Asaram Bapu being targetted for opposing the govt, say his disciples

New Delhi: On 30 July, Komal Malhotra was hit by a bullet as she battled chain snatchers. Twenty six year Komal, a postgraduate in English literature, sustained injuries in her index finger and chest. Recalling the event, she told Firstpost that she would have never tried to save the woman — the target of attackers — had she not been a disciple of Asaram Bapu. “Guruji always says we should never tolerate. When I saw the crime taking place before my eyes, I thought about his teaching and suddenly I found myself confronting those men,” she said.Komal is one of the multitude of Asaram supporters who have blind faith in the self-styled godman. And the fact that he has been booked by the Delhi police for sexually assaulting a minor girl has not shaken their faith. “He is one of the most vocal critique of government policies. He has been at the forefront of the campaign to take action against those who haven been slaughtering cows. He regularly highlights government’s inability to do something on this front. This is why the government is targeting him,” Komal says.A 16 year old girl, who hails from Shahjahanpur, Uttar Pradesh, has accused the godman of raping her in the Jodhpur ashram run by his trust. Asaram's followers have rallied immediately to his defense.[caption id="attachment_1056841" align="alignleft" width="380"]

Supporters of Asaram Bapu holding a protest rally at Connaught Place in New Delhi. PTI[/caption]On Friday, around 500 followers staged a rally in central Delhi’s Connaught Place area, bringing traffic to a standstill for more than an hour. Shouting slogans such as “Ham baapu ke bachhey hain, baapu hamaare sachey hain” (We are all Bapu's children, he is innocent), they expressed anguish over what they described as baseless allegations against their miracle-making guru. “With my eyes, I have seen terminally ill patients recovering after meeting Guruji. All those who doubt his character are people who are not his disciples,” says Deepa Joshi, a teacher in Army Public School, Noida.Like Komal, Joshi, who became a sadhaki (female disciple) in 2000, also suspects a conspiracy. “I heard somewhere that the government has introduced a law under which one has to take permission of the district magistrate before doing rituals such as havan and yagna. Guruji has strongly opposed the move saying it goes against democratic values. It is obvious that the government does not like him due to his views,” she said.Supporters of Asaram Bapu said that the media has judged him guilty before finding any evidence proving his involvement in the rape case. “Once, Guruji survived a chopper crash. That was not less than a miracle. But that was not reported anywhere in media. Now, someone has cried rape and entire media is after the case,” said Hemant Sharma, Delhi resident and disciple of Asaram.Shekhar Pandey, a businessman and Asaram disciple said that he was sad but not surprised about the case as godmen such as Asaram have been persecuted through history. “Take any important spiritual leader and you will find that he witnessed such controversies during his lifetime,” he said.This is not the first scandal to hit Asaram Bapu. In 2008, 3 men were found dead in separate mysterious incidents at his ashrams in Madhya Pradesh. In February 2013, the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) named him in a 700 crore land grab case.But Asaram Bapu is not the only godman in the country to run into trouble. In 2012, a US citizen claimed that Swami Ntiyanand sexually abused her for 5 years. Sirsa (Haryana) based Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, head of Dera Sacha Sauda, is on trial for rape.Where there are godmen in India, scandals inevitably follow. Asaram Bapu is just the latest guru to teeter on his lofty pedestal.