Hathras case: Why stampede horror can't shake their faith in 'Baba'

NOIDA: Himanshu (18) believes he would not be studying in a university were it not for 'Bhole Baba's' blessings. For Seema, a 33-year-old lawyer from Hathras, Surajpal Singh is 'not human', but a 'messenger of God'. When medicines and doctors failed, 'holy water' from one of Narayan Hari Saakar's satsangs healed Neha - so the homemaker from Surajpur believes.
The July 2 stampede in one of Surajpal Singh aka 'Bhole Baba's' religious gatherings in Hathras killed 121 people, but that hasn't shaken the faith of his followers - many of whom travelled from faraway cities to attend the event.
The cult of 'Bhole Baba' has been built carefully - through a projection of supernatural powers in him, like healing people's illnesses and reviving the dead, and a simultaneous appeal to inherent humanitarian values, preaching against caste divides and discrimination.
His ominous words - "aaj pralay aaegi" (there will be an apocalypse today) - minutes before the stampede broke out are being seen as a testament to his soothsaying abilities rather than an indictment of lapses in crowd management.
Undergoing treatment for injuries suffered during the melee, Kamlesh Singh of Bulandshahr is wonderstruck at his "intuitiveness".
"Just before leaving the stage, he held the mic again and said 'ab mai jaa raha hoon, aaj pralay aaegi' (I am leaving now, apocalypse will follow). Imagine his intuitiveness - he knew exactly what would happen. And, there was no chaos until he left the venue," said Kamlesh, a follower for 15 years.
A dust storm had started after the satsang. It could well have been a reference to that.
Himanshu was all of six when his parents took him to listen to one of Singh's sermons. And since then, he has believed in "just one god".
"We don't have photos of any other gods and goddesses at home. We have replaced them with posters of Bhole Baba. For us, there's just one god," he told TOI.
Diwali or Holi, no festival at Himanshu's home is complete without 'Bhole Baba'. "He is our parmatma. We celebrate Holi, Diwali and all other festivals with him. Today, I am pursuing a BSc in agriculture from a prestigious university - all because of him. If Baba ji is with us, we will overcome all challenges. I don't know why everybody is blaming him for the accident. Holy places like Kedarnath and Vaishno Devi have seen accidents as well," he said.
Lawyer Seema, who escaped unhurt at the Hathras satsang, has been following 'baba' for the past nine years. "My elder sister introduced me to him before she passed away. I started attending his satsangs because my elder sister would do so. For us, baba ji is not a normal human being. He is a messenger of God," she said.
Neha, a homemaker, believes the entire episode is an attempt to malign 'baba'. "He is a public figure. My family and I will always believe in him, come what may. Like people bring Ganga water and sprinkle it around their homes, we bring holy water from his religious events. It has helped my family whenever we have been ill. I don't believe in anything else, I don't pray to any other god," she said.
Avdhesh Maheshwari, who calls himself a sevak, said followers transcend states, communities and sections in the society. "They are everywhere - from UP to southern India, from rich to poor," he told TOI. "Most of Bhole Baba's followers are from the lower middle class. Why? That's because you don't need to spend any money on his events. He doesn't accept donations. Like his followers, baba leads a simple life too," he said.