Bridle babas

Apropos the Oped article “Spiritual saviours or merchants of God?” (November 28), deras and ashrams have mushroomed under the patronage of politicians. Thanks to the efforts of the Arya Samaj and orders of the high court, nefarious activities in ‘Satlok Ashram of Sant Rampal have been exposed. The babas own property worth crores of rupees and vast tracts of agricultural land. A dead crorepati baba is lying in a freezer for the past many months. Another baba was reported to have five bulletproof black SUVs bearing the same registration number as a safety measure.
These babas lord over their gullible followers and sell their votes at the time of elections. They have become the new rajas. Stringent laws are needed to bridle them and their spiritual businesses.
SS BENIWAL, Chandigarh

Blind faith
With reference to the episodes at Barwala in Haryana and Noormahal in Punjab, the babas have attained this status only because of their followers. The recent incidents show that the followers have blind faith in the babas and they are least affected by the exposure of their misdeeds.
If one has true faith in God and the teachings of our rishis and gurus, there will be no need for the babas. The media has a duty to teach the masses about the same. It should highlight the meaning of true religion that shows the right path to the people. Otherwise such babas will continue to flourish and loot the gullible and be a threat to law and order.
RAVINDER MITTAL, Ludhinana

Detach from rogues
Despite the spread of education, science and information, a large number of people have not acquired a rational outlook. They willingly accept mental slavery and are ready to become blind followers of some self-styled baba or godman. They have faith in their magic in ridding them of worries and woes. Poverty, unemployment, deprivation and frustration propel people towards godmen. Their desperation is exploited by the unholy babas. These shrewd godmen deprive the poor people of reasoning with embellished oratory. Such tainted saints commit heinous crimes in their ashrams, including murders and sexual exploitation of women.
Under a delusive belief, their followers serve as shield to protect them against law. People should detach themselves from such rogues. Political parties should stop using them as vote banks. The government must take action against them to eradicate the evil of unprincipled cults.
SANDEEP ARYA, Fazilka

Checks needed
Ever since the Asa Ram and Rampal fiascos, everybody seems to be lambasting the godman/dera culture, little realising that saints, babas, peers, faqirs, deras and ashrams have been highly adorned icons of our social order since ages. They have done a service to society by catering to the emotional, social, spiritual and even medical and educational needs of fairly large segments of society, who otherwise feel let-down or neglected. These holy men practice faith healing and create a sense of kinship and security amongst their followers. That’s why people throng to the ashrams.
What is needed is checks and balances. These deras should be made to publicise their objectives, modus operandi, organisational set-ups, assets, along with budgets, balance sheets and audits. Plus, periodical inspections should be done by designated bodies. Let the energies, opulence and spiritual halos of deras and babas be channelised for the overall good of society.
Tejinder Singh Kalra, Mohali

60% beat wives
What a pity that six out of 10 Indians beat their wives. This has been revealed by a study conducted by the United Nations World Population Fund. Even well-educated men beat their wives. They beg for pardon when they come to sense. The editorial “Wife beating quite common” (November 17) rightly says that domestic violence is a serious crime which can have disastrous consequences. Good sense must prevail on men for leading a peaceful and happy life.
Subash C Taneja, Gurgaon

Nehru’s Nabha interlude
Lieut-Gen Baljit Singh (retd)’s middle “Getting Jawaharlal Nehru's autograph” (November 27) has some mistakes. They include:
1. Nehru’s place of arrest was not Jaitun, but Jaitu.
2. The date of arrest as per K. Santhanam's memoirs, Nehru's autobiography, is: Date not mentioned, the word ‘autumn’ is used. The plaque at the Nabha high security jail mentions the period “from 22nd September 1923 to 4th October 1923.” How has the author has made it May 23?
3. As far as the conduct of the Magistrate at Nabha (author claims him to be his grandfather) is concerned, after being arrested at Jaitu on September 21, 1923, Nehru, K Santhanam and Acharya Gidwani were sent to Nabha in handcuffs. They were even marched through Jaitu bazaar in handcuffs. They remained handcuffed in the Nabha jail cell, where they were put up on September 22 for two or three days till they were produced before a Magistrate in handcuffs.
Nehru in his autobiography (chapter XVI, An Interlude at Nabha) writes: “Two or three days later we were taken to court for our case, and the most extraordinary and Gilbertian proceedings were held there from day to day. The magistrate or judge seemed to be wholly uneducated. He knew no English, of course, but I doubt if he knew how to write court language, Urdu. We watched him for over a week, and during this time, he never wrote a line. If he wanted to write anything he made court reader do it. We put in number of small applications. He did not pass any orders on them at that time. He kept them and produced them the next day with a note written by somebody else on them...."
Two cases were fostered upon them and a sentence of two and a half years given to them, which was suspended and they were thrown out of Nabha state after two weeks.
As per Nehru, the Magistrate was acting at the behest of a British administrator, who held power in the absence of King Ripudaman Singh, who was made to abdicate in favour of his minor son Pratap Singh.
       Chaman Lal, New Delhi