Journalist and author Ushinor Majumdar on Saturday highlighted the need to question the system that allowed people to acquire a godman-like status, and the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government’s role in the rise of self-proclaimed godmen.
At a session at the Mumbai Collective titled ‘Godmen and Hindutva’s Public Sphere’, Mr. Majumdar said, “You can blame the BJP and the RSS for legitimising godmen. But how far is that true? They may have scaled them up in a manner never before seen, but you need to look at the role of the Congress, the UPA government.”
Mr. Majumdar termed godmen petty and through a series of anecdotes on Asaram Bapu, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and Baba Rampal, he gave insights into how godmen operated and why people were drawn to them. “One of the reasons I could understand is that this was a two-way communication. Normally, when you go to a temple or a mosque, you speak but you can’t hear anything. But if you go to a godman, here is a man you can touch, feel, hear. But of course the difficulty is when they start trying to feel you,” he said before going on to discuss the sexual assault cases against Asaram Bapu.
Mr. Majumdar said it was easy to criticise the government of the day, which did not meet the ideals of people, but people should not forget what the previous governments have done. ‘He said, “We are trying to defend the Indian Constitution. How about upholding it? During the UPA term, did you see any changes to the defamation laws. No. Because they want to use it when it suits them.” Mr. Majumdar also questioned the Kerala government’s stand in investigating the allegations against Bishop Franco Mulakkal, who has been accused of raping a nun.
