Some thoughts on how India should try to prevent any future Dera Sacha Sauda type sexual and physical abuse horrors from happening
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 need purification: Baba Ramdev, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/religious-leaders-need-purification-baba-ramdev/articleshow/60280727.cms, dated 29th Aug. 2017 has the following statements of noted Indian spiritual leader Baba Ramdev, after the rape conviction of Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh: "It is true that we are facing a lot of embarrassment due to the kind of incidents that are surfacing every 2-3 years" .. "The manner in which the religious powers and political powers have been tainted.., it has become necessary to purify both. Especially for religious leaders, it is necessary to follow the code of conduct prepared by Indian sages and religious gurus".
He also said, "It is wrong to link the entire saint tradition with criminal activities due to actions of person wearing costume of a saint. There are lakhs of several honest, pure and pious people still practicing and spreading spirituality among masses".
Ravi: I think the horrors of Dera Sacha Sauda approach the scale of the 1978 Jonestown mass tragedy, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonestown, where over 900 inmates of a spiritual group led by a USA spiritual leader, Jim Jones, died seemingly by consuming poison (cyanide), and where a few people including a serving USA Congressman were killed.
Now both Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh and Jim Jones had also done a lot of good to their communities! But they developed this horrific evil side in them over time.
One must bear in mind that the history of spiritual movements has quite a few charismatic and very capable leaders, full of energy and vitality, who lost their way and created havoc in the lives of their followers. Like Ram Rahim Singh, Jim Jones, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Jones, was not an ordinary person. He was truly charismatic and very energetic, and had lots of noble intentions for the poor in USA society (including African-Americans), but eventually it ended up very badly for him and his followers. From his wiki page, here's what he told his followers:
Jones also began preaching that he was the reincarnation of Gandhi, Father Divine, Jesus, Gautama Buddha and Vladimir Lenin. Former Temple member Hue Fortson, Jr. quoted Jones as saying, "What you need to believe in is what you can see ... If you see me as your friend, I'll be your friend. As you see me as your father, I'll be your father, for those of you that don't have a father ... If you see me as your savior, I'll be your savior. If you see me as your God, I'll be your God."
---end-wiki-page-extract---
Ravi: So one can see a pattern here among a few, BUT CERTAINLY NOT ALL, charismatic spiritual leaders who acquire a large following, that they eventually get into horrific levels of physical and sexual abuse of their followers and even kill their opponents.
How can India which is a land where religion and spirituality have been revered by the majority of its people over millennia, and where they continue to be revered today, try to prevent such horrific levels of physical and sexual abuse from happening in any of its spiritual or religious ashrams in future?
I think there should be a national ashram safety body with members from the government as well as various reputed spiritual ashrams/organizations in the country from various religions, which is tasked with initiating and/or overseeing police investigations of sexual and (serious) physical abuse in any spiritual or religious ashram in India. [By serious physical abuse I mean violence involving hospitalization of victims or significant out-patient medical care and, of course, murder. Minor levels of physical abuse like slapping and pushing around cannot really be considered by a national level body as otherwise it may get inundated with complaints!]
The reality of rural and semi-urban India, where most ashrams are located, is that the police and local elected politicians are in awe of the powerful ashrams in their villages and towns. These powerful ashram systems have hospitals, educational institutions and food stalls/canteens which typically are free or are at subsidized prices for the inmates and sometimes for any visitors as well. The police and local elected politicians too would typically avail of these services for themselves and/or their relatives and friends. The economy of many of such villages and towns is dominated by the ashram and the visitors to the ashram. Given this scenario, the local police would typically hesitate to investigate sexual and serious physical abuse cases against ashram leaders and senior ashram figures of their villages and towns. This is but natural given the realities of rural and semi-urban India.
But if the same complaints are also sent to a national body that oversees police investigation/action in such matters, which then asks the police about the matter, the police will be forced to investigate.
Further, social media is quite powerful in India today. Such a national ashram safety body should put up serious allegations for which police investigation is ongoing, on its website and social media channels. That will help inform the community about such serious allegations (that the police and/or national ashram safety body consider worthy of investigation) well before any court verdict is given. Note that the police investigation and any subsequent court cases in India in such matters can drag on for years, and sometimes, decades! In Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh rape case, it took 15 years!
Another suggestion in this regard is that complainants should seriously consider simultaneously complaining to the police (and/or national ashram safety body) and put up the complaint on social media, perhaps anonymously if they fear retribution including defamation suits. In the Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh case, the anonymous letter complaining of these rapes was sent to then Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee in 2002 (and perhaps some other persons), which seems to have triggered the court to order an investigation. The journalist who printed this or related anonymous letter was killed allegedly by goons of Ram Rahim Singh in Nov. 2002, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Ram_Chander_Chhatrapati.
Now in 2017, fifteen years after that 2002 anonymous letter, such a letter can be published anonymously on social media including Facebook, very easily. If enough appropriate people, including journalists, are informed of such a social media post, they will, in all probability, examine it seriously. Then if they are convinced that it seems to be a serious allegation (as against a frivolous or conspiratorial allegation), they may share that anonymous letter with their wider audience on social media and perhaps on regular media channels as well. That will create a momentum of its own which will force police and other investigative authorities to seriously investigate the matter and inform the public of the results of their investigation.
The funding for the national ashram safety body should not be limited to the government and become a burden on the government, and so on the tax payer. I think it is in the interest of all reputed spiritual and religious ashrams in India to ensure that a few abusive spiritual ashrams like Dera Sacha Sauda are prevented from indulging in such horrific abuse in future. That impacts the reputation of all Indian spiritual and religious ashrams. Therefore the reputed and large spiritual and religious ashrams should contribute funds to this national ashram safety body. Other reputed ashrams which may not be in a position to contribute funds, should contribute in other kind like volunteering for some work in this national body.
In the ideal case, which is what all Indian spiritual ashrams of all religions should work for, any spiritual aspirant, spiritual solace seeker, or even any other kind of visitor/resident, whether Indian or foreign, whether from rural or from urban areas of India (or abroad), whether male or female, whether rich or poor, should never have to fear from sexual abuse and serious physical abuse while living in or visiting any Indian ashram. Even if such an ideal may practically be impossible to achieve in a country with 1.3 billion people and many, many ashrams, aspiring for such an ideal would reduce sexual and serious physical abuse in Indian ashrams no matter what the religion the ashram is associated with (including multi-religion ashrams) to insignificant levels.
[I thank Baba Ramdev (and indiatimes.com) and wikipedia, and have presumed that they will not have any objections to me sharing the above quotes of Baba Ramdev from the article mentioned above, and extracts (from wikipedia), on this post which is freely viewable by all, and does not have any financial profit motive whatsoever. Please note that this post deals with public safety and well being.]
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 need purification: Baba Ramdev, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/religious-leaders-need-purification-baba-ramdev/articleshow/60280727.cms, dated 29th Aug. 2017 has the following statements of noted Indian spiritual leader Baba Ramdev, after the rape conviction of Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh: "It is true that we are facing a lot of embarrassment due to the kind of incidents that are surfacing every 2-3 years" .. "The manner in which the religious powers and political powers have been tainted.., it has become necessary to purify both. Especially for religious leaders, it is necessary to follow the code of conduct prepared by Indian sages and religious gurus".
He also said, "It is wrong to link the entire saint tradition with criminal activities due to actions of person wearing costume of a saint. There are lakhs of several honest, pure and pious people still practicing and spreading spirituality among masses".
Ravi: I think the horrors of Dera Sacha Sauda approach the scale of the 1978 Jonestown mass tragedy, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonestown, where over 900 inmates of a spiritual group led by a USA spiritual leader, Jim Jones, died seemingly by consuming poison (cyanide), and where a few people including a serving USA Congressman were killed.
Now both Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh and Jim Jones had also done a lot of good to their communities! But they developed this horrific evil side in them over time.
One must bear in mind that the history of spiritual movements has quite a few charismatic and very capable leaders, full of energy and vitality, who lost their way and created havoc in the lives of their followers. Like Ram Rahim Singh, Jim Jones, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Jones, was not an ordinary person. He was truly charismatic and very energetic, and had lots of noble intentions for the poor in USA society (including African-Americans), but eventually it ended up very badly for him and his followers. From his wiki page, here's what he told his followers:
Jones also began preaching that he was the reincarnation of Gandhi, Father Divine, Jesus, Gautama Buddha and Vladimir Lenin. Former Temple member Hue Fortson, Jr. quoted Jones as saying, "What you need to believe in is what you can see ... If you see me as your friend, I'll be your friend. As you see me as your father, I'll be your father, for those of you that don't have a father ... If you see me as your savior, I'll be your savior. If you see me as your God, I'll be your God."
---end-wiki-page-extract---
Ravi: So one can see a pattern here among a few, BUT CERTAINLY NOT ALL, charismatic spiritual leaders who acquire a large following, that they eventually get into horrific levels of physical and sexual abuse of their followers and even kill their opponents.
How can India which is a land where religion and spirituality have been revered by the majority of its people over millennia, and where they continue to be revered today, try to prevent such horrific levels of physical and sexual abuse from happening in any of its spiritual or religious ashrams in future?
I think there should be a national ashram safety body with members from the government as well as various reputed spiritual ashrams/organizations in the country from various religions, which is tasked with initiating and/or overseeing police investigations of sexual and (serious) physical abuse in any spiritual or religious ashram in India. [By serious physical abuse I mean violence involving hospitalization of victims or significant out-patient medical care and, of course, murder. Minor levels of physical abuse like slapping and pushing around cannot really be considered by a national level body as otherwise it may get inundated with complaints!]
The reality of rural and semi-urban India, where most ashrams are located, is that the police and local elected politicians are in awe of the powerful ashrams in their villages and towns. These powerful ashram systems have hospitals, educational institutions and food stalls/canteens which typically are free or are at subsidized prices for the inmates and sometimes for any visitors as well. The police and local elected politicians too would typically avail of these services for themselves and/or their relatives and friends. The economy of many of such villages and towns is dominated by the ashram and the visitors to the ashram. Given this scenario, the local police would typically hesitate to investigate sexual and serious physical abuse cases against ashram leaders and senior ashram figures of their villages and towns. This is but natural given the realities of rural and semi-urban India.
But if the same complaints are also sent to a national body that oversees police investigation/action in such matters, which then asks the police about the matter, the police will be forced to investigate.
Further, social media is quite powerful in India today. Such a national ashram safety body should put up serious allegations for which police investigation is ongoing, on its website and social media channels. That will help inform the community about such serious allegations (that the police and/or national ashram safety body consider worthy of investigation) well before any court verdict is given. Note that the police investigation and any subsequent court cases in India in such matters can drag on for years, and sometimes, decades! In Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh rape case, it took 15 years!
Another suggestion in this regard is that complainants should seriously consider simultaneously complaining to the police (and/or national ashram safety body) and put up the complaint on social media, perhaps anonymously if they fear retribution including defamation suits. In the Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh case, the anonymous letter complaining of these rapes was sent to then Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee in 2002 (and perhaps some other persons), which seems to have triggered the court to order an investigation. The journalist who printed this or related anonymous letter was killed allegedly by goons of Ram Rahim Singh in Nov. 2002, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Ram_Chander_Chhatrapati.
Now in 2017, fifteen years after that 2002 anonymous letter, such a letter can be published anonymously on social media including Facebook, very easily. If enough appropriate people, including journalists, are informed of such a social media post, they will, in all probability, examine it seriously. Then if they are convinced that it seems to be a serious allegation (as against a frivolous or conspiratorial allegation), they may share that anonymous letter with their wider audience on social media and perhaps on regular media channels as well. That will create a momentum of its own which will force police and other investigative authorities to seriously investigate the matter and inform the public of the results of their investigation.
The funding for the national ashram safety body should not be limited to the government and become a burden on the government, and so on the tax payer. I think it is in the interest of all reputed spiritual and religious ashrams in India to ensure that a few abusive spiritual ashrams like Dera Sacha Sauda are prevented from indulging in such horrific abuse in future. That impacts the reputation of all Indian spiritual and religious ashrams. Therefore the reputed and large spiritual and religious ashrams should contribute funds to this national ashram safety body. Other reputed ashrams which may not be in a position to contribute funds, should contribute in other kind like volunteering for some work in this national body.
In the ideal case, which is what all Indian spiritual ashrams of all religions should work for, any spiritual aspirant, spiritual solace seeker, or even any other kind of visitor/resident, whether Indian or foreign, whether from rural or from urban areas of India (or abroad), whether male or female, whether rich or poor, should never have to fear from sexual abuse and serious physical abuse while living in or visiting any Indian ashram. Even if such an ideal may practically be impossible to achieve in a country with 1.3 billion people and many, many ashrams, aspiring for such an ideal would reduce sexual and serious physical abuse in Indian ashrams no matter what the religion the ashram is associated with (including multi-religion ashrams) to insignificant levels.
[I thank Baba Ramdev (and indiatimes.com) and wikipedia, and have presumed that they will not have any objections to me sharing the above quotes of Baba Ramdev from the article mentioned above, and extracts (from wikipedia), on this post which is freely viewable by all, and does not have any financial profit motive whatsoever. Please note that this post deals with public safety and well being.]
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