Sex swindle and Swami
Today, let us dredge the murky depths of sleaze, sex and swindle and to assist us in our endeavours we ride pillion behind an imaginary swinging Swami of India. He, like many of his ilk, is a confident trickster… a con artist who made the smart choice of religion as his route to success. As this Swami is imaginary I would ask readers to fill in any name that you think fits the description. Also bear in mind that the usage of the term swami is done quite loosely – and is not to be construed as a badge of honour and respect.
Okay now back to the Swamiji… Since for reasons of politeness and social propriety we will continue to refer to him as imaginary let us try and give him some form. Our mythical "beast" has a "dera" or ashram, whatever you might want to call it. He is an extremely well respected, rather revered person using the honorific "swami" or "sant" or if nothing else adding some completely unnecessary "sri" to bolster his pre-eminence in society. Sitting much above the mortal single "sri" holders, he is loved, respected and "holified" beyond imagination. Our Swami runs charitable institutions, dabbles in astrology and advises people on how to lead the good and pure life. That is till it gets publicised that he also rapes minors, has dealings with the land mafia and controls a huge empire built on sham.
Alas, from time to time one of these great men of India, like stars in the black sky, falls from grace. Their luck runs out and the whole swami swindle comes unstuck. (But for every "sant’s" descent to the Earth I bet there are 50 other new ones whose fortune is ascendant – India is a deeply religious country peopled by gullible innocents who awake every morn to be made a fool of). The case usually breaks when a local magazine or paper begins to connect the Swami with fraud. The resulting controversy forces the state police to act… they raid the Swami’s ashram and that opens up a can of worms… There are pornographic CD’s, details of land deals and sometimes even wildlife – live and dead – like a tiger skin…but the Swami goes missing…
The police start a huge manhunt for the missing Swami and the media follows every step of the chase. Bigger the swami more the spread of interest across the country, breakfast tables to chai shops to prime time news television is all abuzz with the murky details that begin to emerge. Agitating supporters egged on, I assume, by the pre-prejudiced henchmen indulge in some - what is called "tor phor" in polite societies. After some considerable damage to public property the police initiate "lathi-charge" proceedings against the agitators, at which point, except for the most brainwashed the others melt away, presumably to sit on a nearby fence and watch proceedings from there on.
But our Swami is still not done in… he has his connections in high places, not necessarily divine, he manages to evade arrest for a few more days or weeks or months – all dependent on the reach of his connections. From his hiding he issues statements to the media denying the allegations saying that it was all being done to malign him. He is a true servant of God and humanity he claims, you can almost begin to believe in him once again but then as the chase progresses more sleaze drools out. The police find that the Swami’s interest in pornography goes beyond the viewing stage. A minor girl or a young woman generally comes forward, at this stage and accuses the Swami of having repeatedly raped her. The girl/woman tells the police that the Swami had also raped other girls usually minors.
According to information gleaned from immerging sources, it comes to light that the Swami ran a trust that looked after under privileged girls. These girls from different parts of the state were brought to the Swami’s centre and became a part of the ashram run by the Swami. They were assured that the Swami would look after them…and it was here that the Swami sexually abused these girls left in his care. But how does it all start? Our Swami of evil intent is a businessman at heart and sacred soul so it all begins with capital. The difficult part is to get to the first lode, once that is achieved through some petty crime or trick, the business of the Swami is set to bloom. At this early stage in his career, Swami deftly changes city/town or village, gathers some shady henchmen, to act as go betweens, launches his very own godman venture and turns holy in the process. Depending on his PR skills he stops being a man and ascends closer to the divine being. To the ever susceptible hoi polloi Swami is now a godman.
So who is a godman? As per my research, I found that a godman is generally a charismatic self-professed ascetic with a high-profile presence. The godman is capable of controlling the emotions and hearts of a wide cross section of society. He is also someone who has no qualms about making claims of high spiritual attainments. Some godmen have also been known to claim to possess paranormal powers and have healing abilities. But the most powerful of Indian godmen are not those who have a direct link to God but those who are linked the Indian politician…
The most influential of godman… the one who probably had a say in the destiny of the country was a yogi from Bihar who allegedly ran an arms manufacturing unit. Dhirendra Brahmachari was the yogic mentor of Indira Gandhi when she was prime minister of India. It is well documented that Dhirendra Brahmachari not only helped Indira Gandhi reach decisions and make appointments but also carried out some of her orders. There have been rumours that this god man drew his power from the fact that he had at one time had an affair with Indira Gandhi… "The Flying Yogi" as he was called died in a plane crash in 1994.
The other godman to have had tremendous influence on a prime minister of India was Nemi Chand Jain… Known as Chandraswami he was the spiritual adviser of PV Narasmiha Rao when he was the prime minister of India. Son of a moneylender from Rajasthan, Nemi Chand left home to become a tantrik. The godman was arrested in 1996 on charges of swindling and spent many years lodged in the Tihar Jail. Some of the cases against him still continue but the list of his past followers stand proof to the power he once wielded – the names range from chief ministers and governors of states to at least two prime ministers of India. The sultan of Brunei, the ruler of Bahrain and Elizabeth Taylor were also the disciples of Chandraswami.
Sathya Sai Baba was born Sathyanarayan Raju and his followers described him as a miracle worker. The Sai Baba organisation has more than a thousand centres in over one hundred countries worldwide… While his followers were counted in millions, over the years there had been many allegations levelled against him. From the performance of magic tricks to having sexually abused young men the Sai Baba heard it all… His list of devotees also included the high and the mighty and the very powerful… In December 2001, an official letter was released to the general public stating that all allegations against the Sai Baba were false… the letter was signed by one prime minister, two former Supreme Court chief justices, a chairperson of the human rights commission and various senior members of Parliament.
And then there were the hugely successful godman against whom there were allegations of sexual depredation. Godmen like Maharshi Mahesh Yogi and Bhagwan Rajneesh lived flamboyant lives… they flew around the world teaching and preaching love to the high and mighty… and while on ground they moved around in their private Rolls Royce. These godmen had followers who were international super stars and they were gurus who took their love for mankind to shores far away from the land of their birth. To the world at large they epitomised the meaning of the word GURU…
Godmen are a fact of life in India, there is no running away from it. Of late there is even a film being produced which stars a "sant". One high profile baba – another commonly used name for a swami, is in jail everyday claiming ill health and the need for medical intervention. But then there are hundreds of swamis and babas and sants across the length and breadth of the country sucking on the benevolence of collective naivety.
Little do the so called general public realise that with a little bit of common sense and some gentle help one can avoid being swindled. The confident trickster plays on the weakness of people. It is usually when there is need; greed or mental disquiet that one succumbs to the false charms of a charlatan. Here are certain pointers that should help one differentiate between the conman/godman and the true ascetic.
• The godman con is mostly executed by a male, though there are a few female versions extant in the countryside.
• Godmen attain stature and popularity usually when they are in their 30 to 40-age bracket.
• While they wear simple clothes they flout expensive accessories.
• They travel in style – costly cars are the norm.
• They travel a lot – within and outside the country.
• They have a huge battery of support staff.
• Their discourses or talks are well advertised and well marketed.
• People with money have easier personal access to such godmen.
• All their publicity photographs are "photoshopped".
While I do not claim this list to be exhaustive or comprehensive, I feel that it does give a fair chance of identifying a venture which has more to do with commerce rather than religion or social good. So just tick the points and match them against your favourite swami, baba, sant or double sri people. More than one tick and I would say your guru is suspect. The rest is between you and your belief.