Friday, March 29, 2024
HomeEditorialI too am ‘Insan’, dear Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh

I too am ‘Insan’, dear Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh

- Advertisement -

On Wednesday morning, my office received a call from Sonipath SHO, asking me to arrive at Haryana with regards to Gurmeet Ram Rahim’s issue. I am out of town, so my PA received the call and then my lawyer spoke to him. He said, “Ram Rahim’s disciples are lodging an FIR against Madam, but before that complainants want to meet your Madam. I wonder, what has stopped them from coming and meeting me in my office as they have my office address and cell number. Anyway, whosoever got hurt, let me tell you, I am not a politician or a political support group. I am just an independent writer and can never be happy hurting anyone directly or indirectly. Whatever I wrote about Gurmeet Ram Rahim was based on various posts published on reputed news channels’ and newspapers’ websites. These days, I am fighting a battle with Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh’s some ‘unknown’ disciples. I use the word ‘unknown’ because I don’t know them, who they are and why they are angry with me. Recently, I received a legal notice for this; also, I replied them with a notice, which you can find at the link https://www.afternoonvoice.com/category/notice. My intention was not to hurt anybody’s sentiment and why will I do so? You believe in your Guru that is your faith, what I wrote about him is my profession but no prejudices. I wonder why these people never were so harsh with other journalists who has made these investigations and published them long back.

Anyway, I respect everyone’s faith and opinion, no hard feelings. However, I have a question to ask. There are many religious gurus, who were time and again thrashed by many ‘so called’ intellectuals and attacked by other religious leaders; have you ever reacted on such incidents? Till date, no allegations were ever proven on any saint in India, but criminal proceedings were carried on them heavily. Several Godmen were arrested and alleged for various criminal activities, some news channels evidently went against Asaram Bapu and his son Narayan Sai, they are still languishing in jail. In any sexual assault case, the accused is always guilty, unless proven innocent. Such scandals in God’s world are essentially against Hindu spiritual principles and philosophy. There are thousands of followers who believe that their ‘Bapu’ is innocent whereas there are many investigators who are probing to prove that Asaram is guilty.

Asaram Bapu, born as Asumal Sirumalani preaches the existence of one supreme consciousness and claims Bhakti yoga, Gnana yoga and Karma yoga as influences. His ashram, located on the banks of the Sabarmati River in Ahmedabad, is visited by devotees for prayers, yoga and meditation. However, there has been little peace here since the mysterious death of two boys studying in the ashram’s Gurukul. The boys went missing on July 4, 2008. Then one fine day a girl lodges an FIR for sexual molestation and at this age he suffers in jail.

Somewhat, similarly Dera Sacha Sauda chief Baba Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh was charged by CBI in a rape case. He is doing great work, he has thousands of followers. No doubt, he has done his best for mankind but the fact can’t be denied that he was charged for various activities. The Dera chief had been charged with sexually assaulting women followers of the Dera at the sect’s Sirsa-based headquarters. Various newspapers published that; the CBI is also investigating two more charges against him for his alleged involvement in the murder conspiracy against Dera manager Ranjit Singh and a Sirsa-based journalist, Ram Chander Chatterpatti.

I remember, well known Public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam also filed papers during the visit of Dera Sacha Sauda chief Baba Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh on June 25, 2008; his personal bodyguards had allegedly fired at a crowd at Nirmal Lifestyle Mall in suburban Mulund, in which Balkar Singh, a Sikh, was killed. Citing lack of evidence, a fast track court acquitted 14 volunteers of Dera Sacha Sauda, in the case. The Dera Sacha Sauda chief triggered a controversy when he appeared in attire similar to the one worn by the tenth Sikh guru, Guru Gobind Singh, and distributed amrit (nectar) to his followers at his Dera in Sirsa. The Punjab and Haryana High Court issued a notice of motion to the Dera Sacha Sauda head Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh of Sirsa seeking explanation for the allegations made against him by his follower for sexually exploiting his wife. A Tehelka investigation alleged that the Dera Sacha Sauda is a den of vice and accused Baba Gurmeet Singh of rape and murder. (https://archive.tehelka.com/story_main33.asp?filename=Ts0110807investigation.asp )

In another example, Dwarka Shankaracharya trained his guns on the millions of followers of Shirdi Sai Baba. Sai devotees experience a lot of leelas every minute, every day and share them with others too to multiply their happiness. You stand where you are and observe things. Sai Baba never said that he was God. He was always uttering ‘Sab ka Malik ek hai’. He celebrated both Ram Navami and Eid in the masjid where he lived for over 60 years. His followers never grow wild or take to streets to protest against Dwarka Shankaracharya’s utterance. The omnipresence of Shirdi Sai Baba has been felt in India and world over. His message and teachings are there in many languages. He is Guru, who has transformed lives of millions and is doing so even now. Who is GOD? Like for many, one who guides, loves, helps, blesses them, etc. Many alleged that the Shankaracharya, known to be a Congress backer, also took a dig at BJP leader, Union Minister Uma Bharti, saying he thought a devotee of Lord Ram had become a Union Minister and a Ram temple in Ayodhya would soon be a reality, but she turned out to be the “worshipper of a Muslim” — meaning Sai Baba. Bharti replied on it that looking upon someone as god was a personal opinion. However, later on when Shankaracharya went aggressive, all BJP supporters stood by him, forgetting the allegations that he is Congress supporter.

I am sharing few links here; see how the spiritual leaders were questioned time and again. However, there is another side also of their followers and believers. This is simply a battle between believer and non-believer. Everyone is doing their job by expressing what they feel. I too expressed but that does not mean I don’t respect fellow humans and their sentiments.

https://www.indiatvnews.com/news/india/india-top-10-controversial-godmen–26652.html

https://www.rediff.com/news/slide-show/slide-show-1-these-are-indias-most-controversial-godmen/20130829.htm

https://hindustan.org/forum/archive/index.php/t-3409.html

https://punjabnewsexpress.com/news/29428-facing-rape-charges-sirsa-dera-chief-ram-rahim-claims-to-be-impotent.aspx

https://www.thehansindia.com/posts/index/2013-09-03/Controversial-godmen–70980

- Advertisement -
- Advertisement -
Vaidehi Taman
Vaidehi Tamanhttps://authorvaidehi.com
Vaidehi Taman an Accredited Journalist from Maharashtra is bestowed with three Honourary Doctorate in Journalism. Vaidehi has been an active journalist for the past 21 years, and is also the founding editor of an English daily tabloid – Afternoon Voice, a Marathi web portal – Mumbai Manoos, and The Democracy digital video news portal is her brain child. Vaidehi has three books in her name, "Sikhism vs Sickism", "Life Beyond Complications" and "Vedanti". She is an EC Council Certified Ethical Hacker, OSCP offensive securities, Certified Security Analyst and Licensed Penetration Tester that caters to her freelance jobs.
- Advertisement -

Latest

Must Read

- Advertisement -

Related News