A look at the future of Godmen empires after they are put behind bars

Ram Rahim Singh Insan 50In Sunaria Jail RohtakSince August 28 2017Around 72 km from the city in Kalote ndash a village in Raigad district ndashis the Shah Satnam Ji Param Sukh Ashram of Dera Sacha Sauda a sect headquartered in Haryana with 60 million followers across IndiaIts leader Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh 50 was convicted of rape on August 28 and sentenced to 20 years rigorous imprisonment by a CBI court Thousands of miles away from the violence following the verdict that killed 35 people this 23acre gated campus is an island of peace almost idyllic with sprawling farms rice fields and grazing cattleOther cases against the spiritual leader which are still pending trial include conspiring the murder of two devotees and mass castration of 400 followers There have also been reports of his involvement in illegal arms trading According to a report in The Financial Express Dera which enjoys tax exemption under Section 1023 of the Income Tax Act 1961 generated a daily income of R1644833 until three years ago Ram Rahim was ranked 96th in The Indian Express list of 100 most powerful Indians in 2015Ansumal Sirumalani Aja Asaram Bapu 76In Jodhpur Central JailSince 2013Closer home right beside Goregaon East railway station is the leafy Peru Bagh home to the ashram of Asaram Bapu who was born Ansumal Sirumalani This one too is sprawling His followers continue to stream in for mann ki shanti despite the 76yearold being lodged in Jodhpur Central jail for the alleged rape of a 16yearold Shahjahanpur girl at his Jodhpur ashramAfter last weeks Dera verdict all eyes are on the cases piled up against Asaram which include sexual assault conspiring murder and illegal confinement His assets according to some estimates amount to over R10000 crore excluding properties in Rajasthan Madhya Pradesh Maharashtra Andhra Pradesh and GujaratFamily Affair Honeypreet third from left adopted daughter of Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh is currently wanted by the Haryana police for plotting to help him escape from court Her husband Vishwas Gupta had said that the fatherdaughter duo shared an illicit relationship A Delhibased tabloid report also spoke of the guru pining for his confidant and ldquomasseuserdquo Meanwhile in the godmanrsquos absence his 33yearold son Jasmeet Singh Insan extreme right is likely to be propped up to manage the affairs of the sect PicGetty ImagesBut his volunteers remain unfazed Suresh Dwivedi and Om Vishnoi are busy at work in the administrative building on campus that also houses a child welfare centre and a Ganesh tample Our impromptu visit is not welcomed Reluctantly they share that a team of 11 trustees manage the ashram connected to the nucleus of all operation the head office in Ahmedabad Neither Dwivedi nor Vishnoi will share any names Dwivedi who lived in the neighbourhood left his family to serve Bapu Vishnoi was chosen as his assistantWhen the conversation moves to the charitable activities they are keen to share more Food clothing and necessities are distributed in tribal areas of Maharashtra and volunteers help others in time of need including flood victims at Andheri station during the August 29 deluge Today they are busy prepping for a grand function scheduled on purnima September 5 when they expect 13000 followers to drop inRamnath Insan is one of the 60 million Ram Rahim followers who has been given a locket with a registration number This helps the Dera sect maintain a record of its followers PicDatta KumbharIts business as usual at the Dera centre in Kalote too Built in February 2008 the ashram ndash one of 43 in India ndash boasts of a threestorey building open sheds a langar khana and a large reservoir that takes care of the campus water supply Banta Singh who manages the ashram is away in HissarSunil More 53 who we meet says another ashram in Satara was built in 66 hours flat Representatives of Singh arrived from Punjab and bought the land on which the ashram stands Residents from nearby participated in building the place from scratch Its still a mystery how it was accomplished in that short a time It was built without a foundation and to this date there isnt a single crack More a resident of Satara tells usThe sprawling Dera Sacha Sauda campus in Kalote Raigad PicDatta KumbharBlind faith or fearThe steadfast faith that More harbours is mirrored in Mohan Sarvaiya The 58yearold visits Asarams Goregaon ashram three times a week Sarvaiya got his diksha induction into the faith in 1995 when Asaram held a session at Andheri Sports Complex That same year he managed to catch 10 minutes of the leaders satsang at Cross Maidan in South MumbaiThat was enough for me to be cast under his spell I used to get fits and medication wasnt helping Since I took diksha I havent experienced the problem again says Sarvaiya who once ran an export business That his saviour is in jail facing a rape charge Sarvaiya justifies as the suffering a spiritual leader must endure for the benefit of mankind We believe in him and his teachings He will emerge out of thisAsaram Bapus ashram in Peru Bagh GoregaonNot everyone is forthcoming like him Most of Asarams followers we contacted refused to speak We will be questioned by the ashram if we do said one requesting anonymity The fear isnt unfounded with allegations against their guru conspiring murders of his disciples and members of his close coterie when they turned against him This list includes his personal physician Amrut Prajapati who died of bullet injuries in July 2014 after he was shot at in his Rajkot clinic He turned against Asaram after the death of two boys at the Ahmedabad gurukul which Prajapati had put down to black magic by Asarams menHis secretary Raju Chandhok who conducted a sting operation on him and later handed the evidence to the police and media has also been repeatedly attacked A paranoid Chandok we are told changes his mobile number every few months to avoid being traced When we manage to reach him he says I dont want to say what I went through As far as peoples faith goes each to his own I am not well at the moment and cannot talk Posters of Ram Rahims movie Messenger of God adorn the ashram campus in Kalote Raigad PicDatta Kumbhar Sameer AbediBut the likes of Prajapati are in the minority More tells us he became a follower of Ram Rahim after he was miraculously cured of paralysis Now his family and most members of his village are followers of Pitaji after his guru mantra rid them of alcohol addiction More says they have stopped watching news and reading the papers Our guru has been framedVolunteer Guru Dayal Saini makes us listen to an audio clip that is supposedly Ram Rahim talking to a coinmate in jail giving him guru vaani like he has to 1200 jail inmates He shows us WhatsApp messages being shared by devotees discussing the spread of the faith beyond the confines of ashrams Saini who is based out of Pune owns three factories he tells us I was a hardcore drinker and meateater In 1999 my wife took the guru mantra Eventually I followed suit and since then I have given up all vices My heart ailment has disappeared and I havent faced an obstacle sinceA file pic of supporters of Asaram accused of sexual abuse of a 16yearold girl celebrating his birthday outside Central Jail in Jodhpur PicGetty ImagesAjay Sharma 48 went from being a hawker to a crorepati he claims after he met Ram Rahim He too was rid of alcohol addiction Everyone who walks into this ashram practices pure living No one talks about religion here All are welcome and everyone participates in seva whether its working in the farms or in the kitchen adds Sharma who was one of the five crore devotees who attended Ram Rahims 50th birthday celebrations in Sirsa on August 15 this yearSome like Vinod Gaikwad were drawn to Ram Rahim after watching his film Messenger of God MSG 2015 written and starred in by the godman That movie inspired me I took the guru mantra soon after seeing the film he says He freed 29 women from a prostitution racket This the conviction is a result of political rivalryMohan Sarvaiya 58 who visits Asaram Bapus Mumbai ashram thrice every week says that the selfstyled godman helped cure his recurring fits He was inducted into the faith in 1995 and Ajay Sharma 48 claims he went from being a hawker to a crorepati after he came in contact with Ram Rahim The Punebased businessman owns three factories todayUnlike at Asarams ashram where the only way to tell the rising numbers of followers is by calculating how many mouths they feed at the Dera ashram every devotee whohas received the guru mantra gets a locket with a registration number explains Ramnath Insan 60 who we find driving a tractor on the farmlandCrafty PR machineryApart from staunch followers and dedicated management staff Asaram and Ram Rahims sects rely on those who work behind the shadows to spread the good word Rakhi Wadhwani who identifies herself as a saadhaksevak is Mumbai spokesperson for the Asaram Bapu outfit We ask her who runs the website and social media accounts and all she will say is volunteers They are based everywhere in India and abroad she saysBhavdeep Kang independent journalist and author of Gurus Stories of Indias Leading BabasOn Asarams official website wwwashramorg the Press tab takes you to sections titled False Allegations and Court Proceedings There is also a page called Difference Between Fake and Real News where media reports are juxtaposed with realityMost of these tabs were introduced in 2013 following Asarams arrest This is where we tell our side of the story communicate what we know as true Wadhwani says We tell her we stumbled on Carpe Diem a YouTube channel run by a certain Rakhi Wadhwani that has videos of Asarams satsangs We assume its her running it I dont know who runs the channel she says abruptly before cutting the callAtul Bansal 32 an IT professional based out of Pune belongs to the team that handles Ram Rahims social media accounts We use WhatsApp mainly to spread the word he says Fresh graduates in business management advertising public relations and chartered accountants are hired to run systems as professionally as possible Hamid Dabholkar son of slain rationalist and antisuperstition activist Dr Narendra Dabholkar is a psychiatrist who runs Maharashtra Andhashashtra Nirmoolan Samiti MANS that was set up by his fatherHamid Dabholkar son of antisuperstition activist Dr Narendra DabholkarWithout expertise it is impossible to run a business empire he says of the talent that organisations like Ram Rahims attract and hire The young Turks media and finance managers get to earn good money and be a part of the nexus And since they are nameless they can be easily replaced if need be The point is there cannot be a second line of control in these cults They dont operate on a democratic mechanismDabholkar says this even as news comes in of Ram Rahims son Jasmeet Singh Insan 32 being his most likely successor following a meeting held by his mother wife and other sect seniors This is an important development given that outoffamily contenders like his adopted daughters Vipassana and Honeypreet were eyeing the leadership role Honeypreet currently wanted by the Haryana police for plotting to help Ram Rahim escape from court was known to the world as his adopted daughter although her husband Vishwas Gupta had said the two shared an illicit relationship A recent press report also spoke of the guru pining for his confidant and masseuse wailing in jailWhy followers stayDabholkar says its unlikely that the empire will be affected given that its well oiled by the politicianreligious guru nexus Its a parallel economy facilitated by the business they generate in terms of merchandise and of course massive donations This is a zerocapital business It lures people on blind faith gives them an easy escape route where they dont need to take responsibility for their problems People shunned by their families find material comfort here It is not surprising to see followers blindly support the gurus A person with an inquisitive mind wont fall prey to such a belief system in the first place Systematic indoctrination is at work here he arguesIndependent journalist and author of Gurus Stories of Indias Leading Babas Bhavdeep Kang believes otherwise The deras have a tradition of nomination and if you dont have a strong successor in place it will fall apart she says When Ram Rahim joined the Dera Sacha Sauda he was only 23 It was a small outfit He expanded it a hundred times over His son evidently lacks his magnetic charisma to helm the empire He can at best run a holding operationSpeaking of the empire itself Kang points out that the court has ordered for the Dera assets to be investigated The court may find that a lot of these assets are benami which will then attract the provisions of the Benami Act and could be confiscated Funds from this might be used to compensate for the losses suffered during the riot that broke out following his conviction Then there would be very little left for the inheritor to manage The Dera will automatically shrinkKang foresees the same future for Asaram if convicted especially since his son Narayan Sai is also jailed in a rape case Their managers will do the job until told otherwise But without a central figure to keep an eye there is a possibility of decay How will you stop middlemen from lining their own pocketsWith case after case going against them its likely that donations will dry up The relationship a godman shares with his followers is different from that he does with highprofile friends They wont see a reason to invest in the guru anymore now that he is in jail He has lost his political influence and halo66No of hrs in which Ram Rahims followers claim the Satara ashram was miraculously builtRs 10kEstimated assets in crore of Asaram Bapu excluding the land he owns across India23Area in acres of Dera ashram in Kalote