Dharmendra Jore: Oh god, save us from the men in the middle!

Seemingly illprepared to meet the academic challenges that our postgraduate course in English literature posed a campus friend would declare often that he had a lucrative career option open I will become a spiritual guru There are as many fools in our society who can follow me feed me and make me rich he would say over a cup of tea that was usually paid for by othersSomehow my friend managed to get through and landed a college teachers job We met recently He hasnt become a selfstyled baba but I think he still stands a chance to experiment that dream transformation because there are still as many fools in our society who can follow him feed him and make him filthy rich He may even make a bigger baba who can have politicians lined up make and unmake governmentsThriving middlemenWhat Im trying to focus on here is a prominent characteristic of our society all religions castes and creeds included Im as confused as other sane people in understanding why do we need middlemen to connect with God which according to all religions does not need any facilitator This is a kind of outsourcing that has proliferated the business of religion much before the IT giants abroad used this mode to get their jobs done by othersAnd when the business of religion gets a boost from politicians it consistently beats conventional businesses and trades Annual results of listed companies fail consistently to match the pace of players in this trade because there are no rules and regulations for the messengers of godOur history is witness to the fact that votehungry politicians have been consistent in helping socalled spiritual leaders to derive a political advantage The list of such gurus godmen and godwomen is endlessDera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh is no aberration His blind followers think that their guru now convicted of raping two disciples is above the law of the land The case went on for many years The countrys topmost agency the CBI was responsible for bringing an erring guru to book The court did its job well and yet the followers took to streets and caused more than 30 deathsIsnt this terrorismWerent the dead children of God Didnt they have families to look after The very religious teaching is now under scanner Why shouldnt the deaths in Dera violence be treated as an act of terrorOften the followers of selfstyled babas across the country have indulged in heinous acts whenever their gurus have been arrested or criticised Some gurus are doing time in prison and making undying efforts to get bail They are filthy rich with properties in prime cities and towns thanks to the largesse of blind bhaktsWhen one of these gurus was put behind bars on the charge of sexual assault the women protesters who had blocked railway tracks in suburban Mumbai had abused the police and said shamelessly that it was their choice to offer their daughters to their guru The agitation in this particular babas arrest was not allowed to escalate furtherThose in Haryana and Punjab crossed all limits of inhuman behaviour when they saw no timely resistance coming in from law enforcement agencies The brutality with which they unleashed themselves on hapless people cannot be justified and ignored by the lawA worrying messageWhat is worrisome is the signal the Dera violence has sent the followers of other sects headed by influential babas and gurus Some years ago followers of a selfproclaimed acharya had almost beaten up an activist actor at the Mumbai airport because they didnt like his remark about their guru Since then the acharyas stake in politics has increased manifoldIn Mumbai alone one finds several sects from all religions enforcing their ways of getting up and close with the Almighty through their respective chieftains A spiritualcumpolitical guru who once wielded enormous clout in the political corridors of Maharashtra is trying to make a comeback in the current dispensationTo sum up a sane person with a spiritual bend of mind should now be aware that she shouldnt allow the business of religion to exploit a very personal thing such as hisher belieffaithDharmendra Jore is political editor midday He tweets dharmendrajore Send your feedback to mailbagmiddaycom