Thiruvananthapuram:
Another self-styled “godman” in Kerala ran into trouble with the
law on Saturday after he fired his pistol during a melee in a police
station at Aluva in Ernakulam district.
A day
earlier, H A Bhadran alias Himaval Maheshwara Bhadrananda had allegedly
threatened some journalists and had surrendered to the police after
a complaint was filed against him. He also drove a car with a red beacon.
But on
Saturday, he rang newspaper offices and said he was going to commit
suicide. The police acted quickly by rushing to his house and bringing
him to Aluva police station. There, Bhadran refused to hand over his
pistol and got into a spat with journalists present there. As he waved
the gun around, it went off twice, injuring his palm. He was arrested
and taken to a hospital, where he cried and said he was being victimised.
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Police
are inquiring about the pistol licence, which was apparently granted
by the district SDM.
Meanwhile,
the political scene in the state also heated up over Dewaswom minister
G Sudhakaran’s statement on Friday that saints were like “thieves”
and “frauds”. Hindu groups criticised the minister, saying it revealed
the CPM’s hidden agenda to shatter symbols of “sanatana dharma”.
“This
is a deliberate move to demonise Hindu society. No doubt people like
Santosh Madhavan and Bhadran are fakes and should be brought to book.
But it would be worthwhile remembering that they are not people who
accepted sainthood the ritu- alistic way,” said senior Hindu
Aikya Vedi leader Kummanam Rajasekharan.
“There are
frauds in every field, even among politicians and cops. But should that mean
everyone else is a fraud too?” He asked.
BJP state
president P K Krishnadas said the CPM was hobnobbing with fake godmen
and insulting genuine believers.
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Vibhuti
(healing ash) materialising from thin air, producing cute little shiva
lingams from one’s mouth or healing with “egg-splash” were once
seen as proof of holiness. Not any more in God’s Own Country. More
than a dozen godmen and women, who conjured up these tricks and more
to Hoodwink the public,
are under investigation for various offences.
And they
belong to all hues - Hindu Swamis, Christian spiritual leaders and Muslim
faith healers. Several of them like Swami Viswachaitanya of Kozhikode
have families and kids, lived in posh ashrams and moved about in swanky
cars.
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The first to be
arrested was 35-year-old Santhosh Madhavan alias Swami Amritachaitanya who was
charged with fraud, rape of minor girls and making of porn films with them.
Subsequently, another young “swamiji” Himaval Maheswara Bhadrananda was held for
creating terror inside a police station with a gun and for using beacon lights
on his car.
In the
following days, the veil was lifted off a number of fraudsters who have been
making a quite killing in the name of spirituality. Matha Prasanna of
Thiruvananthapuram, for example, was arrested for alleged cheating and visa
fraud. Another, a Kozhikode-based film director, who owed money to a producer,
transformed himself to Swami Viswachaitanya one fine morning and has been
globe-trotting ever since.
Similarly Swami
Sunil Das of Palakkad is under investigation for amassment of landed property,
while Swamini Divyajoshi of Thrissur has been charged with cheating and giving
false promises.
Among the
prominent names from the Christian community, whose activities have come under a
scanner, are Kottayam-based Bishop K P Yohannan of Believers’ Church and Thanku
Brother of Heavenly Feast. The premises of both these spiritual entities have
been searched by the police. Bishop Yohannan’s Church owns property,
rubber estates, schools and theological institutions in the state and allegedly
received Rs 200 crore as foreign funds for charitable work.
Asghar Thangal
of Nilambur in Malappuram district is a Muslim cleric, who is also under
observation. His followers bring an egg with them which Thangal hurls at a wall.
“If the contents splash out in red (which happens often) it spells trouble for
the person. He then goes on to prescribe remedies,” a police spokesman said.
The arrests and
investigations have come as a rude jolt to politicians and film stars, some of
whom were unsuspectingly drawn into their activities.
However, the
LDF Government has made it clear that it would allow no spiritual leader to
engage in illegal activities.
“There are so
many swamis who have enlightened the hearts and minds of people, but these
people are fakes with no idea about spirituality. They are only interested in
women, money and muscle power,’’ says Devaswom Minister G Sudhakaran.
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Heaven's
Spillover
‘Don’t
victimise all of us’
Thiruvananthapuram, DHNS:
With the Kerala government’s crackdown on fraud spiritual leaders
transcending religious barriers, there has been only a murmur of protest.
The major complaint has been against victimisation of the entire sanyasi
community because of the misdeeds of a few.
Swami Amritaswarupananda, vice-chairman of Mata Amritanandamayi Math, says
that the new scandals have provided an opportunity to the people to
distinguish between original and fake spiritual leaders. “To portray people
who have been performing their karma according to dharma as wrong-doers is
another form of cheating and selfishness,” he said.
According to eminent criminologist Dr James Vadakkumchery, there were about
60 ‘unholy’ spiritual leaders in Kerala alone. They would not have survived
since amassing of property and wealth required bureaucratic clout.
“The fact is that most of these people are self-styled godmen rather than
having come up under a Guru. They do not know that great souls like Swami
Vivekananda and Swami Chinmayananda went through different stages of
learning and penance to attain enlightenment. Their good names have been
sullied by these people,” he said.
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