Oh, what a fall that was!

Rahul Puri

Faith is a deeply personal indulgence. Why any person would so intensely and passionately become devoted to another person claiming to be God’s man would make sense to no one else, but mean the life to him. A safety net or a safe refuge in a hostile world would probably be the best answer to the question of why it happens.
Godman is a venerable tradition in the country, much like Guru is a revered one. The sense of refuge they provide is calming for many in a world that always seems at odds. The concept of “sewa” and being at the forefront to lend aid whenever tragedy strikes cannot be seen as mere attempts at legitimacy — these form the core of the narrative of the great mass of Indians.
Some of these spiritual leaders have displayed vision, filling the gap the state failed to address and the religious leaders refused to acknowledge. Now, however, the space is increasingly being taken over by a religious-political-corporate brand that forms the institution of godmen — cultivating an audience, exercising control, creating restricted islands of deras or ashrams, encashing the potential of their huge vote banks.
So, with charges of wrongdoings flowing thick and fast against them and the law reluctantly catching up, did the “false gods” fail in 2014? The year did see the godmen fall down a notch in the collective conscience of the nation, but there is nothing to suggest that their reach or influence has diminished. Or will.
That’s worrying, for such power or a sense of having it can make even godmen commit unpardonable human follies. Rampal of Satlok Ashram landed behind bars, a picture of ordinariness after his extraordinary defiance; Asaram spent months in police custody, but once out, the trademark resilience was back. Ashutosh lies in deep freeze, his fate resting on claims of godliness or simple greed.
Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh of Dera Sacha Sauda has got the courts all worried, more than the governments for sure, but he’s more worried about his upcoming movie. Meanwhile, Ramdev’s security asana has worked. Z is now his X factor. By the way, the HRD Minister’s astrology sessions could one day bec-ome curriculum lessons. And superstition’s travelled many more miles than Mangalyaan. Faith, you know, is a deeply personal indulgence.
Where faith got lost, though, was in one ghar wapsi that would have bothered no one: that of black money. This, after the colour of money remained the talking point of the political establishment through the year. Black money, India was told and re-told, had the numerical strength to alter the shape of the white economy and was on way back home. The transit journey is nowhere in sight.
Scams gained currency and notoriety like never before in the UPA regime. 2014 saw a change of government and the business of scamming got some relief. If the probes into the UPA-era scams did not lose momentum in the year gone by, it was thanks largely to the Supreme Court. It made the Central Bureau of Investigation look within, then forced its Director Ranjit Sinha out of the 2G scam probe. Successor Anil Sinha got the nod to take over the investigation, but he’s got a bigger task to restore credibility and the “premier” tag to the investigation agency. The coal scam case, which deals with the UPA government allegedly digging real gold in the allocation of blocks of black gold, is on fast track in the apex court, and the CBI’s been told to question the former Prime Minister. A man of few words, Dr Manmohan Singh’s answer has always been that he’s clean. The coal isn’t, so the dirt has to eventually stick somewhere.
Now, there’s news of another scam of inflating the cost of coal imports. The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence claims it has unearthed a racket that involved companies inflating the cost of imports. The overvaluation’s been put at Rs 29,000 crore from 2011-2014. Meanwhile, Sahara conglomerate head Subrata Roy spent a better part of the year in jail after he was sent to Tihar in March for contempt of court for not paying back crores of rupees to investors who were sold outlawed bonds.
It was the Saradha chit fund scam, however, which stole Sahara’s thunder. And Mamata Banerjee’s too. Kolkata-based Saradha Realty India was asked to  refund the money it had collected from investors. Trinamool Congress leaders were allegedly on board. No assets were created, but the ponzi scheme paid off the money collected from one depositor to another, before collapsing.
Something similar was witnessed in Punjab too. The managing director of real estate major Pearls Group was booked by the CBI in a scam whose worth was put at Rs 45,000 crore for allegedly duping investors by promising land.
In Haryana, Land Use Change has for long been considered a handy scamsters’ tool and the new BJP government promised to “fix Robert Vadra” for “dubious” deals, but after first fixing the system. Now, fixing the system sounds good. But so did the return of the black money. Let’s leave it to fate. Oh, sorry, faith.