As a society and polity, holding these godmen accountable is of the utmost importance. But the criminal justice system is not enough to systemically redress the issue of power exercised by these godmen over their followers.

“Expectedly, most of these crimes are against women, especially minor girls. In our society, patriarchy is often the only constant across divergent religions and the ideological-political spectrum. Women are identified as sexual objects and in relation to a male figure, according to the three Bs, “biwi, beti, and bahu”. I say “and”, not “or” because, as the numerous cases of marital and incestuous rape reveal, the identification of women according to the three Bs does not in any way preclude their identification also as sexual objects.”

Gurmeet Ram Rahim, serving a life term following his conviction for the heinous crime of rape of female devotees and the murder of journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati who published the rape allegations, is out on a 40-day parole. While on parole, he recorded a music video released on Diwali, which garnered 40 lakh views in a single day. He has also held satsangs where various BJP political leaders like Karnal Mayor Renu Bala Gupta, and Himachal Pradesh cabinet minister Bikram Thakur have sought his blessings. Outraged by the Haryana government’s patronage for a convicted rapist and murderer who has been out on parole thrice this year just before crucial elections, Delhi Commission for Women Chief Swati Maliwal has appealed to Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar to cancel Gurmeet Ram Rahim’s parole. Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra has called for the codification of parole rules to prevent arbitrariness and misuse of parole powers for political reasons.

Gurmeet Ram Rahim is not the only self-styled godman convicted of heinous crimes enjoying such patronage. Asaram Bapu is serving a life term for raping a minor girl. Both he and his son Narayan Sai, also serving a life term for rape, evaded conviction for a long time due to political protection. Enjoying the following of lakhs of devotees, and owning property worth crores of rupees, the blind faith enjoyed by these godmen gives them enormous moral and social power, which is perhaps more significant than any political patronage they may enjoy. In fact, political patronage is the result of their mass popularity. What explains this astonishing popularity, which despite criminal convictions for the most serious offences known to humankind, fails to diminish?

In his classic work, Phenomenology of Spirit, the German philosopher GWF Hegel wrote about “spirit” or consciousness, which is inherently universal. But as manifested in particular physical forms, in the minds of particular people, it is not aware of its universal nature. That is, particular people do not see themselves as all part of one universal spirit. Hegel describes this situation as one in which “spirit” is alienated from itself, that is, people who are manifestations of this universal spirit regard other people who are also manifestations of the same universal spirit, as something foreign, hostile and external to themselves, whereas they are in fact part of the same whole. In its description of brahman and atman, the Bhagwad Gita also embodies this understanding of the universal spirit manifesting in different individual physical forms (atman) but remaining eternal and indestructible as part of the universal whole (brahman).

Hegel believed that people divide human nature between its essential nature, which is immortal and heavenly, and its non-essential nature, which is mortal and earthly. Building on Hegel’s idea of alienation, Ludwig Feuerbach, another German philosopher, in The Essence of Christianity, argued that it was human beings who had created the idea of God, by externalizing and projecting their own essential nature to a higher divinity. But this Christian God now seemed to have an independent existence from them, which made it impossible for humans to regard themselves as having the highest divinity within their selves. Wisdom, love, and benevolence are really intrinsic attributes of the human species, but human beings have attributed them in a purified form to God. The more we enrich our concept of God in this way, the more we impoverish ourselves.

In the context of Hinduism, this alienation of the universal spirit from the individual human spirit, and its projection onto god goes two steps further — because of our multiple gods, and because of self-professed interpreters of those multiple gods, the godmen. As a result, even though human beings are fully capable of alleviating their own distress by accessing the power of their human divinity, they continue to feel powerless, seeking relief from the teachings and ministrations of these godmen. It is a cliché that power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Therefore, the enormous moral power exercised by godmen over their followers almost inevitably corrupts them into committing crimes that are antithetical both to human divinity and to the moral fabric of organized political society.

Expectedly, most of these crimes are against women, especially minor girls. In our society, patriarchy is often the only constant across divergent religions and the ideological-political spectrum. Women are identified as sexual objects and in relation to a male figure, according to the three Bs, “biwi, beti, and bahu”. I say “and”, not “or” because, as the numerous cases of marital and incestuous rape reveal, the identification of women according to the three Bs does not in any way preclude their identification also as sexual objects.

As a society and polity, holding these godmen criminally accountable is of the utmost importance. But the criminal justice system is not enough to systemically redress the issue of power exercised by these godmen over their followers. For that, we have to end the alienation of human beings from their inner divinity that allows the proliferation of such godmen. Above all, as the Constitution mandates, we need to realize our fundamental duties as citizens “ to develop scientific temper, humanism, and the spirit of inquiry and reform”. Only then can our outer reality be at peace with our collective conscience.

(Namita Wahi is a Senior Fellow at Center For Policy Research (CPR), where she leads the Land Rights Initiative, and a Visiting Fellow at the Centre for Law and Social Transformation in Bergen)