Talking Shop: Suckers for Punishment

“Your only obligation is

to be true to yourself.

Being true to anyone else

or anything else is not

only impossible, but the

mark of a fake messiah.”

—Richard Bach

This weekend gone by, I was treated to another glimpse of Delhi’s exasperating traffic. Caught in a vicious snarl of honking vehicles and jaywalking people, I looked out of my driver window and recoiled when I read the road-sign. I recalled Richard Bach and his quote on how shallow and obdurate mankind can be. I was at Delhi Ridge, on Asaram Bapu Marg, and the melee around my car was made up of the thousands who had descended on the Ashram of a Godman with the same name as the road. I found myself seething and grinning all at once, declining me perhaps to the same mental nadir as the one engulfing the blighted souls around me. Clearly, the latest fad in India seems to be to live life holding the bull by the horns; till you are butt-headed or nut-headed by the very same bull.

My grammatical turpitude aside, the fact is that Godmen exist in every part of the world where people are less literate and rationality is yet to become mainstream. India is underdeveloped and teeming with illiteracy, both academic and moral. It is this that spawns Godmen in our nation. We deify some so-called emissaries of God as if they are reincarnations. Even those with proven criminal convictions are being revered, almost as if an entire nation is going blind.

Anshu Garg, a young chap I bumped into at the Delhi Metro recently, said this: “I am mightily incapable to comment on a genuine Guru, but it’s a no brainer to spot a fake one after speaking to that person just once or twice. I can’t understand how people waste their time in pandering to frauds, unless these people are looking for a crash course in becoming fake Gurus themselves?”

Rise of Criminal Godmen

That a nation of ancient wisdom and spirituality worships Godmen who are little more than glorified criminals is a paradox. Many of these people are convicted rapists, murderers and swindlers, figures like Asaram Bapu and Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, but they continue to enjoy the adulation of crores, even from behind bars. For even prison bars fail to shatter their divine aura in the eyes of devotees. While the Government provides over 80 per cent of the population with free foodgrain, these Godmen sit on empires of gold, cash and luxury properties—all funded by gullible followers. The real tragedy? People aren’t fooled just once; they seem to enjoy being fooled repeatedly.

Once revered as spiritual guides, some Godmen have morphed into well-connected criminals. Their rise is no accident, though; playing on people’s fears, insecurities and desires for miracles, they position themselves as the ‘divine solution’ to worldly problems. Their modus operandi is simple—faux austerity, craftily-publicized ‘miracle powers’ and sermons that stroke the ego and soft spot of the vulnerable. The first goal of Godmen is to secure trust; once that is done, the looting can begin.

Asaram Bapu & Ram Rahim

Once hailed as a saint with millions of devotees, Asaram Bapu’s ashrams were places of ‘spiritual awakening’. The truth emerged in 2018, when he was convicted of raping a 16-year-old girl at his Jodhpur ashram. The court sentenced him to life imprisonment, but followers continue to revere him as a ‘God on Earth’. Donations to his ashrams are still pouring in, suggesting that his empire is still operational and growing. What’s worse is the violence meted out against those who dare to speak up. Multiple witnesses have been attacked, some even murdered. Some have been allegedly either silenced or shot dead. Despite this, Asaram’s followers throng his ashrams, chanting his name.

For those who think Asaram is an anomaly, enter Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Insaan, the ‘Rockstar Baba’ who has styled himself as a cross between a Guru, a pop-star, a Bollywood hero and whatnot. His ‘spiritual empire’, the Dera Sacha Sauda, has amassed a cult-like following. Behind the glittering concerts and bizarre music videos, though, lies a tale of blood and betrayal. In 2017, Ram Rahim was convicted of raping two disciples, leading to a 20-year jail term. The fallout was brutal. Riots broke out in Haryana and Punjab, killing 41 people as his ‘devotees’ clashed with the authorities.

Similar to Asaram, Ram Rahim’s empire remains intact. While other prisoners plead for parole, Ram Rahim has got it many times, especially around elections. In 2023, just before the Haryana civic polls, Ram Rahim was out on a 40-day parole, his fifth in under a year. Why this special treatment for Godmen? They can influence voters and political parties woo them, knowing what their ‘blessings’ can translate into. Devotees obey blindly, voting as directed; a web of democracy hijacked by devotion.

Creating Wealth Via Hope

India’s obsession with Godmen isn’t just cultural; it is economic. While the Government spends billions on welfare schemes, these so-called saints amass unimaginable wealth. Asaram’s empire is estimated at over Rs 10,000 crore, while Ram Rahim’s Dera controls thousands of acres of land, luxury resorts and business ventures. The fortunes, funded by devotees’ savings, are revenue-generating machines.

This begs a question. Are Indians so desperate for miracles that they will give away everything—money, reason and dignity—for false hope? If there’s one thread connecting criminal Godmen, it’s political patronage. Despite rape and murder convictions, they get VIP treatment and visits from political bigwigs. ‘Big-shots’ who stand beside them defend their association as a ‘respect for public faith’. Sure. The Dera Sacha Sauda has an estimated 5 crore followers, large enough to sway elections in north Indian states. It is no wonder that such elements are repeatedly rewarded with windfalls for ‘good behaviour’, with the timing being as subtle as a sledgehammer. The ashrams, meanwhile, continue to function without oversight. Attempts to seize assets face resistance from the general public, read ‘devotees’.

Other Godmen like Swami Nithyananda, accused of sexual abuse, fled India to create a ‘sovereign island nation’ called Kailasa, where he declared himself King. There has been no extradition. What do these stories tell us? It is that the rich, powerful and ‘divine’ live by a different set of rules.

Why Worship Criminals?

It’s easy to blame illiteracy, but the problem cuts across classes. Well-educated professionals, bureaucrats and celebrities have fallen prey to Godmen’s tricks. The reasons are complex, such as Fear and Insecurity, Miracle Addiction, Status Symbol and Emotional Manipulation. “It’s a socio-psychological phenomenon. People surrender rationality for hope. Faith makes people susceptible to exploitation,” says Dr Ramesh Mishra, a sociologist at Delhi University.

According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), over 60 per cent of financial fraud involve Godmen or religious figures. Yet, convictions remain low due to witness intimidation and political interference. “If the judiciary was truly independent of political pressure, these criminals would never see daylight,” argues senior advocate Aruna Roy.

India’s love affair with Godmen also reveals a darker truth, that people like being fooled. They surrender to sweet words, hollow promises and fake miracles, even after being presented with hard evidence of fraud, rape and murder. If you think this is only about the uneducated, think again. Also, if you think it is only about the few named in this piece, you would be wrong. The list of Godmen and Godwomen enjoying iconic status in India is a long one, and growing. It shall continue to grow till someone cracks down on the very grassroots of this vicious web and untangles it, exposing it for the spiders it harbours.

The solution? Stop glorifying humans as Gods. Demand accountability, question their wealth and refuse to be exploited. Faith should be private, not profitable. The moment a ‘Spiritual Guide’ starts living like a King while his followers starve, he’s not a saint. He’s a scammer. When a person prays to a Godman, he isn’t worshipping God. He’s worshipping a con artist. No education, literacy or wealth can fix this as long as people enjoy being fooled. An old saying goes: “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.”

The writer is a veteran journalist and communications specialist. He can be reached on [email protected]. Views expressed are personal