of the law".

Divisional Commissioner Sanjeev Verma, head of administration for Rohtak district where the jail housing Singh is located, refused to answer the BBC's questions on his parole, saying the matter was in court and hence sub judice.

The director general of prisons Mohammad Akil also refused to speak but added that two similar earlier petitions against Singh's parole had been thrown out by the courts.

Supreme Court lawyer Akshat Bajpai says it is very difficult to get parole and adds that it's hard to understand how Singh manages it repeatedly.

Parole and furlough are "extraordinary measures meant to cater to specific needs of prisoners, such as a death in the family or marriage of children or siblings, but they are not meant to subvert judicial orders".

"Singh's not an under-trial, he's a convicted prisoner who's been found guilty by court of such heinous crimes as rape and murder. But every three-four months he is out.

"And the brazenness with which he conducts himself is shocking. He's seen cutting a cake with a sword which is an offence under the Arms Act, he's composing and releasing music videos, he's making a mockery of the criminal justice system," he adds.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-64714491

From Bikram Choudhury to Gurmeet Ram Rahim, why does India have so many disgraced gurus?

For the country’s holy men, international notoriety is as common an outcome as global fame

But their influence is hard to shake at home, where people looking for a purpose or cause too often turn a blind eye to spiritual leaders’ crimes


Kunal Purohit
This Week In Asia
January 5, 2020

A mysterious video surfaced in India last month, and soon became the source of memes and guffaws across the country. A man with a neatly trimmed beard is in the centre of the frame, with ash smeared all over his forehead and long gold and bead necklaces around his neck. Sitting in what looks like a studio, against the backdrop of a snow-clad mountain, he is wearing nothing but a maroon waistcloth.

This is Swami Nithyananda, an Indian spiritual guru, and the video was the unveiling of his own Hindu nation, “Kailaasa” – a nation that does not exist on land, but with boundaries “in the universe, in the cosmos state”. It even has its own website, which describes Kailaasa as the “Greatest Hindu nation” and even promises universal health care, education and food security.

This utopian fantasy might have evoked much mirth, but it concealed a darker side – Nithyananda is a fugitive in India, where he faces charges of rape as well as illegal confinement of children. Days before the video’s release, police in western India’s Gujarat state raided his ashram after the allegations against him surfaced. By then, however, he had already fled India, with local media reports saying he had bought an island near Ecuador to be the site of Kailaasa.

Nithyananda might be the latest Indian spiritual leader to gain international notoriety, but he is not alone. Bikram Choudhury is the subject of the recent Netflix documentary Bikram: Yogi, Guru, Predator, which details the yoga teacher’s meteoric global rise and the allegations of rape and sexual assault that have followed in the wake of his ascent. The list of gurus who achieve mass popularity before suffering a sharp fall on account of their own misdeeds is long – and is only getting longer.

ASPIRATIONS AND TRADITION

Before expanding internationally, many of these leaders first shored up their support base in India. One factor helping them achieve domestic popularity is the country’s increasing religiosity. Some 54 per cent of Indians surveyed believed that religion played a bigger role in society today than it did two decades ago, according to analysis by the Washington-based Pew Research Centre released in April last year.

People feel like they have no control over their lives, that their lives are controlled by these higher powers Avinash Patil, MANS

This, combined with unquestioned beliefs in religious ideas, left many Indians feeling helpless about their own lives, said Avinash Patil, head of Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti (MANS), an organisation that promotes rationalism and fights belief in superstitions.

“People feel like they have no control over their lives, that their lives are controlled by these higher powers. In moments like these, they need someone to make sense of things and give them a feeling of control,” he said.

These feelings are often complicated, however, by systemic failures in a developing country such as India. These include sheer poverty – 13.4 per cent of the population earns less than US$1.90 per day, according to a 2015 World Bank estimate – as well as widespread hunger and deprivation. On top of this, unemployment in 2019 hit a 45-year high, while government services are often difficult to access or nonexistent.

“People often feel that their problems can’t be solved by such a system. Hence, they turn to godmen claiming to have supernatural powers that can heal or make life better for their devotees,” Patil said.

Across India, spiritual leaders look to fill this vacuum by carrying out charitable activities, from running free schools and hospitals to carrying out small-scale developmental works, especially in rural areas.

Said journalist Bhavdeep Kang, author of the 2016 book Gurus: Stories of India’s Leading Babas: “If you are at the bottom of the socioeconomic pyramid, these gurus can offer you not just spiritual help, they also offer financial and medical aid, and even education. Often, they subsume the role of the welfare state.”

HOW THE WEST WAS WON

What explains the international popularity of these gurus? According to Kang, the answer lies in the slow but sure spread of Hinduism and its spiritual ideas through the West in the 20th century. “Sometime in the 1960s, there was a growing realisation, in the Western world especially, that despite enjoying material prosperity, many felt disenchanted and were looking for a higher purpose. That’s when India’s spiritual gurus stepped in and filled in the void,” he said.

Kang points to Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, whose success opened the door for other spiritual leaders. The Maharishi was one of the earliest global spiritual leaders to hail from India, and the founder of the 1960s Transcendental Meditation movement. He at one point counted the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and the Beach Boys among his followers.

According to Amrit Wilson, a London-based author and journalist, another way that Indian spiritual gurus sought to expand their base of followers was to adopt a language they would understand. “Many of these gurus tried reaching out to diverse, non-Indian audiences through propagating yoga, meditation and health fads, all of which ultimately radiate back to particular godmen,” he said.

As Patil of MANS explains, this growing influence worked for both the guru and his followers. “The guru found fame and influence, while the followers received the guidance and the path to spiritual enlightenment they believed they needed.”

Celebrity endorsements, widening political influence and expanded networks of patronage slowly gave these gurus the status of cult leaders. As spiritual organisations started operating like multinational corporations, the gurus themselves started leading famously lavish lifestyles.

According to his BBC obituary, the Maharishi lived in a 200-room mansion, with a fleet of cars and helicopters. Osho Rajneesh, who was the subject of the popular Netflix documentary Wild Wild Country, had a large collection of Rolls-Royce cars and a clutch of international bank accounts.

Both Kang and Patil believe it is the accumulation of power and influence that ultimately corrupts many spiritual leaders.
“Many of them are charlatans who are only pretending to be gurus. Others … become victims of what they warn their followers against – wealth, power and influence. Proximity to these factors eventually gets the better of them,” said Kang.

CRIMINAL ACTS

MANS, the organisation dedicated to fighting superstition, until recently had an investigative team that would conduct “sting operations”, using hidden cameras and recorders, against thousands of so-called gurus in India who claimed to perform miracles. These operations stopped after the provincial government of Maharashtra – where the group did much of its work – passed an anti-superstition law in 2013.

MANS head Patil said the organisation had conducted at least 150 such exposés annually for the past three decades. “When we investigated these tip-offs, we realised 70 per cent of them were criminals who were trying to conceal previous criminal acts by becoming spiritual gurus. But the police would often not be very comfortable taking complaints against such high-profile gurus.”

Even in cases where the complaints were registered, some spiritual leaders’ popularity showed no signs of diminishing. In recent years, major gurus Gurmeet Ram Rahim and Asaram have been sent to prison after being found guilty of rape; after Ram Rahim was jailed in 2017, his followers, many of them women, rioted across Northern India.

In Nithyananda’s case, the whistle-blower was a former devotee of his, who found that only two of his four daughters backed his move to approach the police; the other two continued to side with the guru, despite being the victims of his actions.

Journalist and author Kang said this had much to do with the central role that such gurus often came to play in the lives of their devotees. “Many are looking for a purpose, a cause, in their life. They want a guru to guide them and satisfy their spiritual needs. Ultimately, in such gurus, they find a person who they can trust absolutely in a world where it is very hard to find such people.”

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3044578/bikram-choudhury-gurmeet-ram-rahim-why-does-india-have-so-many

Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh gets life imprisonment for journalist's murder

CNBCTV18
Jan 17, 2019

The Dera Sacha Sauda chief and the three others convicted last Friday in the case appeared before the court through video conferencing.

On January 11, special CBI Court judge Jagdeep Singh had convicted the four men for the murder of journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati in 2002.

A special CBI court in Panchkula on Thursday sentenced self-styled godman Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh and three others to life imprisonment for the murder of a journalist over 16 years ago.

The Dera Sacha Sauda chief and the three others convicted last Friday in the case appeared before the court through video conferencing.

"All four have been sentenced to life imprisonment," CBI counsel H P S Verma said.

On January 11, special CBI Court judge Jagdeep Singh had convicted the four men for the murder of journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati in 2002.

All the four were convicted under section 302 (murder) and 120 B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code.

Ram Rahim appeared through video conferencing from Sunaria jail in Rohtak, where he is already serving a 20-year-sentence in a rape case.

The three others - Nirmal Singh, Kuldeep Singh and Krishan Lal - appeared from Ambala jail.

The journalist was killed in Haryana's Sirsa in October 2002 after his newspaper published an anonymous letter alleging sexual exploitation of women by the godman at the Dera headquarters in the same town.

Ram Rahim was named as the main conspirator in the case.

Chhatrapati's family approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court in 2003, seeking the transfer of the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation.

The investigation was later handed over to the CBI which filed the chargesheet in July 2007.

In August 2017, the sect leader was brought to the Panchkula court where the CBI court judge pronounced the verdict in rape case.



https://www.cnbctv18.com/economy/gurmeet-ram-rahim-singh-gets-life-imprisonment-for-journalists-murder-1993021.htm

Gurus Gone Bad in India

How do manipulative cult leaders exploit devout believers?

Karishma Vyas
Aljazeera
August 27, 2018

Sirsa, India - On August 25, 2017, Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh was convicted of sexually assaulting two women. Across India, such crimes occur with horrifying frequency, but Ram Rahim isn't just another sexual predator. He is a self-styled saint who heads one of the largest spiritual organisations in the country.

Through his ashram, the Dera Sacha Sauda, he has amassed an estimated net worth of almost $36m, and claims to have 60 million followers worldwide. His sprawling headquarters in the north Indian city of Sirsa boasts a state-of-the-art hospital, schools, luxury hotels and a sport stadium.

To his devotees, he is the messenger of God, but many say beneath his saintly persona lies a cruel and conniving criminal. Former followers are now coming forward to expose a network of disciples who supplied Ram Rahim with women he could sexually assault, confidantes who allegedly plotted with him to assassinate critics, and doctors who are accused of castrating hundreds of men on Ram Rahim's orders. Allegations the guru denies.

Why did his devotees conspire with, and cover up for the guru for almost 20 years? And why, even after his criminal convictions, do hundreds of thousands of people continue to worship him?

To understand this blind faith, it's important to understand the psychology of a cult.

"I believed that he was God," says Khatta Singh, who was once a fervent follower of Ram Rahim. "We would take his name morning and night, even before sleeping,"

For 10 years, Singh lived in the Dera Sacha Sauda ashram, working his way into Ram Rahim's inner circle. Like many cult leaders, the guru obsessively controlled his devotees, Singh says.

"He installed cameras around the Dera, and also microphones. When guards would be standing around at night talking, he would record all of it," he recalls.

"In the morning, he would summon them and ask, 'At this time were you talking about this?' They would say, 'Yes, sir'. So, people started thinking that he knows everything."

Hans Raj Chauhan is another former follower who lived under the guru's iron fist. He was just a teenager when his devout parents sent him to live and work in Ram Rahim's ashram. He says his indoctrination began immediately.

"We could only read literature that our guru had given us," he tells Al Jazeera.

"You're not allowed to listen to the radio or watch TV. You have to eat and drink whatever the guru had decided."

"You have to do everything inside the Dera … We couldn't go to the market. If we had to buy some clothes or shoes, we'd have to come back very quickly. They would log our movements."
Chauhan says, like all the disciples living in the ashram, he was brainwashed and cut off from the outside world, including from his family.
"My parents would visit every two or three months, but there was a limit on how long we could meet for. And we would always have one of the guru's spies standing in the corner. Whatever you said would get back to him."

What is being reported in the media is only five percent of what he [Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh] has actually done. I've seen the girls going in and out of his room myself, because I was standing right there. -- KHATTA SINGH, FORMER FOLLOWER OF GURMEET RAM RAHIM SINGH

Both Singh and Chauhan admit that they knew Ram Rahim was committing heinous crimes, including rape.

"What is being reported in the media is only five percent of what he has actually done," says Singh. "I've seen the girls going in and out of his room myself, because I was standing right there."

Singh says he even witnessed his guru order other disciples to murder a journalist. He believes he was also involved in the assassination of a former devotee.

"He's a very dangerous man. I've seen it up close. Ram Chander Chhatrapati, Ranjit Singh ... He gave the order one day and the next they were killed."

And then came the day that Chauhan says he, too, was targeted. He says Ram Rahim ordered doctors in the ashram to castrate him, and hundreds of other followers, without their consent.

But Chauhan says even that didn't destroy his faith in Ram Rahim. Like Khatta Singh, he remained loyal to the guru for years. This blind faith does not surprise author, Bhavdeep Kang.

"Surrender is a very important aspect of the guru-devotee relationship," says Kang, who has written about India's best-known gurus. "You have to completely surrender yourself to the God-man, which means even when he's wrong, he's right."

Kang says it can take years for devout followers to extricate themselves from the control of their gurus, because they believe they have too much to lose.

"What the God-man offers you is membership of a larger community. A sense of belonging. You become so invested in that that it becomes very hard to leave. It becomes so much a part of your existence, of who you are," she says.

Surrender is a very important aspect of the guru-devotee relationship. You have to completely surrender yourself to the God-man, which means even when he's wrong, he's right.
-- BHAVDEEP KANG, AUTHOR

"In some ways, as a devotee, I am more invested in the God-man's divinity than the God-man himself. Having surrendered myself to you, I have to justify it. I have to justify having given up everything for you.

"So, you build up an image of that person in your head, which is not necessarily based on reality."

In Ram Rahim's case, both Singh and Chauhan say fear also played a key role in keeping them loyal to their guru.

"There were a lot of reasons to be afraid," says Chauhan. "I found out that a very good journalist, Ram Chander Chhatrapati was murdered. Ranjit (Singh) was murdered … So, I was terrified. And being from a poor family, I did not have the guts to speak out."
Singh says this fear was justified.

"If I had spoken out, it was possible he'd have me and my entire family killed," he says.
"When I stopped going to the Dera, they sent followers to my house. They'd spit on me. They said, 'If you say anything, we're ready for you'. There was so much pressure on me that I just couldn't speak out."

Singh and Chauhan are now helping the government prosecute their former guru for murder and castration. But even as Ram Rahim serves a 20-year prison sentence for the sexual assault of two female devotees, hundreds of thousands of disciples continue to flock to his ashram.

"He's my guru. He's the answer to all of my questions," says Prakash Singh Salwara, a spokesman for Ram Rahim and his ashram. "He's a mother, a father, a brother, a friend. He's everything."

Salwara, who has been a devotee for almost 30 years, does not believe any of the charges against Ram Rahim. Instead, he says, his guru is a victim of a conspiracy by journalists, politicians and federal investigators.

"From the beginning to the end, I have tried to understand and investigate these allegations. I never say anything that indicated that a crime has been committed," he says. "People are saying that this is politically motivated. The truth hasn't been completely buried. And I believe that someday, it will come out."

https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/gurus-bad-india-180822071025661.html

CultNEWS101 Articles: 1/16/2018

Scientology, Spiritual Abuse, Ram Rahim, India, Legal, Jim and Tammy Bakker, Ponzi Sceme, Jehovah's Witnesses, Sexual Abuse, Legal

Hollywood Reporter: Kirstie Alley Criticizes Journalist's "Bigoted" Views of Scientology

"Kirstie Alley took to Twitter on Saturday to critique journalist Yashar Ali after he charged that she had treated two Hollywood professionals accused of sexual misconduct — one a current Scientologist and the other a lapsed Scientologist — differently due to their faith."

Church Times: Two-thirds of Christians in new survey say they have been spiritually abused

"The study also acknowledges that definitions of spiritual abuse are not clear cut, and suggests this lack of clarity may be a significant barrier to responding appropriately to its victims within the Church."

“'Existing work around this experience (which is characterised by a systematic pattern of controlling and coercive behaviour in a religious context) is still in its infancy, to the extent that there is not currently universal agreement about this as a term,' it says."

Outlook: Ram Rahim's Close Aide And Doctor Arrested, Was Involved In Castration Of 300 Followers

"Months after the arrest of Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, the Special Investigation Team(SIT) has arrested a doctor who was allegedly involved in the castration of 300 followers."

"Dr Mahinder Pal Singh alias Mahender Insan in Sirsa, a surgeon who has been associated with sect from 1995, is said to have involved in the castration of 300 people ordered by Ram Rahim."

Post-Gazette: How Jim and Tammy Bakker's religious Ponzi scheme collapsed

"The late 1980s offered many great scandals, but for sheer carnivalesque spectacle, nothing beat the televangelists: Oral Roberts (that name!) citing divine extortion, demanded $7 million from his followers so God wouldn’t “call [him] home.” Jimmy Swaggart (Jerry Lee Lewis’ cousin) cruised rural Louisiana for prostitutes."

"But Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker are certainly the most indelible of these holy hypocrites."

San Diego Reader: Jehovah's Witnesses to settle sex-abuse case

"A lawsuit is now settled between a former victim of sexual abuse and Jehovah's Witnesses. According to the court's website, the case is under a "conditional settlement." The terms and conditions of the settlement are not public."

"José Lopez filed the lawsuit back in 2012, nearly 20 years after church elder Gonzalo Campos molested him and several other young children who were members of the Linda Vista congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses."

"As reported by the Reader, Campos, who fled to Mexico to escape criminal charges, admitted to committing the acts to Lopez’s and another victim's attorney, Devin Storey, while giving testimony in one of the cases."

The rise and rise of the ‘spiritual’ economy in 2017: From Patanjali to Sri Sri Tattva

Gurbir Singh
Express News Service
January 1, 2018

Lest we forget, 2017 was also the year of godmen. Yoga and spiritualism have come a long way. Thirty years ago, for the westernised elite, it was associated with outlandish sadhus in the Himalayas and ‘Hare Ram’ was a fad that the Beatles pursued with Maharishi Yogi. Today, spiritualism is going through a renaissance and yoga is the new route to both mental and physical wellness.

Tantrics and godmen have always had a place in the economy. Earlier, they had sold products like amulets and herbal concoctions. But these are small change compared to the current multi-billion dollar market for ‘organic’ products of daily use like soaps, branded ‘atta’ and noodles.

The new tribe of spiritual entrepreneurs is tapping the world-wide rejection of processed foods and the new focus on health. The wellness industry worldwide is estimated to be worth $3.4 trillion, and three times the size of the pharmaceutical industry.

The Patanjali story

No one has succeeded in growing the ‘spiritual economy’ as Baba Ramdev has. Brand Trust Report India 2017 declared Patanjali as the most attractive brand in India among 10,000 brands vetted in the study. From yoga guru, Baba Ramdev has moved rapidly to become the third-largest producer of fast moving consumer goods (FMCG).

His company Patanjali Ayurved Ltd claims to have doubled sales from Rs 5,000 crore in FY16 to Rs 10,216 crore in FY17. With a range of products including soaps and toothpaste, atta, hair oils amla juice oil, biscuits and noodles, Patanjali hopes to cross Rs 20,000 crore in sales in FY18.

Baba Ramdev’s rise

Patanjali has reportedly surpassed the revenue of FMCG majors such as Nestle India,Godrej Consumer Products  and Dabur, clocking 140 per centgrowth rate

Ramdev’s marketing has focused on India’s yen for discovering grandmother’s natural remedies. Patanjali is said to have surpassed the revenue of other FMCG majors such as Nestle India (Rs 9,159 crore), Godrej Consumer Products (Rs 9,134 crore) and Dabur (Rs 7,691 crore). It has clocked a heady 140 per cent growth rate, in a market where competitors struggle to reach double-digit growth.

The new marketers

The latest to join the race for a slice of the Rs 4.2 lakh crore FMCG market is Sri Sri Ravi Shankar of the ‘Art of Living’ fame. He has announced that his wellness brand Sri Sri Tattva will target a turnover of Rs 500 crore by FY20 through three formats of retail stores - Mart, Wellness and Home & Health - offering a range of FMCG products, prescription medicine and Ayurveda items. The company plans to roll out 1,000 franchised stores by March 2020.

Critics say the meteoric growth of spiritual entrepreneurs may not have been possible without government support. A Reuters report estimates that since the Modi government took office in 2014, Baba Ramdev has acquired about 2,000 acres of land at discounts totalling around Rs 300 crore. In Uttar Pradesh, Patanjali has bagged a Rs 700-crore midday meal contract for government schools. There are muted protests among other FMCG giants that that they are not on a level playing field.

Old babas vs new-age gurus

Babas of yesteryear were billionaires many times over, but they were not manufacturers and retailers. Dhirendra Brahmachari and Chandraswami of the Congress era had millions of followers as well as politicians funding them. But, the new era spiritualists are for erecting well-oiled corporate machines selling wellness and spirituality products.

While Ramdev has already given the consumer goods giants a run for their money, competition between the established brands and new entrants is likely to intensify with Ravi Shankar too entering the fray.
On the flip side, there are some like the disgraced Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh ‘Insan’ who have given a bad name for spiritual entrepreneurs.

Ram Rahim had set up not only hospitals and schools, but also retail chain and e-marketing websites commanding a huge market. In January 2016, he had launched a huge marketing blitz, putting on sale 400 products under brand ‘MSG’.  These included 14 varieties of pulses, dozens of grocery items, and a whole spectrum of salt, ghee, spices, honey, mineral water, and noodles. Many of these products have disappeared and it is not known whether his marketing machinery exists after his conviction and incarceration.

http://www.newindianexpress.com/business/2018/jan/01/the-rise-and-rise-of-the-spiritual-economy-in-2017-from-patanjali-to-sri-sri-tattva-1741392.html

Ram Rahim's Adopted Daughter, Honeypreet, Tops Haryana's Most-Wanted List

Honeypreet Insan, Ram Rahim's constant companion who calls herself his adopted daughter and "Papa's Angel", has been missing since Gurmeet Ram Rahim went to jail.
Deepshikha Ghosh

All India

September 18, 2017

Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh's closest aides Honeypreet Insan and Aditya Insan top the list of the 43 most-wanted in Haryana over the rioting last month after the self-declared spiritual guru was convicted of rape.

Arson and violence by supporters of Ram Rahim's Dera Sacha Sauda sect left 38 people dead on August 25, after a court in Panchkula held the guru guilty of raping two followers inside his sprawling and shadowy base in Haryana's Sirsa. The flamboyant Dera chief is serving a 20-year jail term.

Honeypreet Insan, Ram Rahim's constant companion who calls herself his adopted daughter and "Papa's Angel", has been missing since that day. She had accompanied him on a special chopper that took him from Panchkula to the Rohtak jail. The police say she tried to help him escape after his conviction. Hunting for her, the police have also sent teams to the border; they suspect she may try to escape to Nepal. The police have reportedly circulated photographs and asked its teams to watch out for women "wearing a burqa or mask".

There have been more arrests of Ram Rahim's aides and the Haryana police has now put out the photos of followers who are missing.

"Following accused are wanted regarding violence in Panchkula ...The identity of those giving information leading to their arrest will be kept secret," the notice said, releasing phone numbers, WhatsApp details and an email id for the information.

Most of the accused have been identified from photographs and videos taken during the violence. They are seen carrying weapons like sticks and some are masked.

Aditya Insan, the Dera spokesperson, is wanted for sedition.

Pradeep Goyal Insan, also a Dera functionary, and Aditya Insan's relative Prakash were arrested earlier. Based on their statements, the police may add more charges against Honeypreet Insan.

http://www.ndtv.com/india-news/gurmeet-ram-rahim-singhs-adopted-daughter-honeypreet-insan-among-haryanas-45-most-wanted-1751583

The Guru Gaggle

Iftikhar Gilani

DNA

September 17, 2017

After Indira Gandhi lost power in the 1977 general elections, the new Janata Party government moved swiftly to act against her for excesses committed during the Emergency she had imposed in the country. An enterprising young maulvi approached her, with the promise that he would get her out of the political wilderness. The story goes that he asked her to make arrangements for him and his dozens of disciples to do a 40-day penance at the shrine of Sufi saint Sheikh Syed Abdul Qadir Jeelani in Iraq's capital Baghdad. The maulvi claimed he had been told in his dream that this was needed to restore her glory.

Indira asked a member of the Congress Working Committee to budget the expenditure. But the maulvi took the money, went to his hometown instead, constructed a house for himself and forgot about the task. A year later, when the Janata Party government crumbled under significant ideological and political divisions, and Indira was back in power, the maulvi came back to claim credit. He was received like a hero. He went on to occupy a prime Wakf property in the heart of Delhi. Though various structures, including a TV studio and a corporate office of a company owned by his sons, were accused of encroachment, no one in the government took any action. He was a regular feature in the parties of every Prime Minister till he died.

He has been one of the many such examples. Historically, rulers in India have turned to astrologers and soothsayers. Fears of omens, ghosts, ghouls and storms have clouded many of their actions. Even wars — though many of them not won — were often influenced by astrologers. India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, known for his scientific temper, had a grouse against President Rajendra Prasad for hosting sadhus and saints in the Rashtrapati Bhavan. But Nehru's own association with a mysterious tantric spiritualist, Shradha Mata, has been known to many.

Former bureaucrat RK Krishnan recalls that a certain Prime Minister was known to be guided by the astrological advice of a godman in practically all his actions. On one occasion, the date and the time of the induction of some new ministers were fixed and announced on Doordarshan, only to be changed at the last minute because the schedule, according to another set of astrologers, was so inauspicious that things begun that day would have ended up in fire and smoke!

Many godmen have taken advantage of politicians' insecurities to build their own empires. Indira's Yoga guru Dhirendra Brahmachari ran ashrams in Delhi and Jammu and Kashmir, and became politically influential in 1975–77 when she declared the Emergency and suspended civil liberties. Many claim he would even influence Cabinet reshuffles.

KL Shrimali lost his job as education minister after he demanded an audit report of Brahmachari's ashrams. He was also a source of discord between Indira and then Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Sheikh Abdullah in the late 1980s. The J&K government had filed several cases against the Shiva Gun Factory that Brahmachari had set up in Jammu. Not only was there a complaint of land grabbing by one Saraswati Devi, the CID had informed Abdullah that guns were being distributed to unscrupulous elements. Seven years after his death, the High Court asked the government to take over his ashram in 2001 at the Mantalai peak near Patnitop in Udhampur, which had a helipad, a private zoo and a number of facilities.

Brahmachari's fate changed after Indira's death, which also allowed the then struggling godman Chandraswami to emerge as a guide to politicians. He had been trying his luck since the 1970s, but Brahmachari's presence was not allowing him a giant entry. He later became famous for his closeness to former Prime Minister Narasimha Rao, and would wield influence with heads of state.

Former diplomat and politician Natwar Singh recalls that when he was Deputy High Commissioner in London in 1975, a senior Cabinet minister wanted him to arrange a meeting between Margaret Thatcher, who had then just become the Opposition leader, and Chandraswami. After much pestering, he agreed to arrange a party to invite both to his residence. There, Chandraswami scooped out a taweez (amulet) from his bag, and advised Thatcher to wear red when she came to see him. She obliged. He later told her that she would become the UK's Prime Minister in 3-4 years and remain in office for nine, 11 or even 13 years. All that proved true.

At the Commonwealth Summit held in Lusaka, Zambia, in 1979, where Thatcher arrived as Prime Minister, she noticed Singh at the airport and gently whispered to him to forget about the meeting he had arranged between her and Chandraswami four years ago. "We don't talk about these matters," she told Singh. But Chandraswami's fall was as abrupt. In 1996, he was jailed on charges of defrauding a London-based businessman. Last year, he had an obscure death.

Till 15 years ago, sadhu-like characters used to roam inside the Congress headquarters — 24, Akbar Road — in Delhi. One of them had a beautiful voice. He would sing aloud, praising the Gandhi family and their sacrifices. Another one had pasted photographs of the members of the Gandhi family all over his body. They would all claim that they were there to bless the leaders. But they started disappearing as the Congress lost power, and later with Sonia Gandhi's ascendance.

But even today, some ministers take charge after due diligence of their offices' coordinates, and history, mostly the length of the stay of previous occupants. They change the wall paint, drapery and upholstery, and rearrange furniture as directed by their spiritual gurus.

Spiritual gurus are believed to possess unique healing powers, and people come to seek answers to social and psychological problems. Politicians meet them for votes as the new generation of gurus is less of the wandering ascetic. They are now powerful, flamboyant, and rich. They have the resources to summon thousands of supporters on to streets.

Days before he was convicted on August 25 of raping two of his followers in 1999, Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh had launched a month-long birthday celebration, and was greeted by politicians, who openly donated pots of money to his so-called spiritual organisation Dera Sacha Sauda in Haryana's Sirsa. The Manohar Lal Khattar government has been under fire after 38 people were killed and hundreds others injured, mostly in Haryana's Panchkula, where the Dera chief was convicted, in large-scale violence, arson and police firing after his followers rampaged also across Punjab, Rajasthan, Delhi and NCR to protest the order two weeks ago.

Hall of shame: 14 fake babas

The Akhil Bharatiya Akhara Parishad, the apex body of sadhus, recently released a list of 14 "fake babas" and demanded a crackdown on "rootless cult leaders" by bringing in legislation. The list includes the names of Asaram Bapu (Asumal Sirumalani), Sukhbinder Kaur (Radhe Maa), Sachchidanand Giri (Sachin Datta), Gurmeet Singh of Dera Sacha Sauda, Om Baba (Vivekanand Jha), Nirmal Baba (Nirmaljeet Singh), Ichchadhari Bhimanand (Shivmurti Dwivedi), Swami Asimanand, Om Namah Shivay Baba, Narayan Sai, Rampal, Acharya Kushmuni, Brahaspati Giri and Malkhan Singh. Parishad president Swami Narendra Giri said, "We appeal to the common people to beware of such charlatans who belong to no tradition and by their questionable acts, bring disrepute to sadhus and sanyasis."

Dhirendra Brahmachari

Indira Gandhi's Yoga guru Dhirendra Brahmachari ran ashrams in Delhi and J&K, and became politically influential after the Emergency. KL Shrimali lost his job as education minister after he demanded an audit report of Brahmachari's ashrams. Brahmachari, a native of Bihar, was also a source of discord between Indira and then J&K CM Sheikh Abdullah in the late 1980s. The J&K government had filed several cases against Brahmachari's gun factory. His fate declined after Indira's death in 1984.

Chandraswami

Brahmachari's death allowed Chandraswami to emerge as a guide to politicians. He became famous for his closeness to former PM Narasimha Rao, and would wield influence with heads of state. Natwar Singh recalls that when he was Deputy High Commissioner in London in 1975, a Cabinet minister wanted him to arrange a meeting between Margaret Thatcher and Chandraswami. After much pestering, he agreed to arrange a party to invite both to his residence. But Chandraswami's fall was as abrupt. In 1996, he was jailed on charges of defrauding a London-based businessman. Last year, he had an obscure death.

Sant Rampal

When the police arrested him after a two-week stand-off in Haryana's Hisar in 2014, violence spread and six people were killed. Rampal worked as a junior engineer with Haryana's irrigation department. In 1996, he resigned and set up Satlok Ashram, three years later. Soon, he had a number of followers and he opened ashrams all over Haryana. He owns a fleet of luxury cars, and lives in an ashram in Barwala, Haryana, spread over a sprawling 12 acres.

Nirmal Baba

Nirmaljeet Singh Narula alias Nirmal Baba did not succeed as a businessman in Jharkhand. He drew publicity with his durbars and gatherings telecast by TV channels. At these events, he gave bizarre solutions to people's problems. He faced allegations of fraudulent activities.

In February 2014 he was slapped with a Rs 3.5-cr service tax evasion charge. The Allahabad High Court had directed the I&B Ministry in May to look into allegations that his TV programmes were spreading superstition, and take action against erring channels if the charges are found to be true.

Radhe Maa

Self-styled 'godwoman' Sukhwinder Kaur alias Radhe Maa likes the colour red, and carries a mini trishul. In 2015, the Mumbai police declared her an absconder in an alleged case of dowry harassment, and issued a lookout notice against her. Dolly Bindra, an actress, also filed a criminal case against her. The Punjab and Haryana High Court on September 5 issued a notice against the Kapurthala SSP for failing to act on a complaint against her. Phagwara-based Surinder Mittal had lodged a complaint against her, seeking action for allegedly hurting religious sentiments.

Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh

Days before he was convicted on August 25 of raping two of his followers in 1999, Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh had launched a month-long birthday celebration, and was greeted by politicians, who openly donated pots of money to his so-called spiritual organisation Dera Sacha Sauda in Haryana's Sirsa. The Manohar Lal Khattar government has been under fire after 38 people were killed and hundreds others injured, mostly in Haryana's Panchkula, where the Dera chief was convicted, in large-scale violence, arson and police firing after his followers rampaged across Punjab and Rajasthan.

Asaram Bapu

He is one of the most controversial self-styled godmen in India. He was accused of sexually abusing a 16-year-old girl at his Jodhpur ashram even as her mother was waiting outside. He has been in prison on rape charges since 2013. He is also facing allegations of murder and land grab. Asaram and his son were also investigated in the mysterious deaths of two boys whose decomposed bodies were found from the banks of the Sabarmati river near his ashram in 2008. The Asaram Bapu trusts have a turnover of Rs 350 crore. He owns 350 ashrams in the country and abroad. He also owns 17,000 Bal Sanskar Kendras.

http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-the-guru-gaggle-2546175

Spotlight: India puts rapist spiritual guru on trial in 2 murder cases

Gumreet Ram Rahim Singh

Xiang Bo

Xinhua

September 16, 2016

NEW DELHI, Sept. 16 (Xinhua) -- India on Saturday put on trial disgraced spiritual guru Gumreet Ram Rahim Singh in two cases of murder, weeks after he was sentenced to 20 years in jail for raping two of his women followers.

A special court of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the northern town of Panchkula, which had last month convicted the self-styled godman for the two rapes, started hearing the final arguments in the two murder cases, including that of a journalist, this morning.

Singh, currently lodged at Sunaria jail in the northern state of Haryana's Rohtak district, is attending the hearing through video-conferencing as he has not been brought to the court amid fears of unrest by his followers, officials said.

The spiritual guru, who is the head of the Dera Sacha Sauda sect, is accused of ordering the killing of Ram Chander Chhatrapati, editor of a local Haryana newspaper, in 2002 for publishing an explosive letter of sexual exploitation of women by him at the Dera headquarters in Sirsa.

The 50-year-old is also accused of murdering a former Dera manager, Ranjit Singh, the same year for his suspected role in the circulation of the anonymous letter by the victims of sexual exploitation by him at his Dera headquarters.

"The spiritual guru is being tried in these two murder cases by the same court that jailed him for 20 years in the two rape cases in August. The hearing in the two cases are likely to be completed within a month. He faces a maximum of death penalty in the cases," an official said.

Singh has denied his involvement in the two murder cases.

Police, meanwhile, said they have put in place adequate security arrangements in Haryana, given that several parts of the northern state as well as states of Punjab and Rajasthan had witnessed large-scale violence, following Singh's conviction in two rape cases on August 25.

While 41 people were killed in Haryana in the violence, no deaths were reported from Punjab and Rajasthan. More than 300 people were injured in clashes with the police.

"This time we have made adequate security arrangements ahead of the hearing in the cases. We are fully geared up to prevent any untoward incident in the state. All police forces have been put on high alert," Haryana Police chief B.S. Sandhu told the media.

The controversial leader of the Dera Sacha Sauda sect, which claims to have 60 million followers around the world, is also accused of forcing over 400 of his followers to undergo castration so they could "get closer to God".

"More cases under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code could be slapped on the guru for the alleged castration of his followers. A police probe is underway," another senior police official said.

Singh took over the sect, which describes itself as "a non-profit social welfare and spiritual organisation", at the age of 23. He has often been accused of mocking Sikh and Hindu religious figures.

Known as "rockstar baba" and "guru of bling" because of his shiny and colourful clothes, Singh has performed at several rock concerts, acted in films and even has his own line of food products, very popular among his followers.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2017-09/16/c_136614559.htm

Four Indian police officers arrested over 'escape plan' for guru jailed for rape

Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh arrives at a press conference for his
movie "MSG: The Warrior Lion Heart," in New Delhi, India.
 CREDIT: AP

Saptarshi Ray

The Telegraph

September 15, 2017

Four Indian police officers have been arrested over a suspected conspiracy to help the guru of a religious sect flee from a court after he was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment for the rape of two followers.

Detectives from the north Indian state of Haryana arrested five people, including the four police officers, for allegedly planning to aid the escape of Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, the 50-year old head of the Dera Sacha Sauda or Place of Truth ashram, after his conviction last month.

Singh is often referred to as the "Guru of Bling" or a "God Man", and has thousands of followers across several states. The end of his trial resulted in rioting that left 38 people dead and 200 injured.

Three Haryana police commandos were arrested in the city of Panchkula, while a Rajasthan Police officer, Om Prakash, was held in the state's city of Hanumangarh. The arrested commandos were identified as Head Constables Amit Kumar and Rajesh Kumar, and Constable Rajesh Kumar.

Panchkula Police's Commissioner A S Chawla said, “Three arrested Haryana Police commandos, along with other police personnel from Punjab, Chandigarh and Rajasthan, were found present in Panchkula on August 25. They were in Panchkula in police uniform.

"The three Haryana Police commandos were summoned but they could not give any satisfactory reply as to why they came to Panchkula on that day.”

Separately, a fifth person, Dilawar Insaan, was also arrested in connection with the case.

After the court pronounced Singh guilty, at least five of the seven officers guarding the guru allegedly tried to free him.

They were arrested and charged with sedition. The officers were assigned to Singh as his security detail but had allegedly become his followers over the years.

Meanwhile, security has been increased in Panchkula ahead of a crucial hearing in two separate murder cases against Singh and others, due to be heard this weekend.

The cases, related to the murder of a journalist, Ram Chander Chhatrapati, and the former Dera manager, Ranjit Singh, allegedly by followers of the guru will be held in the same court that convicted Singh of rape.

There are no reports of followers congregating unlike during the lead-up to the rape trial, when over 100,000 of them filed into the city.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/09/15/four-indian-police-officers-arrested-escape-plan-guru-jailed/

Two secret tunnels detected at sect chief quarters in Dera

India Today
PTI
September 9, 2017

Sirsa (Har), Sep 9 (PTI) Two secret tunnels, including one that connected the Dera Sacha Sauda chiefs residence with the hostel for female disciples, and an illegal firecracker factory were today unearthed on the second day of the massive sanitisation exercise at the sect headquarters here.

An empty box of AK 47 cartridges, 84 cartons of fire crackers and chemicals from the illegal factory, besides hundreds of pairs of shoes, designer clothing and caps, were also found, and official said.

"A window-shaped secret tunnel that connected Dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singhs private residence ? also known as gufa or terawas? to the sadhvis? (female disciples) hostel was found during the search," according to state Information and Public Relations Department Deputy Director, Satish Mehra, who has been authorised by the administration to speak to the media.

The other fibre glass tunnel detected by the security forces opened some five kilometre away from the Dera heads private residence, he added.

The search was launched on the premises of the dera in the wake of conviction of sect chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in two rape cases last month and the subsequent violence by his supporters which left 38 people dead. He has been jailed for 20 years.

The illegal fire cracker factory has been sealed and a case under the Explosives Act had been registered against the factory owner, Mehra said.

He said some chemical material to be used in making fire crackers was also found. "The search teams recovered 84 cartons of fire crackers from the illegal factory," he said.

The search will continue tomorrow also, he said. The Dera?s sprawling headquarters include a township of its own, with schools, a sports village, a hospital, a shopping mall and a cinema hall. The property is also home to an ostentatious 7-star MSG resort with replicas of Eiffel Tower, Taj Mahal, Kremlin and Disney World inside.

Hordes of police, paramilitary and civil administration personnel were involved in the mammoth search operation which started yesterday on the direction of Punjab and Haryana High Court.

An unregistered luxury car and some banned currency notes were yesterday seized from the dera during the sanitisation exercise which also involved forensic examination of his so-called cave where he allegedly used to sexually exploit women.

Besides, some rooms were also sealed and hard disk drives and unlabelled medicines recovered during the 12-hour day long exercise.

The entire sanitisation process is being videographed and overseen by retired District and Sessions Judge, A K S Pawar, who was appointed as Court Commissioner by the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Tuesday.

Curfew remains in force on the road leading inside the dera headquarters. No unauthorised person was being allowed to go inside the dera premises. However, life remained normal in Sirsa city.

A large number of vehicles including those of police, paramilitary, Quick Reaction Teams, bomb disposal squad and anti-sabotage team, carrying made their way inside the dera premises this morning, officials said.

Vehicles of the district administration carrying officials drawn from various government departments also enetered the dera premises.

Besides, some fire tenders, heavy earth moving machines and tractors have also been pressed into service for the sanitisation exercise.

A number of dera followers, who had parted ways with the sect head, hade reportedly told the media earlier that except for the dera chief and his close aides, nobody was allowed to enter his gufa or private residence.

The dera, spread over nearly 800 acres, has been divided into ten zones for the purpose of sanitisation and searches, with each zone under the control of a senior officer.

The dera chief, who featured in a few films directed and co-produced by himself, also has some shops in the complex where consumer products launched two years ago under "MSG" brand were sold. PTI VSD IKA RT RT

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/two-secret-tunnels-detected-at-sect-chief-quarters-in-dera/1/1044513.html

Indian rape guru’s secret tunnel to female hostel

Dhaka Tribune
September 09, 2017

Gurmeet Ram Rahim was sentenced to jail for 20 years over two counts of rape Hindustan Times.

Police have also found an illegal firecrackers and chemical factory inside the premises

A tunnel and a passageway connecting “rape guru” Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh’s quarters to the hostel of his female disciples were found on Saturday by security agencies.

The Times of India reports the discovery was made during the second day of a massive sanitisation exercise inside the headquarters of his sect.

The search also revealed an illegal firecracker and chemicals factory inside the search of the premises of Dera Sacha Sauda, the cult whose spiritual leader Guru Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh was jailed for 20 years in two rape cases last month.

From the “gufa” (private residence) where the Dera head used to stay, a passageway was found which opens to “Sadhvi Niwas,” (where his female disciples were kept), according to State Information and Public Relations Department Deputy Director, Satish Mehra, who has been authorised by the administration to speak to the media.

“A fibre tunnel too has been located during the search of the Dera,” he said. The fibre tunnel is filled with mud, he added.

“A firecracker factory has been found inside the Dera premises and it is an illegal factory,” he said, adding that the factory has been sealed.

He said some chemical material to be used in making fire crackers was also found. During the on-going search, an empty box for cartridges of AK-47 was also recovered, Mehra said.

Hordes of police, paramilitary and civil administration personnel were involved in the mammoth search operation which started on Friday on the direction of Punjab and Haryana High Court.

An unregistered luxury car and some banned currency notes were seized on Friday from the dera of Singh during the sanitisation exercise which also involved forensic examination of his so-called cave where he allegedly used to sexually exploit women.

Besides, some rooms were also sealed and hard disk drives and unlabelled medicines recovered during the 12-hour day long exercise.

The entire sanitisation process is being videographed and overseen by retired District and Sessions Judge, A K S Pawar, who was appointed as Court Commissioner by the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Tuesday.

Curfew remains in force on the road leading inside the Dera headquarters. No unauthorised person was being allowed to go inside the Dera premises. However, life remained normal in Sirsa city.

A large number of vehicles including police buses and paramilitary vehicles, Quick Reaction Team vehicles, bomb disposal squad and anti-sabotage team vehicles, carrying cops and paramilitary personnel made their way inside the Dera premises this morning, officials said.

Vehicles of the district administration carrying officials drawn from various government departments also made their way inside the Dera premises.

Besides, some fire tenders, heavy earth moving machines and tractors have also been pressed into service for the sanitisation exercise.

A number of Dera followers who had parted ways with the sect head, have reportedly told the media earlier that except for the Dera chief and his close aides, nobody was allowed to enter the “gufa.”

The premises sprawl over nearly 800 acres, and has been divided into ten zones for the purpose of sanitisation and search, with each zone under the control of a senior officer.

http://www.dhakatribune.com/world/south-asia/2017/09/09/tunnel-rape-guru-female/

Forget Charles Manson: Why Indian Gurus are a Cult Above the West

India’s godmen make billions, sway political fortunes, and hold entire cities to ransom – as the aftermath of Ram Rahim’s jailing shows. So what’s behind their unholy hold on the public imagination?

scmp.com
September 2, 2017

MORE THAN 250 people were injured and 38 died when violence broke out in parts of North India a week ago after a court found a popular guru called Gurmeet Ram Rahim guilty of rape. The guru’s followers ran amok, the local administration failed to control the violence (which had been widely predicted) and three days later,when Ram Rahim was sentenced to 20 years in prison, the verdict was not delivered in any court.

Instead, the judge and his entourage flew to Rohtak jail to announce the sentence. It was considered too dangerous to have any more proceedings in a courtroom because the threat of violence from Ram Rahim’s supporters was so great.

Why should a convicted rapist who claims to be a guru command such fanatical loyalty from his followers that they are willing to run riot in his name? Well, partly, it is the age-old global phenomenon of cults and their leaders. The followers of Charles Manson, Jim Jones and many other Western cult leaders have done much worse. All over the United States, violent cults dedicated to hatred (which they often cloak in the language of peace) have mushroomed over the past two decades.

But there is something specifically Indian about Ram Rahim and the phenomenon he has engendered. For a start, there’s the man himself. Loud, hairy and bombastic, he favours a blingy wardrobe that would make even the most flamboyant rapper blush. Nor is he an ascetic of any sort. He has produced movies starring himself in which he beats up villains and jiggles his mighty hips to Bollywood-type music. He chose the names of his movies himself. His most famous picture was modestly titled Messenger of God.

For most of India, Ram Rahim is a bizarre joke. And yet nobody can deny his influence or the loyalty he evokes in his followers. It was said a single directive from Ram Rahim could make his followers vote en masse to defeat a hostile candidate. So politicians have always flocked to him, seeking his blessing.

Even as the rape case was in court, regional ministers were reluctant to act against Ram Rahim’s supporters. This was one reason the violence that followed the judgment was so devastating: politicians had been too frightened to take preventive action against the thousands of Ram Rahim’s followers who had camped near the courthouse. And now the guru is in jail, each political party is busy leaking photos of its rivals supplicating before Ram Rahim in happier days.

There are few other countries where cult leaders command the same kind of influence as India’s gurus. Some of this can be attributed to the global cult phenomenon. But it also has its roots in the Indian tradition of the guru-shishya relationship. Unlike many religions, Hinduism has no clergy, no Vatican-like centre and no pope figure. Instead, the religion requires its followers only to look inward to find peace.

But there is also a tradition that gurus, or men (and it is nearly always men) who have reached advanced stages of consciousness or intellectual evolution can take disciples to whom they impart wisdom. And these disciples are required to blindly and obediently follow whatever the guru says.

The modern Indian guru phenomenon takes the most unpleasant elements of the Western cultist mentality and the Hindu tradition of total supplication before the teacher and gives it a pseudo-religious sanction. Though Hinduism makes it clear that no man can be a prophet, let alone a god, many of these gurus pervert that tradition and pass themselves off as semi-divine figures.

Some perform conjuring tricks, claim these are miracles and encourage their followers to believe they have god-like supernatural powers. This has led to the popularity of a peculiarly Indian term – the godman – to describe a guru whose followers believe he has divine powers.

The idea of a guru regarded as a saint by his followers is not new. But, as the author Arun Shourie points out in his recent book Two Saints, gurus who were venerated in an earlier era were respected for their goodness and simplicity. Most were ascetics who had turned their backs on material possessions and dedicated themselves to charity or social service.

By the 1960s however, a new kind of guru emerged: the sort of godman who, far from abjuring material possessions, actually used them to impress his followers. The late Sathya Sai Baba, the most influential godman of the 20th century would conjure up Omega watches out of thin air. His followers regarded this as a miracle.

While Sai Baba was a controversial figure, his followers included top scientists, intellectuals and even presidents of India. And whatever one thought of his miracles, he did encourage his followers to donate generously to the hospitals, colleges and other charitable ventures he established.

But the world of godmen can be competitive. In 1966, when Sai Baba first came to prominence, he was denounced as a fake by Hatha Yogi, another guru/yogi. Hatha Yogi declared only he was the real deal. He could even walk on water, he boasted. A large tank was constructed by public subscription and television crews from all over the world arrived to watch the Yogi match Jesus’ water-walk. Sadly, he sunk to the bottom of the tank with his very first step. Later, Hatha Yogi said Sai Baba had cursed him.

Another of Sai Baba’s contemporaries, Muktananda, attracted celebrity followers from the West and the Indian film industry. But when he died, having chosen a brother and sister as his joint successors, a fierce row broke out at the ashram. The sister’s camp accused the brother of sleeping with American devotees. The brother said his sister’s followers had abducted and assaulted him. Eventually the sister won. She is the guru referred to in the memoir of American author Elizabeth Gilbert, Eat, Pray, Love.

The Muktanandas and Sai Babas eventually made way for another kind of guru: the political wheeler-dealer.

The trend was started by then-prime minister Indira Gandhi in the 1970s when she promoted Dhirendra Brahmchari, who was, apparently, her yoga teacher. The state-run TV network (at the time, the only one in India) broadcast the yogi’s lessons every week (from all accounts, he knew his yoga) and the Brahmchari (a term which also implies celibacy, which may have been a bit of a stretch in this case) became India’s most famous yogi. He was such an important figure in Gandhi’s court he was nicknamed the “Rasputin of Delhi” and became a fully fledged political fixer, making use of his proximity to the prime minister.

All gurus have one major advantage: because they are supposed to be holy men, people are reluctant to treat them with obvious disrespect. The pushier ones use this “holy” status to gain access to the mighty and the wealthy. For two decades, India’s most notorious godman/guru was a racketeer with no real mass following, who did not even pretend to understand Hindu philosophy.

Born Nemi Chand Jain and arrested on fraud charges, he quickly changed his name to Chandra Swami, began wearing saffron and gained access to some of the world’s richest people. For many years, he was close to the Muslim Sultan of Brunei, one of the world’s richest men, and the centre of a dispute between two billionaires, Tiny Rowland and Mohamed al-Fayed, for control of Harrods, the famous London store. Chandra Swami later went into business with Adnan Khashoggi, a Saudi arms dealer, and mingled with US congressmen.

When his global ambitions faded, he returned to India, becoming extremely close to two successive Indian prime ministers: Chandra Shekhar and Narasimha Rao. Through it all, he was regularly denounced and exposed in the press across three continents. Yet it made no difference to his hold on political leaders. Eventually though, his luck ran out and he was arrested by the Indian police.

Less global in scope but no less extraordinary is the saga of Asaram Bapu, a millionaire godman with a dedicated (not to say, fanatical) following. Such was Asaram’s importance and wealth at his peak that he could film himself dancing with an Indian prime minister and grant audiences to top politicians. But the law caught up with him. He is now in jail on rape charges. His wealth may be intact, though. His followers routinely organise expensive social media blitzes during which they allege his arrest is part of a “campaign against Hindu saints”.

Most extraordinary of all is the saga of Baba Ramdev. He first came to prominence on a cable TV channel dedicated to “devotional content”. Like Dhirendra Brahmachari before him, he knew his yoga and within a few years became a national figure, rubbing shoulders with top politicians.

His first instincts were to go into politics himself. But when his attempts to run an anti-corruption campaign did not go as planned, Ramdev decided to go into business instead. He had already sold a successful line of organic and yoga-related products. But he was daring enough to enter the fast-moving consumer goods sector, taking on such a global giants as Unilever, Colgate and Nestle.

At first, when he talked big (“they will wet their pants,” he declared, in his usual not-very-holy rhetorical style) the multinational corporations laughed. But to their horror, Ramdev’s products became hugely successful, seriously threatening their market shares. His revenues seem to double every year and although Ramdev says he is much too holy to hold any assets in his own name, his partner/companion/friend Balkrishna (who owns everything, at least on paper) is worth US$3.8 billion, making him one of India’s richest businessmen.

So forget about Jim Jones and Charles Manson. India’s gurus are no mere cult leaders. They sway the electoral fortunes of political parties. They hold entire cities to ransom. And they can become billionaires in a few short years. None of it has anything to do with Hinduism, one of the world’s greatest religions, its traditions abused by these men. It’s just business. And, by God, it works!

http://www.scmp.com/week-asia/society/article/2109392/forget-charles-manson-why-indian-gurus-are-cult-above-west