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Satya Sai
Baba of Puthaparthi in his recent tour of Mumbai (Nov. 2009) was
invited by the Maharashtra Chief Minister designate, Ashok Chavan to
his official residence, Varsha, for blessing the house and for the
associated puja (invocation). When criticsed for inviting the Holy
Guru to his official residence he said that since he is a devotee of
the Baba from last many decades it is a privilege for him. There are
many other news items where state functionaries mark their presence
for the programs of Gurus and Babas (God men).
As far as Satya Sai Baba is concerned
he is regarded as the living God by his devotees, while he himself
claims to be the reincarnation of Sai Baba of Shirdi. This Sai Baba
is also a miracle person and a spiritual Guru. His miracles have
been exposed by the Rationalist Associations and his trick of
producing Gold chain was brought up in the court, as production of
gold is illegal. This case was not pursued for various reasons.
There are many charges of sexual abuse by Sai baba. Magician of fame
P.C. Sarkar also said his miracles have nothing to do with divinity
but are mere magical tricks.
Use of official residence for such
functions is in total violation of the secular constitution of the
country where religion is a private matter of the individual and
state functionaries can’t wear their religion on their sleeves in
official capacity and in official places. Contrary to that norm,
lately this norm is known more for its violation than by adherence
to it. Gone are the days of Nehru when he could stand up and snub
such actions by whosoever it is in the official capacity. Of course,
Gandhi, Father of the nation and Nehru the architect of Indian state
were no devotees of any Baba or Guru. Over a period of time such
principles have been violated with impunity. Uma Bharati during her
brief tenure as the Chief Minister ship of Madhya Pradesh converted
her official residence in to a Gaushala (Cow shed) with saffron
robed Sadhus forming the main residents of her official residence.
India has quite a broad fare of God
men. There are Gurus, Sants, Maharajs, Acharyas and Purohits
(clergy) in the main. Their role has been changing over a period of
time. Last three decades seem to be the time of their major glory,
with their presence in all spheres in a very dominating way. Their
number has also proliferated immensely and while some of these are
big players, Sri Sri Ravishankar, Baba Ramdeo, Asaram Bapu to name
the few. There are hundreds of them scattered in each state. Many of
them are working in close tandem with Hindu right, Swami Assmanand,
Late Swami Laxmananad Sarswati, Narendra Mahraj etc. These are the
one’s who have created their own niche with different techniques,
while Shankarachayas, are associated with the Mutts coming from
historical times, the Akshrdham chain is also not very old a
tradition. The Pramukh swamis (Chief Guru) of these temples wield
enormous clout. One recalls Anand Marg came up during the decade of
seventies and not much is hearing of that now.
Overall religiosity has been on the
upswing and not many are protesting the promotion of blind faith by
many such God men. The rational thought and movement is on the back
foot and political leadership, social leaders, of many hues are
bending over backwards to please these Babas, some of whom are also
dispensing health and some of them claim to be looking into the
crystal ball of future.
There is an interesting correlation
between the coming up of adverse effects of globalization, rise in
the anxieties and deprivations and the current dominance of God men.
Many an interesting observations about these God men are there, the
major one being the rise in alienation in last three decades along
with the rising religiosity in the social space. Many a remarkable
studies on this phenomenon are coming forth. One such is by a US
based Indian scholar of repute, Meera Nanda. In her book, The God
Market, she makes very profound observations. She points out that
this rising religiosity is manifested in boom in pilgrimages and
newer rituals. Some old rituals are becoming more rooted and
popular. She sees a nexus between state-temple-corporate complexes
also. Secular institutions of Nehru era are being replaced by
boosting demand and supply of God market.
A new Hindu religiosity is getting
deeply rooted in everyday life, in public and private spheres. The
distinction between private and public sphere is getting eroded as
the case of Sai Baba in Maharashtra Chief Ministers official
bungalow shows. Hindu rituals and symbols are becoming part of state
functions; Hinduism de facto is becoming state religion. Hindu
religiosity is becoming part of national pride with the aspiration
of becoming a superpower. She observes a trend of increased
religiosity. In India there are 2.5 million places of worship but
only 1.5 million schools and barely 75000 hospitals. Half of 230
million tourist trips every year are for religious pilgrimage.
Akshardham temple acquired 100 acres of land at throw away price.
Sri Sri Ravishanker’s Art of Living Ashram in banglore has 99 acres
of land leased from Karnataka Government. Gujarat Govt. gifted 85
acres of land to establish privately run rishikul in Porbander. Most
significantly Nanda argues that the new culture of political
Hinduism is triumphalist and intolerant, while asserting to be
recognized as a tolerant religion. While claiming to have a higher
tolerance, its intolerance is leading to violence against
minorities.
It is because of this that even if the
BJP may not be the ruling party, the political class and other
sections of state apparatus have subtly accepted Hindu religiosity
and the consequent politics as the official one, and so the justice
for victims of religious violence eludes them. The question is, can
the struggle for justice for weaker sections also incorporate a
cultural-religious battle against the blind religiosity and
proactive efforts initiated to promote rational thought.
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