Linking the name of prime minister Narendra Modi with the god man Asaram Bapu who is now behind bars for raping a girl devotee of his, may offend the sentiments of Modi’s devotees. But facts are too stubborn to be stamped down under covers.
Let us therefore go back to the past, reveal a few facts and examine the relationship between Narendra Modi and Asaram Bapu, and its changing contours. In 2000, Narendra Modi was the general secretary of the Gujarat unit of the BJP. That year, he went to Asaram Bapu’s ashram at Motera, and addressed a gathering of Asaram’s devotees, paying tribute to him in the following words: “It was my great opportunity to have met him at a point in my life when nobody knew me…From that time I have been receiving Bapu’s blessings, have continued to receive his affections…Asaram’s words had a yogic strength, and with trust in that yogic strength, the dream of crores of us in Gujarat will come true… I pray on Bapu’s blessed steps, I bow to him. Sacred Bapu’s love, his blessings, his best wishes will give me new strength…. I prostrate myself before blessed Bapu.” (Quoted by Priyanka Dubey in `The Nightmarish Struggle to bring Asaram to justice,’ in The Caravan, April 1, 2017.)
Two years later, in 2002, Narendra Modi began his campaign to win the by-election from Rajkot assembly constituency by paying obeisance to Asaram by attending a programme of his. As a compliment, the god man rallied his followers urging them to vote for Modi – thus paving his way to the position of chief ministership of Gujarat . (Re: Uday Mahurkar’s report in India Today, August 17, 2015).
The Modi-Asaram relationship – from complicity to conflict and to reconciliation
All through the first tenure of Narendra Modi’s chief ministership in Gujarat, relations between the two were of a guru-disciple nature. Asaram stood by Modi, during the massacre of Muslims conducted under his regime in 2002. Modi at the same time kept following Asaram’s preaching lessons that were compiled in a book entitled `Panchamrut.’ One of his lessons urged disciples never to question the guru, and to attack his critics even to the extent of `cutting off their tongues.’ (Quoted by Uday Mahurkar in India Today, August 4, 2008). Narendra Modi followed that precept, and went a step beyond by encouraging his disciples to `cut off ‘ the lives of Muslims in Gujarat.
Narendra Modi’s public demonstration of devotion to Asaram Bapu persisted till 2008. Things went wrong that year when the press exposed the incident of the killing of two boys (Dipesh and Abhishek Vaghela) in July in Asaram’s ashram in Motera – the same place which Narendra Modi worshipped as a pilgrimage in 2000. Pressurized by public demand, Narendra Modi as the then Gujarat chief minister, appointed a commission headed by D. K. Trivedi to investigate into the allegations against Asaram’s responsibility for, or complicity in the killing. But even after that, during the following years of investigation into the dubious record of Asaram’s ashrams, this charlatan was allowed by the then Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi to expand his empire of Hindu religious hypocrisy. By 2013, he had established some 400 ashrams in India and abroad.
Five years after the killing of the two boys in his ashram, the Trivedi Commission came out with a report in 2013, exonerating Asaram of all the charges. This suited his disciple Narendra Modi, who again had a chance to protect his guru, and continue his allegiance to his doctrine behind the curtains.
But the same year in 2013, another scandal broke out involving Asaram’s raping of a minor girl in his ashram. He was arrested on August 31 that year. This time, Narendra Modi could not save his guru. Sensing the public revulsion against Asaram, and realizing the legal consequences of Asaram’s trial, Narendra Modi immediately distanced himself from his erstwhile guru. He came out with a public statement in September, ordering an investigation into Asaram’s ashram properties.
Five years later in 2018, Asaram was sentenced to life imprisonment. By that time, his disciple Narendra Modi had occupied the throne in New Delhi. Although he disowned his guru in public, he was guided – and is still being guided – by the same strategy and tactics laid down by Asaram.
`Asaramism’ – a hegemony by a coterie of religious charlatans and opportunist politicians
I am coining the term `Asaramism’ to describe a phenomenon in the Indian political scenario where a transactional alliance is formed between political leaders and god men. The former wanting to influence the vast constituency of the followers of the latter, seek the help of these god men in their electoral campaigns – in exchange of promising patronage and protection to these religious charlatans. The politicians turn a blind eye to the criminal acts that these same god men are committing from within the sacrosanct walls of their ashrams – raping women devotees, killing those who threaten to expose their misdeeds, encroaching on lands to expand their territories.
Asaram set a model of this co-existence of nefarious activities under the garb of religion on the one hand, and collaboration with political patrons who provided him with protection on the other. His model was also marked by widespread display of acts of charity and distribution of freebies among the public. He set up social institutions like `Bal Sanskar Kendras’ (to help poor children), `Yuvadhan Suraksha Abhiyan’ (in aid of the youth), and `Mahila Utthan Mandal’ (to encourage women’s empowerment) – which distributed money, food and other necessities among the deprived sections in the neighbourhood of his ashram in Motera. This made him into a VIP of sorts who was given the status of a state guest by chief ministers whenever he visited their states – ranging from Ashok Gehlot of the Congress to Shiv Singh Chouhan of the BJP to Prakash Singh Badal of the Akali Dal. (Re: Uday Mahurkar’s article in India Today, August 17, 2015). His philanthropic acts earned him popularity, which persisted for quite some time even after the exposure of his misdeeds, leading to his arrest.
`Asaramism’ soon became a model for other lecherous and corrupt god men. Leading among them was Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, founder of Dehra Sacha Suda, who enjoyed patronage of political leaders for many years, till he was arrested for raping a woman disciple. Even after caught red-handed, such was the faith of his followers who were beneficiaries of his freebies, that they came out in thousands on the streets to protest against his arrest. Our judges are also so generous towards him as to grant him regular paroles for several months – so that he can enjoy holidays in his dehra (where no one knows what nefarious activities he may be indulging in).
Among other god men patronized by politicians at various times are Rampal, founder of Satlok Ashram in Haryana, who has been accused of murder in a case in 2014 ; Nithyananda, founder of Dhyanpeeta Charitable Trust in Bangalore, who was arrested in 2010 for raping a woman, but was let out on bail; and Ichchadhari Bhimanand, arrested for running a high profile sex racket in South Delhi in 2010.
But the one god man who managed to win the support of both the BJP and the Congress is Shivamurthy Muruga Sharanaru, who was the head of the powerful Veerashaiva-Lingayat Muruga Mutt in Karnataka. It was usual for BJP politicians to regularly visit him during elections to seek his blessings. But what raised eye brows was when the Congress leader Rahul Gandhi arrived at his mutt on August 3, 2020. He announced that he had been initiated into the Lingayat sect by Shivamurthy Muruga Sharanaru. In a tweet sent by him on the same day, he said: “It is an absolute honour to visit Sri Jagatguru Murugharajendra Vidyapeetha, and receive the `Ishtalinga Deeksha’ from Dr. Sri Shivaramurthy Murugha Sharanaru.” (Re: `Faith a tool for politics…’ in www.OpIndia.com, August 4, 2022).
Rahul’s homage to Shivamurthy sounded like an echo of the obeisance paid by Narendra Mody to Asaram Bapu some twenty years ago. Ironically enough, in a repetition of the past, Rahul’s new found guru Shivamurthy shared the same fate as Modi’s guru Asaram. On September 1, 2022, Shivamurthy was arrested on the charge of abusing minor girls in the hostel run by his mutt. Surprisingly enough, Rahul Gandhi has not yet clarified his relationship with this guru of his, even after his arrest. Is he still devoted to him ? Or is he dissociating himself from this lecherous god man ?
Strategy and tactics of the religio-political coterie
The basic principle of `Asaramism’ can be summed up as a combination of strategy and tactics. The strategy of these god men is to expand their sphere of influence by attracting devotees through promises of immediate cure for their problems, and the tactics is to bribe them by distributing freebies. Behind this façade of philanthropy, these god men afford to indulge in misdeeds and conceal them under the patronage and protection of the ruling powers – and thus divert public attention from their acts of sexual exploitation, encroachment on lands and corrupt dealings.
At the other end of this coterie are the politicians who collaborate with, and patronize these religious charlatans, in order to further their political interests.
Narendra Modi as an ardent follower of `Asaramism.’
Narendra Modi is a typical example of such political practice. He has adopted the model of `Asaramism.’ Let us look at a few cases of the behavioural pattern of both which look similar. Asaram set up an umbrella trust called `Sant Shri Asaram ji Bapu Ashram Trust,’ inviting cash donations. While Asaram’s treasury got flushed with money, there was no audit to investigate into the sources of this funding – whether they came from business houses which wanted to divert their illegitimate earnings to the Trust in the name of charity, in order to escape the income tax net.
Like Asaram, Narendra Modi has expanded his sphere of influence all over the country by announcing a series of pro-poor measures. They are well-managed programmes that win popular acclaim and divert public attention from his party’s nefarious role in instigating communal tensions. The most publicized programme is the PMCF (Prime Minister’s Care Fund). He set it up in March, 2020, ostensibly to collect funds to deal with the crisis created by Covid-19. Those who donated were exempt from tax liabilities. Quite predictably, donations poured in from business houses and other powerful establishments. But there was no provision for auditing the accounts – to find out whether the donations were being utilized for the announced objective of helping the victims of Covid-19, or being diverted in other directions. Under public pressure Narendra Modi finally appointed an auditor for his PMCF. As far as we know, the auditor’s report has not yet been released. Meanwhile, several cases have been filed in courts challenging the validity of PMCF, on grounds of lack of transparency and accountability.
Modi has also made PMCF immune to any investigation by the people. He has debarred the Right of Information Act from entry into its domain. Here again, he follows Asaram’s practice of keeping his ashram under an opaque cover, preventing any public scrutiny.
In the meantime, behind the display of populist measures, Modi’s followers, BJP MPs and MLAs continue to indulge in sexual exploitation, illegal transactions, encroachment on land – just as Asaram and his disciples did in the recent past. The latest example of such criminal activities is the case of the BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, president of the Wrestling Federation of India, who has been accused by women wrestlers of sexual harassment and physical abuse. Quite predictably, Narendra Modi (following his practice of refusing to hold any press conference to face questions from journalists all these years during his tenure of prime ministership) has remained silent over these allegations against his own party’s MP.
Is India under Narendra Modi becoming a replica of Asaram’s ashram ?
Sumanta Banerjee is a political commentator and writer, is the author of In The Wake of Naxalbari’ (1980 and 2008); The Parlour and the Streets: Elite and Popular Culture in Nineteenth Century Calcutta (1989) and ‘Memoirs of Roads: Calcutta from Colonial Urbanization to Global Modernization.’ (2016).
