Brutal Baba - Gurmeet Ram Rahim

I vividly remember, several years ago, when I was returning to Gurgaon from Hissar, a convoy of about 100 cars, all recklessly driven, packed with goon-like armed men, -aggressively posturing to get on the kerb any vehicle that was on the road - had overtaken my car. There was no police, to help normal vehicles, which were all hauled up by the facilitators of this motorcade.  

Besides, there were baton wielding men standing at every 100 ft for "Seva" (facilitation)  when the convoy of the Baba passed, it was an ugly spectacle orchestrated by a so called holy man, in a resurgent 21st century India. In an India which in technological advancement, not limited to IT or space research, is a frontrunner in the world, such god-men playing on the in-security, obsequiousness and superstition of people, is a dichotomy hardly anyone can comprehend.

Political class with the bureaucracy in tow, help the rise of such Godmen. They provide such self declared agents of Gods, VIP treatment, with perks like Category Z security at the cost of the exchequer, sometimes in return for votes, or loaning of cadres during elections and on others just godly blessings.

These godmen draw legitimacy from this political patronage and feed on the gullibility of the people to enhance their personal pelf and power from such legitimacy, and garner more followers whose teeming numbers add to the socio-political cloud of these self-styled godmen. With time, they acquire swagger, larger than life size image, and small funding from the bottom of the pyramid class and large funding from the biggies, along with land-banks at throw away prices from the government for their ashrams. They all build hospitals and orphanages, as they serve as a front to all their nefarious activities.

Their diminutive intellect eventually starts feeding fat on this sense of power and  entitlement which eggs them to be so covetous, that they disrespect the law, both in letter and spirit, disregard property and defile others’ women, not once twice or multiple times, but repeatedly till they get caught and punished.

Gurmeet Ram Rahim is just one such case.