Religious fanaticism has been one of the main causes of conflict among people for centuries. And we see it again in the case of “Sant” Rampal.
This man seems to be a lunatic when I read about his history. I was astounded to see the number of people who believe the nonsense he says. Religions are being divided more and more to suit each person’s needs. Honestly, if someone wants a religion to live life his way (even if all he wants to do is spread hatred); he will find it in today’s world. Back to Rampal, we see that these “religious” people use weapons and that’s how the whole problem started anyway – with the shooting of a man in 2006. How stupid are the followers of these “godmen” to revere someone who incites hatred?
Rampal also prohibits his followers from giving anything to charity. This just made me laugh. Someone is asking you to not be compassionate and you see nothing wrong with that?! Come on! He apparently also preaches against visiting temples, idol worship, untouchability, adultery and “vulgar” singing and dancing. So watching Malaika Arora Khan doing an item number is a no-no for Rampal’s followers.
In all seriousness, why has this man not been stopped in the 20 years he’s been active? India has the world’s third largest army but it cannot catch a criminal that is endangering the lives of innocent civilians? What about the law system that lets a man such as Rampal out on bail? Which Einstein thought of not taking any action against a man even when he ignored court summons more than 40 times?
Then I took a look at the bigger picture. Granted that the government is hopeless (didn’t we know this already?), but the citizens of India are even worse. Who willingly goes to an ashram (even after the multiple scandals that these ‘godly’ men have been embroiled in) and then eventually becomes a human shields for their religious leaders who’re criminals in the eyes of the law?
Some of these people who “protected” their saint have said that they were coerced into doing it but then, you chose to go into the ashram of your own free will, didn’t you? You chose a criminal as your connection to god. I kind of feel that many of them deserve it. Your spirituality should be between you and god, why do you want to include middlemen? This is where you shoot yourself in the foot.
It baffles me how these people can believe a person is divine when he asks them to attack other people (police)? Don’t they see something wrong with that picture? I understand that illiteracy is playing a huge role here but this is not something you cannot change. What can you do when the government is lazing around and stealing tax rupees of the citizens when they could have spent it on free education for adults in rural areas?
It’s despicable how women especially are lured in by these godmen. They believe one man can cure illnesses and take their sorrows away. In the process, I am sure they end up paying in some form to the ashram or its people. They even take infants and children into these places where they could contract contagious diseases, be molested and what not.
Who is going to inform these poor souls that these individuals do not have power to cure illnesses? Stop putting someone on a pedestal and waiting for them to find solutions to your problems! You are giving these so-called godmen the power to ruin you!
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