Faith of disciples still unshaken

Manas Dasgupta

AHMEDABAD, April 25

Despite his conviction by the Jodhpur court on rape charge, Asaram Bapu is still the “God” for his thousands of disciples and admirers in Gujarat from where he started his career as the Goodman and set up some 400 ashrams in different parts of the country and abroad.

Asaram and his son Narayan Sai also face charges of raping two sisters in Surat. A team of Gujarat police is believed to have reached Jodhpur from where they plan to bring Asaram to Gandhinagar for the trial of the case. Narayan Sai is already lodged in the Surat jail. Some questions were also raised about the alleged illicit activities in the Motera ashram after the suspicious deaths of two young boys whose bodies were found on the bank of the Sabarmati behind the ashram in 2009.

But despite so many suspicious incidents, his disciples are not prepared to believe that their “God” had done anything wrong. The ashramites in different ashrams in Gujarat held day-long prayer till the Jodhpur court declared him guilty. The prayer ended but their faith in the Bapu is still not shaken.