When The Godmen Have A Field Day!

By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam 23 September 2025 This pertains to Mr Ram Puniyani's, Sectarian Nationalism and Godmen: Sri Sri Ravishankar Attends 75th Birthday of RSS Chief' No one should be surprised because all these Babas and godmen / god women are on the payroll of the current political dispensation. I've been reiterating that Ravi Shankar is a Hindu evangelist and Jaggi is a Tartuffe. Both are Swami Nityanand with better English. These blokes are outright spiritual frauds. For the unversed, Swami Nityanand was a rapist baba who raped many young women in South India and when he was caught, he said that he didn't get an erection! He later fled the country. That fugitive owns a fictitious country called Kailas where he nonchalantly dupes countless disciples and delivers comic sermons in his most ridiculous English. All these Babas and godmen have been hoodwinking credulous people without anyone ever objecting seriously. But the government chooses to connive at their shenanigans. These frauds coin fancy and unintelligible terms and phrases like 'inner engineering', 'blossoming of consciousness', ' oceanic placidity ' and what not. Their disciples, who're no less than certified lunatics and registered morons, believe that these impostors are the true representatives of god on earth. Media is also to be blamed for the popularisation of Gurudom and Babadom. All leading publications and TV channels prostrate before these dubious godmen. They're addressed as Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Sadguru Jaggi, Jagadguru, Param Yog Pravartak, Trikaldarshi, among others. The borrowed wisdom of these Babas becomes Gospel Truths. But mind you, this is not a new or unprecedented phenomenon. Dubious gurus have always been active in this country under all governments. The Congress and Mrs Gandhi promoted Dhirendra Brahmachari, Maharshi Mahesh Yogi, Devaria Baba and their ilk. The existing government seems to be much more generous when it comes to encouraging and promoting Gurudom. That's why Babas are mushrooming like toadstools. In fact, our absolutely corrupt system and the collective gullibility spawn people like Bageshwar Dham baba, Ramdev baba, Ram Rahim, Nirmal, Asaram etc. etc. The Government is deliberately blind to the crimes of all spiritual rogues and people are blind followers of these unmitigated rascals. ----- A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed articles to the world's premier publications in several languages including Persian. URL: https://www.newageislam.com/current-affairs/godmen-field-day/d/136947 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism