why-india-loves-its-godmen

India has a thing for godmen. Perpetually offering a fair chance, a ready platform, and blind loyalty to anyone who stands out from the crowd; charlatans in robes, gold bedecked messengers of God, or simply anyone serving eloquence and hope in ash-smeared getup. So much so that an untainted, undisputed godman stands out like a white sheep.

 

A month ago, Swami Chaitanyananda Saraswati, director of a private engineering and management institute in Delhi’s Vasant Kunj and a self-styled spiritual guru, was arrested after absconding for a few days. Reportedly, 17 women students, most from economically weaker sections, have come on board accusing him of sexual harassment, forced late night visits, inappropriate texts, while serving as the director of a management college. The development hasn’t been news to the nation. It is a statistic.

 

Godmen, after all, have a record reputation of being associated with sex scandals and scams. They survive, thrive, and connive; in most cases with impunity. Almost a month apart from Saraswati being apprehended in Agra, elsewhere another godman Asaram was granted bail in a 2013 rape case for which he is serving a life sentence. The Gujarat High Court granted six-month bail to the self-styled godman on medical grounds and once outside of it, he was received with flowers and bhajans. Not a very different reception from what he was accorded in January of this year, a grand welcome with fireworks and flowers.

 

Do they escape with immunity or impunity?

 

Like last year, when Hathras stampede in July 2024 spotlighted the deep-rooted issues and deep-seated practices. As many as 121 people died during a religious congregation led by Bhole Baba, a former police constable Suraj Pal Singh, who took to spirituality and became a preacher. According to the police first information report, around 2,50,000 people gathered, despite permission being given for only 80,000. With negligible crowd control measures in place, the tragedy unfolded. Of the several arrests and charges made by the police, Bhole Baba managed to escape charges, arrests and police questioning.

 

His videos on YouTube channels, boasting of millions of views, show the preacher dressed in either pristine white suits or traditional kurta pajamas, with his trademark dark sunglasses. His is not the only departure from the stereotypical ascetic image of most godmen.

 

The head of Dera Sacha Sauda, Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh stands out from the crowd having been spotted in embroidered jeans, denim vests, sometimes gold bedecked in velvet robes, reflective glasses, whatever strikes the fancy.

 

In March of this year, another self-proclaimed godman, Punjab-based pastor Bajinder Singh, known as Yeshu Yeshu prophet, was convicted of rape by a Mohali court in a 2018 sexual harassment case.

 

Quid pro quo relationship with politics

 

The Hathras stampede is not the solo incident casting a light on the quid pro quo relationship between cult leaders and political figures. It is also not the only one casting a shade on the delusional devotion of the followers. India’s poster boys of godmen culture such as Ravi Shankar, Baba Ramdev and Sadhguru have vocally supported the incumbent Government of India; with Ravi Shankar and Baba Ramdev even applauding the controversial demonetisation. While Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh has, straight from the shoulder, told his supporters to cast their vote on his command. He stands out as a sample case ticking off many predictable patterns of godmen, save for the fact that his videos portray him as not just a preacher, but a songwriter, rockstar and movie producer.

 

Also read: Influencers need credentials in bio, not links

 

Singh’s cult following comprises Dalit devotees from Punjab, Haryana and other northern states. More than 30 people died in August 2017 in the riots that followed the rape conviction and 20-year-prison sentence of the self-styled godman. It anyway took 15 years and 200 sittings of the court to get a conviction on the rape of his two disciples.

 

Even though currently serving a life sentence, he commands considerable influence and holds a record in the number of paroles being granted since August 2017. This August marked the 14th release with him having spent well over 90 days outside the prison in the past one year.

 

Again, not the only cult figure to manipulate the systemic support. In the case of Baba Ramdev, his FMCG conglomerate Patanjali has hundreds of cases running against it for reasons as varied as misleading marketing to manufacturing, drugs standards and quality violations. The yoga guru-turned-businessman has been accused in 26 cases in Kerala itself for violating the Drugs and Magic Remedies Act. The controversial ads by his company have been in news for discrediting allopathy, promising permanent cure and magic remedies for several chronic ailments. Some of them include eyedrops that have claimed a cure for glaucoma and cataract and Coronil as the cure for Covid-19.

 

The claims are in sync with the larger landscape defining godmen—taking credit for what in most cases could be a natural occurrence. The birth of a male child, a suitable match, any recovery from an illness are all happily credited to the healing touch of the local baba or miraculous properties of anyone who claims so. Being dressed in a saffron or white robe really helps and how. But the claims of a miracle cure for idiopathic or a terminal disease are not a patch to the novelty displayed by Swami Nithyananda. The godman who went so far as to create his own country the United States of Kailasa and claim supernatural abilities, including control over reincarnation.

 

The masses — gullible and vulnerable

 

It’s the third decade of the 21st century—quite an anomaly when looking at the masses still drawn to hope, magic, and escapism offered in the garb of religion, spirituality and miracle healing properties. Eventually, the godmen exist because the supporters do and the supporters believe because they need to. Majority of rural India caving into the power of godmen is poor, illiterate, landless and in some cases all of these. Caught in the perpetual vicious cycle of poverty, a miracle figure softens the daily existence with hope, escapism and distraction. Step in the charismatic gurus. Does India have a godmen problem? It definitely has a godmen syndrome and that sometimes has proven to be a societal problem.

 

By Manpriya Singh