Media In India/elsewhere -2

[acharya]

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Spiritual gurus, babas, Godmen – they are known by many names and have become forces to reckon with when it comes to faith, specially in India where the lines between superstition and religion have blurred significantly.
But the faith has been maligned and many who claim to be Godmen, promising to rid lives of evil in the name of God have been proven close to evil themselves.

A CNN-IBN-Cobra Post investigation exposes the ugly side of some the most popular Godmen - Pilot Baba, a former Indian Air Force officer, Vedanti Maharaj, former BJP MP and Guruvayur Surya Namboodiri, who claims to be an astrologer – shattering the myth that surrounds Godmen of modern times.

There have been mixed reactions to the expose. While many have labeled the channel as “anti-religious”, the government has promised action against those found guilty.

However, the larger question remains if these religious gurus abusing the faith of their followers?

This was the topic of discussion on CNN-IBN special show In the Name of God conducted by Bhupendra Chaubey. In the panel to discuss the issue threadbare were Head of Gambhira Mutt in Vrindavan Acharya Srivatsa Goswami; Peethadishwar of Sumeru Math in Varanasi Narendra Nath Saraswati and former Income Tax commissioner Vishwa Bandhu Gupta.

Blame game or a cause for shame?
Call it a reflection on the deep-set rot within the religious fraternity or a spiritual defiance, Narendra Nath was unwilling to accept the findings of the expose, and chose to blame the media instead. “As far as saints are concerned, their duty is devotion to God. But there are some elements that have brought bad name to us. While these saints are to blame for compromising on their piousness, media is equally to blame. The media has crossed its lakshman rekha (all limits),” he said.

But isn’t seeing images of religious heads engaging in such illegal activities as money laundering a cause for shame? After all, this expose had more to do with corruption than religion. “This is wrong, but trapping them (the Godmen) like this is also wrong. What they did was wrong but media is encouraging them and that’s worse,” Narendra insisted..

Interestingly, CNN-IBN received hundreds of calls and messages from viewers who chose to label the channel “anti-religious”.

But is questioning a religious leader, who has been caught on camera accepting illegal money, equivalent to being anti-religious?

Srivatsa Goswami admitted that anything that goes against the law of the land is totally punishable. “Unfortunately I haven’t seen your programme. But based on what I have just seen and on what you are talking with others, I will say that any act which in a violation of the laws of the land is not acceptable even if it is done by a religious person,” he opined.

However, Goswami also cautioned the media and cited the example of Mahatma Gandhi. “What I would say is that there is a spiritual dimension to the sting operation which is very important. Mahatma Gandhi – who was grounded in religion and was equally political – said one cannot justify the means because of the ends that one would achieve,” he said.

While the defence is well taken, isn’t is also true that religion in India increasingly becoming an industry and Godmen such as these are misusing the faith?

Faith and Religion Inc.
Taxman Gupta was vehement in his opinions and insisted that these Godmen were nothing but money launderers. He also cleared the air on charitable institutions and the tax exemptions granted to them.

“This has become a huge industry. We have calculated that Rs 10,000-Rs15,000 cr come to charities across India. Hardly three to four per cent goes to Tirupati or Vaishno Devi that have government intervention. Rest is all is being pocketed. Also, these sadhus tend to become charitable only for two reasons. One is that they require land from the Government. Now there is a stipulation that no state government can give you land unless it is registered with the Income Tax department. Number two, when the foreign money flows in. Now foreign money cannot come to a private organisations. So the I-T thing is compulsory,” he explained.

The sting operation also showed that these gurus were very confident of what they were doing. They knew their “business” like experienced conmen and not for a minute flinched.

Gupta explained that this happens because most of these Godmen are agents of international Hawala racketeers. He explained the modus operandi of these gurus in detail “I went through the entire interviewing process of all these babas. For us it’s an old hand. They are all in touch with international hawala racketeers, I can tell you that. These are agents of the racketeers and there is no such thing as cheques being issued. This is how they do it. Say X person exports diamond to Saudi Arabia, Dubai, Malaysia etc. He issued a cheque saying the diamonds are received and this has come as a part of a bsiness transcaction and a certain commission is charged for it. But here the custom officials are hand-in-glove and they never check what goes into the consignment. They are all in touch with Hawala operators,” he said.

While the Central Government has tried its bit towards bringing in a certain amount of transparency by attempting to amend the Foreign Contribution Act, the problem lies beyond it.

Perhaps the time has come for India as a country to look at its gurus. Perhaps it’s time for a country to realise the kind of spiritual leaders it is putting on a pedestal.

Across the country – not just in Hinduism but across religions - there is surfeit of people with dubious credentials who are now assuming the mantle of religious gurus.

“There was always a time to look at the phenomena because religion is also a spiritual supermarket and our tradition has been very emphatic upon the qualities that a spiritual leader must possess,” said Goswami.

Final word: What’s the solution?

Here are the opinions of the panelists on possible solutions and the lessons learnt.

Narendra Nath: “As far as Godmen as concerned, it’s their good deeds and devotion that matter. Ideally, Godmen should have an influence on politics and politicians, but when the vice-versa begins to happen, it makes gurus smaller in stature. So, the Godmen should direct politicians but not be directed by them.”

Narendra Nath said despite the expose he wouldn’t mind sharing a stage with the likes of Vedantis if it comes to “national issues.”. “If media chooses to frame scertain people, what can we do?” he said.

Is this problem primarily because religion is so closely associated with superstition that people find it tough to question the Godmen?

Srivasta Goswami: Yes and no. Superstition is not the essential to religion and spirituality. Religion will never support anything that’s incorrect.

So, is a solution possible?

Gupta: It is absolutely possible because I think the ball is in our –the Finiance Ministry’s – court. Any organisation – business or religious – that has a receipt of over Rs 40 lakh has to get it audited. I am also talking about the madarssas that receive money from Saudi Arabia. It’s not just about Hinduism. This mess is spread all over. Missionaries are also using a lot of money for conversion purposes. All religions do it.