Self Styled Godman was convicted for rape. The whole city of Panchkula in India was in flames and carnage within a matter of minutes.
About two centuries earlier in the land of religion and culture India, there was a 'Sannyasi Rebellion' where priests of the Bengal province in India motivated and joined the common masses to fight against The East India Company of England to rose up in arms against British Colonialism and injustice. Back then the 'Godmen' enlightened the path of righteousness and moral courage against the foreign invaders and plunderers though british claimed that they were thugs and religious exploiters. Many priest perished in the struggle against the foreign rule and the novel 'Anand Math' which was written in the light of the same Sannyasi rebellion gave India its freedom struggle slogan 'Vande Matram' meaning hail the motherland.
In the same independent India people witnessed a strange utter confusion in regard to the self styled Godman Gurmeet Ram Rahim head of the 'Dera Sacha Sauda' sect, when there was judgement day in case of rape and criminal intimidation which was pending since 2002. People mostly his followers flocked outside the Panchkula court ahead of the verdict in hundred of thousands. As the verdict pronounced Ram Rahim guilty, his followers couldn't take in and went on rampage like Nadir Shah and unleashed hell on civilian and governmental properties, burning, pelting stones, charging on to govt. offices, attacking local residents and policemen too, and the violence spread in whole region and not just one city. More than 50 people died and hundreds were injured and rioting went on for about 15 hours. The most pertinent questions that arose from all this was that how come people in thousands came in support of a rape convicted person risking there own lives and knowingly well that such a situation can arise, still government let the people gather and carry out all the senseless destruction. What was the motivation for people and reluctance for the govt. from stringent action.
Such people wield their power from the marginalized sections of society. In the prosperous states of Punjab and Haryana where per capita income is among the highest in India, the divide is clearly visible between the Have's and the Have not's. These people constitute 20-30% of the population of these states. These people had been deprived of social and economic equality, therefore such people are attracted towards these Sects who mesmerizes innocent or better said ignorant folks to follow the sect and find themselves secure in the boundaries of such sects where they are treated with some respect. Such huge following of economically weaker sections are no monetary power, but certainly in democracies like India they are a political vote bank. So, here begins the whole game. With vote banks came the ministers to grab the votes, with ministers came the bureaucrats, with bureacrats come the power, and all this power bows down at the doorsteps of the Godman.
'Ignorance might be a bliss, not for the masses, but certainly for the Godman"
All these years with huge following, vote bank under his control, connection with ministers and bureaucrats and immense wealth accumulated in the name of religion Ram Rahim has forgotton the might of 'Independent Judiciary'. Lack of scientific temperament of the masses, the power of devotion is formidable: it creates suicide squads, enables a David to beat Goliath and mobilizes a hundred thousand people to defy the law, bringing to a halt rail and communications networks! Ultimately, their devotion is based on a dependency syndrome. All these people behind emboldened the stance in his mind and in case of verdict landing against him forced him to prepare for the worse, that is launching his followers against the government. Now that the ordeal is over, govt officials are trying to find out how much wealth he has left in his sect headquarters. Each day to their surprise they are discovering not only new assets but also storage of weapons, canes, flammable liquid drums, other crime evidences and what not!
All these instances shows that following spirituality without critical thinking and logical perception can not only make an individual vulnerable but can also be a potential threat to society. 40 lives lost, hundreds injured, billion rupees losses, disruption in public and private life and millions of work hours lost, all this in the name of surrender and belief to feet of their beloved and rape convict Guru Ram Rahim. World is full of these religious dogmatism sometimes in shape of God men and sometimes in the shape of medieval religious institutions like Islamic Caliphate which we today know as ISIS, loss of humanity at hands of such entities is certain.
Let us hope that such institutions personal or organizational be demolished soon with enlightenment of the world with reason and rationality so that world become a better place to live and breathe.