Self-styled Godman Asaram Bapu’s name has been splashed all over the newspapers for the past couple of weeks, increasing his popularity quotient with people all over the world. Don’t get me wrong - the man has always been well-known for his saintly aura and his deeds of divine intervention, but nothing can be perfect, and the time to take off those rose tinted glasses has come.
Asaram Bapu first rubbed people the wrong way, when he stated that the victim of the December 16 Delhi gangrape could have saved herself if she called her perpetrators ‘bhaiyaa’ and begged for mercy. Today, the godman himself has been accused of sexual assault, on the pretext of administering cure, by a minor girl.
Like many, I am not accusing the man of committing any crime - sexual assault or otherwise. However, unlike many, I am saying that the ‘god’man, just like every other man is capable of making mistakes and hurting people. Prefixing ‘God’ to what he really is, does not make him special in any way.
Mankind in general has always had an affinity for anything that is divine. Whether it is a sadhu, a priest or a maulana, everyone at the end of day is an ordinary man, with just as many flaws as anyone else. It is only when we, the so-called ordinary people place them on a pedestal and elevate them to divine, that they are perceived to be wiped off all their flaws.
I am not against religion or faith. Faith is good. It keeps us grounded, pushes us forward and helps us hold on. What I am against is blind faith!
Blind faith in people of God, where they can do no wrong.
Blind faith in religion, where basic humanity takes a toll.
I am a believer of ‘innocent until proven guilty’, and I do hope that if innocent, Asaram Bapu’s name is wiped clean of all charges. If guilty, I do hope he is treated like a criminal and charged accordingly.
However, what concerns me more than a godman’s fate, is the fate of society and those who live in it with blind faith. However bad a situation, those rosy glasses need to be given a little rest sometimes. Reality, as gruesome as it may be calls for attention, so that it may be improved. Man, God or Godmen - everyone is flawed and flaws need to be addressed.
I take off my rose tinted glasses today and take away my pedestal for divine men. I take it away and give them just my faith, with the hope that they will not throw that away.
