The ashrams are in fact places for the ‘aish and aaram’ of the so-called godmen who defy the law and ask their followers to protect them. The government should come down heavily on such babas.

RK KAPOOR, New Jersey (USA)

Secular country

India is a secular country. It is home to thousands of self-made babas and their lakhs of followers. Baba Rampal is one of them. The situation at Satlok Ashram became tense due to the illegal act of the baba and his followers. It could have been avoided if Rampal and his disciples had followed the principles of non-violence.

Manoj Kumar, Rewari

No ‘sat lok’

A former junior engineer, 63-year-old Rampal Singh Jatin, devoted himself full time to becoming a godman as Sant Rampal at Barwala, Hisar. His commandos fired at the police and used women and children as shields to resist his arrest. Was there not a single ‘sat lok’ (honest man) in his Satlok Ashram to advise him to surrender in the court instead of waging a war against the State, which left six dead and hundreds injured?

It is sad that despite the increasing levels of education and awareness, even elite class people flock to babas, godmen and the kind!

Bidyut Kumar Chatterjee, Faridabad

Ghastly godmen

Men of god and peace have become too ghastly to be called godmen. Asaram, Gurmeet Ram Rahim and now the new sant, Rampal. They have all dared the might of the State.

Rampal of Satlok Ashram defied and challenged a police force of thousands to evade arrest for many days, hiding behind the shield of his gullible followers. He was guarded by armed commandos. They pelted the police with stones and petrol bulbs from inside the ashram.

The only way to tame these all powerful ashram heads is to bring them under the control of government appointed management committees for accountability of funds and activities. Ashram followers make a huge vote bank, so party wants to antagonise them. Some way must be found to curb this menace of blind following. All the goings-on in these dens, called ashrams, should be kept under strict surveillance.

LJ Singh, Amritsar

Incomprehensible

The police crackdown at the ashram of self-styled godman Rampal is intriguing because one fails to comprehend as to why in the first instance he was allowed to become what he is. Why was the bud not nipped before reaching such alarming proportions, needing police action to bring him out? The kind of trained personnel and weaponry he is in possession of is alarming. The exercise shows the breakdown of administration, security and intelligence.

Let us hope that there will be no more bloodshed and his supporters will see the light of wisdom soon.

Col Bobby Garewal (Retd), Mohali

Audacious sants

I am greatly concerned by the audacity of sectarian chieftains. They are challenging the rule of the country. They have become a threat to our society. These vandals, in the guise of sants, have changed the composition of our society as they run into hundreds and each with a good following. Their actions exhibit terrorist tendencies. They dupe naive people by treacherous techniques. They mesmerise by their oratorical and stage skills. They claim to help people attain salvation. They not only rob them of their money but also sometimes exploit innocent girls sexually. These fanatic devotees feel themselves privileged to be associated with the sants and are ready to even take on the police. They are ready to shower their lives on the depraved sants. If an awakened follower tries to bring the truth out, he/she is murdered. Our political leaders of almost all hues also seek their blessings in the elections. They are a big factor in the formation of governments. Recently, a horde of MLAs visited a sant to thank him for their party's victory.

It's time we woke up against these sectarian tycoons.

Vijay Gupta, Jind

HP’s soldiers

Hamirpur and Kangra, perhaps, send the maximum number of soldiers, sailors and airmen to the armed forces. Many have brought honour to the nation. Cdr Megneth Sangal is the only person from the Navy from Himachal who has been decorated with Vir Chakra in the 1971 war. Cdr PS Sandhu from Hamirpur is the first person from the Navy from HP to have been decorated with the Jeevan Raksha Padak.

Recently, Rear Admiral Ranjit Singh became the first person from HP to have risen to the rank of rear admiral. Son of NCO late Jai Singh, he studied in a government high school in Jalari village from classes I to V before joining Sainik School, Kapurthala. The Himachalis are proud of his achievement.