Bhole Baba or Baba Rampal: How these men are playing God

The Hathras tragedy that claimed at least 121 lives during a satsang conducted by UP police constable-turned-preacher Bhole Baba has brought the focus back on religious preachers. This rerun of a 2014 story about another controversial preacher Baba Rampal highlights the messianic hold they have over their followers. The journey was daunting — a 10-km trek from his village, a back-breaking bus ride and then a long train journey. But for Pannalal Yadav, a marginal farmer from Madhya Pradesh’s backward Damoh district, it was like a pilgrimage. “My grandson,” he said, “was born with a head as small as an apple. But after being blessed by ‘parmatma’, it grew to normal size.” Barely literate, the middle-aged OBC was a picture of despair when hustled out of Satlok Ashram in Barwala along with other devotees of controversial preacher Rampal.Yadav’s seemingly unshakeable faith isn’t really an exception. Collations of Rampal’s sermons include numerous accounts by ‘bhakts’ hailing the 63-year-old engineer-turned-preacher’s alleged curative powers. The foreword to Gehri Nazar Gita Mein, for instance, talks about Vikki, a 10-year-old from Rohtak who was “cured” by the controversial guru’s blessings even though both his kidneys had failed.Boosted by TV and self-promoting literature, Rampal’s messianic grip over his followers is emblematic of similar gurus the region seems to produce. Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, head of Dera Sacha Sauda, is also headquartered in Haryana (Sirsa) and retains a huge following despite a controversial past.Who's Chyren?So how did Rampal create the larger-than-life image that he enjoys among his followers? He depends on visuals to drive home the message. Besides distributing merchandise such as stickers, rings and pendants, his facilities are peppered with hundreds of huge posters in various poses as if to offer visual proof of his omniscience. Some of them proclaim him as The Great Chyren from Nostradamus’s prophecy. He told followers he was Nostradamus’s prediction come true: “The great Chyren will be chief of the world/Loved feared and unchallenged, even at the death/His name and praise will reach beyond the skies/And he will be content to be known only as Victor.”Taking on other faithsThe “victor” is currently languishing in jail but talking to his followers and reading his books, one feels the preacher positions himself as a faith-healer and a pugnacious social reformer — someone who consciously and constantly challenges other sects provoking a reaction. For instance, the common slogan in the ashram is: Jeev hamari jaati hai, maanav dharm hamara, Hindu Muslim Sikh Isai dharm nahi koi nyara.The 2006 clash causing one death at his Karontha ashram was rooted in Rampal’s criticism of Arya Samaj founder Dayanand Saraswati’s work, Satyarth Prakash. There could be a competitive angle to his feud with Arya Samaj. The 19th century reformist organisation still runs 54 gurukuls in Haryana though it is losing both ground and steam. He has also carried out a campaign against the judiciary bringing out a pamphlet, Bhrasht judge kumarg par (Corrupt judges on the wrong path). medium111486240Claiming KabirRampal claims to follow the pro-poor, medieval poet-saint Kabir. His satsangs promote vegetarianism, forbid sexual promiscuity and abhor alcohol. A quote in his book says, “An alcoholic is born 70 times a dog.” Not that his followers are the questioning sort.Pro-poor imageRampal’s support base is mainly OBCs and some dalits. Social activist DR Chaudhary attributes the phenomenon of charismatic gurus in the region to the oppression and discrimination that the weaker and marginalised class/castes face from jats, the dominant social group. “These sections find social space and derive emotional solace from such preachers who are more egalitarian. Being a jat, Rampal enjoys some following among his own community too,” he says. Kunwar Chauhan, who teaches sociology in Rohtak’s Maharishi Dayanand University, says that in the absence of a role model in the region’s political leadership, Rampal has captured the moral and spiritual space. “At one level, he seems to show his devotees a positive path but he is also misguiding them by his so-called miracle healing,” he says. 111486485Free satsangsIn Barwala, his devotees say, Rampal used to organise three-day satsangs on purnima and amavasya every month. “There was no charge. We got prasad, including special kheer, on the last day for free. People donated what they wanted to,” says a 20-plus female devotee. That he didn’t charge anything for satsangs was a major attraction for many of his underclass followers. But devotees shelled out money for jyoti and paath; the latter according to a follower costs Rs 9,000.The sheer size of his ashrams in Barwala and Karontha induce awe. Every inch of Rampal’s three-storey abode, from the swimming pool to the interiors, speaks of affluence, not austerity. The state-of-art glass enclosure from where he delivered sermons is meant to evoke wonder rather than reverence. Undeniably, the maintenance of the 12.5 acre Barwala facility with hundreds of full-timers is an exorbitant endeavour that doesn’t really match the financial ability of his core supporters. Which is not to say that he didn’t have wealthy admirers. “There should be an audit of his business empire and the source of his funding probed,” says Chaudhary. Phones of listed coordinators in the Rampal team were switched off so they could not be contacted.Locals hostileSpiritual gurus are known to embrace the villages where they set up their ashrams. But Rampal has only a handful of followers both in Karontha and in villages adjoining his Barwala ashram. Besides Haryana and Punjab, most of his followers come from Rajasthan, UP and Himachal. In Karontha, where the majority follows another revered guru — Baba Gareeb Das — there is a fair degree of hostility against his few followers there. A villager who lives near Barwala ashram alleged that the sewer water of Rampal’s ashram polluted the nearby fields. “That’s why locals distributed sweets and burst crackers on his arrest,” he says.The Karontha ashram now looks like an abandoned factory fallen on hard times. After the discovery of petrol bombs on its roof — and with police claiming cameras in women’s toilet — one wonders the fate that awaits the Barwala ashram. As Rampal told a senior cop while facing arrest, “Sab samay ka khel hai [It's all a matter of time].”