Mrinal Pande 
The pervasive presence of gurus as godmen and godwomen, babas and sadhvis, has a very long history in India. Of late the attitude of the secular state has been increasingly and mysteriously been promoting and defending holy babas in various shapes and sizes publically.
It is somewhat surprising that some babas who have proved demonstrably corrupt and exploitative of their devoted followers have also made the grade. Even those who have been finally convicted and incarcerated for their crimes are occasionally allowed out of jails to hold public Satsangs. That too, in their deras and ashrams where they urge their supporters to support those who have supported their baba.
Illustration: Pariplab Chakraborty
The deification of poet saints is ancient. But the process speeds up when times are insecure and the political leadership under siege. Around the 12th century, the northern plains facing an alien religion and its flag bearers chasing out the usual royal patrons, people turned to their gods and sought a way out of political, economic and moral dilemmas .
A Ram Bhakti cult came in with saint Ramanand. It did not dislodge the outsiders seated on thrones but created a parallel world in which Bhakts had nothing to do with the seat of power: Santan Kaha Sikri so kam? Aate jaate panchayat tooteen, visar gayo Hari naam? (What do saints have to do with the capital city and a mortal lord? Rushing there just wears out your sandals and you may forget the real Lord.)
As the Mughals went into a decline, Akhadas run by saints cum wrestlers and body builders in Hanuman Garhi like fortified deras came up. Today the neo-gurus addressed variously as Baba ji or Bhagwan or Suchche Insan or Bhole Baba have taken over the trade. They run lavish Akhadas and hold frequent lectures travelling like a theatre company.
Each sitting in their religious gatherings brings in hundreds of poverty stricken and sick villagers and small town folk, all looking for a way out of their wretched lives. They also sing and dance, with the baba who can quote scriptures and offer salvation and freedom from various worldly problems by presenting magically produced ashes, flowers, or even the dirt beneath their feet as miracle cures. One such do recently caused a massive stampede among devotees in which some 121 are reported to have died and over two dozen injured. The baba went underground and has recently surfaced with his lawyer who blames outsiders for the mishap. A sad and glum duo is trying to change the legal perspective by saying death is every one’s destiny. Isn’t it?
As jobs shrink, global warming changes cropping seasons and lives and livelihoods in both cities and villages look more and more insecure for the poor, and pandemics and various illnesses soak up most of their meager earnings in the absence of approachable state-run medical system, babas are the sole solace givers. Kuttanad to Haridwar, Delhi to Ranchi, highways field enormous hoardings with a larger than life visage of some guruji or sadhvi offering religious discourses and mass feasts at some town hall or an ashram. As the trains crawl away from Delhi towards small towns, each time it nears a station on brick walls around unbuilt plots or hastily cobbled illegal shanties, you see crudely scrawled graffiti.
Is your husband/wife having an affair ?
Are you sterile ?
Have you lost a precious article ?
Are you being haunted by Djinns, Chudails or vengeful ghosts?
If yes, come seek divine guidance from TantrikBangali Baba, Solver of all problems. ALL CONFIDENTIAL.
Wise Gurus Mahavira and Buddha, both princes had seen the dangers inherent in building centres of worldly power that unfailingly create future nodes for trouble. Both sternly forbade their disciples to be ever mobile and keep away from setting up a comfort zone. But over centuries, Jainism and Buddhism have received royal patronage and elaborate Viharas and Sangharams were built by kings. After Buddhism withered away and Hindu temples and ashrams, mutts and akhadas replaced them.
By the 12th century, the majority had reverted to some or another form of Hinduism. When Nalanda fell to the troops of Kutubuddin’s general Muhammad Bakhtiyar, later the militant Nath Sadhus and various other deviant sects took charge. By the 19th century as the Sultanat e Mughalia declined, the deras of Sadhus of many sects had armed themselves and their militias offered their services for a price to area nobles in the northern plains forever settling scores with each other.
At the famous Hanuman Garhi of Ayodhya, armed Bairagi Sadhus expelled one Sadhu for corruption who then incited Lucknow Durbar about a coup being planned against Nawab Wajid Ali Shah. The hapless Nawab sought help from the British who quelled the revolt but used the occasion to declare the Nawab incapable of handling law and usurped power in Awadh.
Also read: ‘He Is Not at Fault’: Bhole Baba’s Strongest Defenders Are the Hathras Stampede’s Victims
Today there are some 3000 deras in north west India alone among which Baba Ram Rahim’s is rated as one among the ten most powerful. All the deras provide services ranging from spiritual guidance, miraculous healing and discourses by the leading Guru, to health and educational institutions and de-addiction centres.
Notably, these deras also receive enormous amounts of donations from the rich farming community, businessmen and builders in the area and run schools, hospitals and mass kitchens for feeding the needy. As in the 12th century, the dera is today almost a parallel state, a haven against all storms for a mixed melange — poor householders, widows, abandoned wives, orphans, scoundrels, dacoits and history sheeters. Loyalties are fierce and the dera chief’s word is law. Any imposition of the State’s authority against the dera chief will bring them out in massive numbers and then fighting may break out in the streets.
At several religious rallies I have asked here and there, what are these gurus’ and permanent asramites’ own quarters like ? What do they do away from the public ? What is he/she going to speak on ? Nobody knows. But all the devotees say they were called and so they have gathered. They are sure everything will be made clear if one will only have faith and wait patiently.
Also read: Why ‘Babadom’ Flourishes: Insecurity is the Core
But not all who visit deras or ashrams we know by now, are driven by profound questions of ideology. Babas and sadhvis have become fixers of deals between the rich and the State: transfers and postings, lucrative contracts for developmental work to primetime slotting for TV serials, and last but not the least, seats in the legislature for their candidates. Baba ji blessing a political leader publically sends an immediate signal to the devotees, here is the party I support, and so must you !
You may be right. You may be wrong. You may be the ashram supremo one day and die a mysterious death the next. After such deaths, their once docile incense lighting, meditating disciples may break into a most worldly and uncontrollable squabbling over the ashrams’ land and legacy. When mass deaths and stampedes happen in ashrams or temples, the police hesitates to probe deeply. The ministers place the blame for the rioting and killings at the media’s door who chose to publicise the tragedies and fan the fires. Enquiries are ordered, a DCP is transferred or sacked. When major political leaders take to shape shifting from nattily dressed statesmen as gurus, things become full cycle.
Mrinal Pande is a writer and veteran journalist.
Saakhi is a Sunday column from Mrinal Pande, in which she writes of what she sees and also participates in. That has been her burden to bear ever since she embarked on a life as a journalist, writer, editor, author and as chairperson of Prasar Bharti. Her journey of being a witness-participant continues.