The life sentence for one of India’s most controversial religious gurus, 77-year-old Asaram Bapu, who was accused of raping a 16-year-old girl, is for the despairing seekers of justice akin to a long sip of cool water in a sweltering era of impunity for the many charlatans who masquerade as spiritual guides in the country.
His conviction is particularly gratifying as he has been the beneficiary of unabashed political patronage for decades that enabled him to acquire incredible amounts of wealth, power and immunity from the law as he carried on with his unsavoury activities in full view of the public. Like many of his ilk, he is the symptom of a malaise that has crippled the Indian political system for decades — a deeply parasitical, unscrupulous relationship between the political fraternity and self-styled gurus that thrives at the expense of fostering social gullibility and brain washes the common man.
With the built-in immunity from law this nexus enjoys, the conviction rate for the offences of self-styled gurus in India has been abysmal. Decade after decade, these peddlers of spiritual succour have got away with a dizzying range of offences. Obversely, it is also an indictment of the wilful ignorance of the masses who, despite being privy to the shameful conduct of these masqueraders, continue to flock to them, and worse, decry the opprobrium heaped on them.
Two things are required for the conviction of Asaram Bapu to become a tipping point in India’s history sheet of fraudulent gurus: The public must wake up to their reality and shun them; and second, it must exhibit zero tolerance for any shred of political patronage extended to them.
