While researching for
this article, I suddenly remembered a popular Boney M song on Russia’s holy man
and philanderer Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin, a Siberian-born peasant who
declared himself a “miniature” Christ with powers to heal and foresee the
future. He also considered it his bounden duty to seduce women. Rings a bell?
Several bells from across India, actually.
Romanovs
ruled Russia. Its tsar Nicholas had a son who was terminally ill. Rasputin
reputedly healed the tsar’s son and became the royal family’s favorite. Taking
advantage of the tsar’s gratitude, Rasputin exerted a powerful influence on the
royal family, especially tsarina Alexandra. When Tsar Nicholas departed to lead
Russian forces in World War 1, Rasputin effectively ruled the country and took
corruption and disorder to the next level in the country.
Rasputin had a hypnotic
effect on women who eagerly ‘sinned’ with him before he could ‘purify’ them.
His spiritual theory was simple – one first has to sin totally before one can
be purified completely. India’s Osho also held similar views. “Without sin,
there is no repentance,” he would often say. No wonder, the Boney M song describes
him as “Russia’s greatest love machine”. The mystic was also believed to be the
lover of the Russian queen, Alexandra Romanov. It was this alleged relationship
that made Rasputin instrumental in the fall of the 300-year-old Romanov
dynasty. Of course, he met with a gory end.
When mysticism, lust
for power and pelf and immorality combine in a person, a Rasputin is born. This
was as much true then as it is now, especially in India, where political
patronage to all sorts of thugs in mystic robes is extended so readily and
generously.
Let us have a look at
our desi Rasputins.
Dhirendra Brahmchari created a template
that was adopted by a succession of commercial yoga gurus in later years. Born
in a village of Bihar’s Madhubani district to a Brahmin family, Dhirendra
Choudhry started off as a bhajan singer of sorts. With time, he grew into a
powerful mystic with many faces. He was a mentor to Mrs. Indira Gandhi – a
connection that helped him establish a business empire comprising several yoga centers
and ashrams in several countries. A dhoti-clad jet-setting yogi, he was feared
in the corridors of power. He was very much a part of the caucus that ran the
country during the Emergency. Brahmachari
had several criminal charges filed against him. One charge was smuggling of an
aircraft from the United States during the Emergency without paying customs
duties. Another was smuggling parts of guns from Spain for his gun factory. In
most such criminal cases, he was never tried, while some court cases dragged on
until his death in a plane crash on June 9, 1994.
Chandraswami was another
high-flying controversial godman. Born in a moneylenders’ Jain family of
Rajasthan, his real name was Nemichand Jain. He started off as an astrologer,
graduated to become a Tantric and mind-reader. He became famous when he became the
spiritual advisor to late Prime Ministers PV Narsimha Rao, VP Singh and
Chandrashekhar. He went on to become a spiritual consultant to the Sultan of
Brunei, Sheikh Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa of Bahrain, Hollywood star Elizabeth
Taylor, British PM Margaret Thatcher, arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi, among other
personages. His clout enabled him to expand his activities to spiritual and
temporal realms. He built the Vishwa Dharmayatan Sansthan in Delhi on the land
allotted during Mrs. Indira Gandhi’s tenure. His rise and fall had a familiar
trajectory. With power and fame, came crime and court cases. He was arrested for swindling $100,000 from a
London businessman. An income-tax raid on his ashram revealed undeclared
payments of 11 million dollars that attracted a hefty penalty of several crores.
He died of multiple organ failure at the Apollo Hospital on 23 May 2017. The
Jain Commission held him as one of the suspects in the assassination of Rajiv
Gandhi.
Asaram Bapu is one of the more colorful godmen who is presently in jail.
Born in Pakistan’s Sindh in 1941 as Asumal
Sirumalani Harpalani, he grew up in Gujarat’s Ahmedabad. His journey to
notoriety began when he became a disciple in an ashram on 7 October 1964. He was
given the name of Asaram. The suffix ‘bapu’ got attached with the rise in his
popularity. He became a katha-vachak – one who gave spiritual discourse. Soon,
powerful politicians of all hues started wooing him because he could sway a
sizeable section of the population to vote for a party of his choice. Thanks to
such political connections, he could widen his sphere of influence and
activities and multiply his wealth. But soon things started going wrong for
him. In 2008,Asaram faced allegations of ‘black
magic’ practice after the death of two young boys in his Motera ashram in
Gujarat. Then two more boys were found dead, their bodies mutilated, in one of
his ashrams. The final fall came when a sixteen-year-old girl accused him of
rape. Similar accusations came from other girls as well, and his son too was
allegedly involved in these crimes.
Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Insan was born in a Jat Sikh family in Rajasthan’s
Sri Ganganagar. He was baptized into Dera Sacha Sauda at 7. at 23 he became the
head of Sacha Sauda. Colorful and charismatic, he soon held sway over masses in
Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and Rajasthan. Politicians from these states genuflected
in front of him for support during elections. He is one of the 30 odd persons
in the country who enjoy Z-plus security. His empire too started expanding. In
Haryana alone, his dera owns properties worth over 1600 crores. His
organization earns over 60 crores annually. Through a network of supporters and
sympathizers, his organization has entered film production, FMCG, education and
health related businesses. And, as has been the case with other babas, sin and
crime entered his life. Stories of rapes, murders and castrations floated
around. On 25 August 2017, a special CBI court in
Panchkula, Haryana, delivered its verdict in a sexual assault case regarding a
former Dera sadhvi, finding Ram Rahim guilty of two counts of rape. In
January 2019, Ram Rahim was convicted of the murder of journalist Ram Chander
Chhatrapati, who was shot dead in 2002 for uncovering the unsavory activities
in the Dera Sacha Sauda, including sexploitation and castrations. Although he
is still in jail, politicians visit him to pay tributes. What is worse, he has produced
and released videos while on parole. Rasputin would have suffered a complex in
presence.
Nithyananda was born Arunachalam Rajasekaran in Tamil Nadu’s
Tiruvannamalai. He belongs to the Saiva Vellala community. He has two dates of
birth to his name, 01 January 1978 and 13 March 1977. He was barely 12 when he
claimed strong spiritual experiences. At 24 he claimed mystical encounter with
a Mahavtar Babaji who bestowed upon him the name Nithyananda. His life journey
is quite interesting. He became the chairman of the Florida based Hindu
University of America. He founded and managed
the Nithyananda Dhyanapeetam ashram. In February
2013, the title of Mahamandaleshwar was conferred on Nithyananda in a
closed ceremony by the Panchayati Mahanirvani Akhara. He, too, became
filthy rich and started investing in properties in India and abroad. But soon
he became the target of charges of rapes and abduction. He fled India to escape prosecutions in different
courts, mostly in Gujarat. It is a mystery how he managed to do so. Political
help cannot be ruled out. He had powerful backers in the corridors of power,
both in New Delhi and several state governments. Now Nithyananda rules over the
“United States of Kailasa” – a nation he has established on an island purchased
by him off the coast of Ecuador. Recently, his representative to a UNO forum
talked of persecution of Hindus in India – of all the places! This was enough
for him to hit the media headlines. Now his USK has its own currency, passport,
airlines and central bank. When it comes to having a harem of beauties, he
beats the much maligned Rasputin hands down.
Bageshwar Baba aka Bageshwar Dham Sarkar or Maharaj was born
on 04 July 1996 as Dhirendra Krishna Garg, in Madhya Pradesh. A graduate, he is
the rising star of India’s babadom. His USP is miracles mixed with jingoism and
aggressive ghar wapsi campaign to convert Muslims to Hinduism. He is the
blue-eyed boy of powerful politicians. Our mainstream media loves to have him
in their studios. It will be interesting to watch his career trajectory, with
politicians of all hues queuing up to pay their respects to him.
So far, most of the babas mentioned here have
ended up as fugitives and convicts, or caught up in unsavory controversies.
Would this man’s career graph be any different? Let us wait and watch.
As long as our people
remain mired in medieval mindsets, our politicians and thugs in mystic robes
will continue to rule the roost. A terrifying thought.
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