Politician-godman ‘nexus’ gets dressing-down by court

Deepender Deswal
Tribune News Service
Hisar, October 16

Additional district judge (ADJ) DR Chalia on Tuesday said everybody had his or her own faith and beliefs. “I am also a devotee of Sant Kabir and listen to his verses. This criminal case has no relation to the beliefs and religious activities one may be involved in,” he stated.

The ADJ made this assertion before handing down punishment to Rampal. During hearing in connection with the quantum of punishment, the self-styled godman pleaded for mercy, saying he was a preacher of Kabir’s teachings who organised ‘satsang’ and offered social and religious services to the people.

The judgement came down heavily on the nexus between politicians and self-styled godmen in the country, stressing the need to nip in the bud these extra-judicial authorities lest there was anarchy and lawlessness.

In his hard-hitting judgement convicting Rampal and 14 aides, the ADJ remarked that the cocktail of deep dissatisfaction and blind faith turned noxious when politics got mixed into it.

“Politicians give patronage to these godmen, which allows them to literally run parallel states replete with their own armies, who starts seeing themselves above the law.

“Democracy necessarily implies keeping politics out of religion. When the two get mixed, things get messy. That is why we need to constantly question this unholy nexus,” the ADJ stated.

“Godmen are a threat to our society and culture. In today’s time, Swami Nityanand, Baba Asa Ram, Radhe Maa and Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh are such persons who amassed huge wealth, but fell prey to scandals and disrepute,” he asserted.

Stressing the need to spread awareness, the judgement read, “Movies like PK and OMG played a significant role in this case.”

“Politicians must keep away from these people. Dr BR Ambedkar had warned that ‘bhakti’ in religion may be a road to salvation of the soul, but ‘bhakti’ in politics is sure to lead to degradation and eventually dictatorship,” the ADJ said.

Referring to Rampal, the judge said, “Satlok Ashram shattered the image of pious, spiritual, social, cultural and religious institutions existing in the country, causing irreparable damage to heritage of this ancient land.”

The ADJ stated that there was targeted violence and commission of offence by the convicts and in the recent past, self-proclaimed gurus had brazenly taken the law into their hands. He stated that godmen guiding us and bringing peace to us might exist.

“If it was not true, Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg would not have travelled to India in their initial days of struggle. I guess that most of us fail to recognise the true leader,” the ADJ said. The challenge was to differentiate between the real and the fake, he pointed out.

Rampal is Qaidi No.1005

Hisar: Rampal is now Qaidi No.1005 in the Central Jail no.2 in Hisar. He will have a new cell in the jail and will be given new dress. Jail sources said Rampal behaved normally before attending the court, which was set up as a makeshift arrangement in the Central Jail no.1. “He took his breakfast as usual. Again, he stayed calm on returning back to the Central Jail no.2 after he was awarded the punishment. He will now be assigned work by the jail authorities,” they added. TNS