Sirsa, Haryana: There’s a festive air at the sprawling headquarters of the Dera Sacha Sauda in Haryana’s Sirsa. Its leader Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Insan is back, or out of jail for now at any rate, and the religious sect’s compound is once again buzzing with satsangs (devotional gatherings), langars (communal meals), and bhajans with racy beats.
The presence of the dera chief, however, is strictly virtual since he is currently staying at his ashram in Barnawa in Uttar Pradesh’s Bagpat district. But that doesn’t really matter since he is often present live, larger-than-life, on screen via Zoom and YouTube. The projector and screen, surrounded with balloons and baubles, sit on the same stage where he once preached to a sea of people.
And his not being in Sirsa doesn’t even prevent him from keeping an eye on it. When ThePrint visited the dera Monday, a sevadar (volunteer) was busy rounding up some followers. “Pitaji ko ek film banake bhejni hain (I have to make a video for father),” he said.
Pitaji is what most people here call Ram Rahim. The term for followers is premi, or lover.
Ever since the dera chief was granted 40 days of parole on 14 October from Rohtak’s Sunaria jail — where he has been serving out sentences for the rape of two women disciples and murders of a journalist and a dera manager — he has regularly hosted online discourses and interactions.
For his devotees, elections have become blessed events, since all of his four furloughs have consistently coincided with poll dates in Haryana and Punjab, where he has a huge following and is believed to exert considerable political influence, especially among Dalits.
This time, his parole was granted just ahead of the Adampur bypoll and panchayat elections in Haryana, with several state BJP leaders in Karnal logging in to seek his blessings during his first virtual satsang.
Another BJP leader who paid his respects to the dera leader last month was Bikram Thakur, transport minister of Himachal Pradesh, which goes to polls on 12 November. The Dera Sacha Sauda supported the BJP in the 2014 Haryana elections, and is believed to have helped the party win in some districts.
But it’s at Sirsa, more than anywhere else, where Ram Rahim is still the presiding demigod despite his criminal convictions.
Also read: BJP leaders of Haryana district seek blessings of Dera chief, ‘Pitaji’ Ram Rahim, out on parole
‘Even now halls get full during satsang’
The busy road leading up to the Dera Sacha Sauda headquarters is lined with hotels, shops, and hospitals bearing names that start with either “Sach” or “MSG” — Ram Rahim’s nickname, believed to stand for ‘messenger of god’.
Upon arriving at the arched entrance, visitors must deposit their phones and cameras and undergo a three-tier check before proceeding to the satsang area, a covered ground that is about the size of two football fields.
When ThePrint visited Monday, many people were milling about, including children, pregnant women, and elderly men with canes. The canteen was churning out snacks, devotional music was playing on loop from multiple speakers, and the screen was constantly flashing images of Ram Rahim. There’s a langar, comprising dal and roti, on offer too but you must wash your utensils after use.
Keeping everything running are sevadars who start their day at 3 am with prayers before commencing with their services for the dera. There are always people here, but most so during the live satsangs.
“When Pitaji used to come, there used to be no place to stand,” said a follower who comes here every day. “But even now, the hall gets nearly full during a satsang.”
Discourses on Indian sanskriti, science
The fact that a rape and murder convict is holding satsangs has led to some criticism, but Ram Rahim has claimed “lakhs of people” have been attending his online events from across the country and even other parts of the world.
“Om Hari Allah Waheguru Ram Param Pita Parmatma ki charcha mein aane ke liye swagat hai (Welcome to the discussion about god)”, he often greets the audience before launching into the topics of the day — which have ranged from air pollution and water scarcity to moral values and social problems.
At a satsang last Saturday, he declared that scientists have told him that there would be a war “because of water”. In the same discourse, he also shared his views on the coronavirus.
“The virus could be a man’s fault but it can also be an indirect attack (on humanity). Who knows, there could be even more dangerous viruses made up (by humans),” he said.
In one discourse, he spoke of how the Hindu mythological character Ravana was a “scientist” who used solar and lunar energy to cook food. During this address, he also bemoaned the “westernisation of Indian culture”, while giving his “guarantee” that nothing could equal Indian sanskriti (values).
“Outside India, people have 8-10 marriages. Kids don’t know their mothers and fathers. When I asked kids in some foreign places, they said, I don’t know which one is my mother. At least we are saved from this,” he said.
Digital prasad, blessings, music performances
On some days, Ram Rahim delivers one-way discourses for his followers but on others he interacts with them through Zoom, whether it is giving them digital prasad or bestowing blessings on newlyweds and babies.
In these videos, a split screen sometimes shows devotees at their own locations, often in large groups, making a party out of the proceedings with dancing, singing, and poetry recitals for their preacher.
At his satsang Sunday, Ram Rahim interacted with people logging in from Himachal Pradesh, West Bengal, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, and Haryana. Fifteen of the attendees even claimed to be from Balochistan in Pakistan, where the sect’s founder, Shah Mastana Ji Maharaj, was born.
In another flashy event on 31 October to celebrate the ‘incarnation month’ of the Dera’s founder, Ram Rahim belted out power-charged bhajans for his followers with all the elan of a concert musician. The event included him cutting a five-tier cake.
Devotees, too, get to ‘enjoy’ sweets sometimes. Digital prasad entails devotees showing Ram Rahim images of various sweets on the screen — laddoos from Rajasthan, rasagullas from Bengal, Mysore pak from Karnataka. “Sab prasad ban gaya (it has all turned to prasad),” he tells them.
At another online meet, Ram Rahim advised parents of newborns to open a dera booklet called Guess What’s My Name. “Take any name from the two pages. It is given by us,” he said.
His followers are soaking it all in while they can. Ram Rahim is expected to return to prison on 23 November, unless a court petition to revoke his parole bears fruit.
(Edited by Asavari Singh)
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