Ravi S. Iyer: Spiritual

Over the past few days, I have been very disturbed by the reports of the horrific levels of physical and sexual abuse related to Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh and his Dera Sacha Sauda ashram that either have been proved in an Indian court of law, or seem to be very serious allegations for which hearings are going on in Indian courts. These include proven rape (custodial rape) of two young women, allegations of castration of many young men, allegations of murder of those who opposed Ram Rahim Singh and/or tried to expose his wrong doings, as well as violence on police, media and destruction of public property by Dera followers on alleged instructions from Dera Sacha Sauda second level leaders, after the guilty verdict against Ram Rahim Singh was pronounced on 25th Aug. 2017. In the name of faith, Dera Sacha Sauda and its leaders and some followers, have behaved like evil monsters and have besmirched the reputation of Indian spiritual ashrams as a whole! This article, Religious leaders ne...

1) a) Gurmeet Ram Rahim was revered like a god... acted like a beast: What the court said during sentencing, http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/gurmeet-ram-rahim-was-revered-like-a-god-acted-like-a-beast-what-the-cbi-judge-said-during-dera-chief-s-sentencing/story-aP9rVVdf1DuIWAGrd522UJ.html b) Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh to serve 20 years in jail, http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/dera-sacha-sauda-chief-gurmeet-ram-rahim-singh-sentenced-to-20-year-rigorous-imprisonment-in-rohtak/article19575596.ece The above articles report that the court said that Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh acted like a beast without sparing his pious disciples.  "In other words, he’s a man who neither has concern for humanity nor has any mercy in his nature". "Both the victims had put Ram Rahim on the pedestal of God and revered him like that. However, he committed breach of gravest nature by sexually assaulting such gullible and blind followers. Such criminal acts of co...

Note that some of the articles below mention the jail sentence as 10 years. That seems to be a mistake. There are two jail sentences of 10 years each for the two rape cases Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh was convicted of, which the court said will NOT run concurrently. So that makes it 20 years jail for the 50 year old Singh. Further, both rape victims are to be paid Rs. 15 Lakh (Rs. 1.5 million) each by Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh. The lawyer for Singh has said that they will appeal the verdict in the High Court. Singh is said to have been devastated by the sentence. He sought mercy from the judge (but that did not seem to make any difference). Eventually he is said to have shouted that he should be saved (from the authorities). So it seems there was a lot of drama when the sentence was given. Heavy security, preventive arrests and shoot-at-sight orders (at those Dera followers who commit violence) in Rohtak where the sentence was pronounced seems to have ensured no reports of violence th...

1) India’s ‘guru of bling’ is convicted of raping two followers. After the verdict, deadly violence breaks out., https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/08/25/indias-guru-of-bling-convicted-of-rape/ has a set of 15 pics showing the vandalism and the violence. 2) Army denies plan to storm sect’s building, http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/army-denies-plan-to-storm-sects-building/article19567136.ece . [Note that I came to know of this article from the printed copy newspaper today, 27th Aug. 2017] This article mentions that about a lakh (one hundred thousand) devotees of Guru/spiritual group head, Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, are within the Dera Sacha Sauda headquarters in Sirsa. Eight Indian army columns (each column having minimum of 80 troops) are deployed in Sirsa but the army has said that they do not have any plans to enter the Dera HQ. The article further reports that despite pleas from the authorities for the devotees to disperse from the HQ, t...

PM Modi’s ‘Mann Ki Baat’ after Dera protests: Violence in the name of faith won’t be tolerated, http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/after-deadly-dera-protests-pm-modi-s-mann-ki-baat-violence-in-the-name-of-faith-won-t-be-tolerated-guilty-will-be-punished/story-lus5QQbc0Ipn2ShVU2gEiM.html [Ravi: 'Mann Ki Baat' is Hindi which translates roughly to "What's in (on) my mind", and is a regular radio address by PM Modi to the nation.] The article quotes PM Modi as saying, "everyone will have to bow before the law". "Those who take the law in their hands or take to violence will not be spared, whoever they are". "India is the land of Mahatma Gandhi and Lord Buddha. Violence is not acceptable in the nation, in any form". This was what PM Modi said on Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/narendramodi/posts/10159309690370165 , on the day of the violence, 25th Aug. 2017: The instances of violence today are deeply distressing. I strongl...

Given below is a suitably modified version of mails I sent out on this matter over the past few days. Very sad to see this; Violence against the govt. is not the answer for spiritual movements when confronted with such challenges [Ravi: Initially the two reports below had lower casualty figures. It seems to have been updated later to have more current casualty figures.] Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh held guilty in rape case; 30 killed in violence in Panchkula, 1000 detained, http://indianexpress.com/article/india/gurmeet-ram-rahim-convicted-rape-case-verdict-dera-chief-cbi-court-panchkula-haryana-punjab-4812973/ As it happened: 30 dead, 250 injured as Dera chief conviction sets Haryana on fire, http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/live-updates-dera-sacha-sauda-chief-convicted-in-rape-case/article19558757.ece Ravi: My view is that the Dera followers should pursue legal avenues to challenge the verdict, rather than indulge in this violence.  ---- An informativ...

Last updated on 24th Aug. 2017 Recently I put up many posts on my Miscellaneous blog about the horrific hatred, bigotry, intimidation and violence displayed by white supremacists (white nationalists) and neo Nazis in Charlottesville, Virginia, USA. I have given below a list of those posts (totally 14) with extracts of some of them, and full contents of some of them. Please note this post is very long. 1) USA President Trump must condemn white nationalist hatred role in Charlottesville, Virginia terrorist road rage attack that killed 1 and hurt 19 , http://ravisiyermisc.blogspot.com/2017/08/usa-president-trump-needs-to.html , dated 13th Aug. 2017 Extracts from it: Ravi: I am very disturbed by this. My view is that the counter-protesters should have been law abiding and allowed the white nationalists to exercise their freedom of speech as per USA (and Virginia) law. Of course, the counter-protesters had every right to hold a NON-VIOLENT counter-protest rally. Very unfortunately...