by Subhash Gatade
Kiritbhai, a famous religious preacher, recently found himself embroiled in a controversy of his own making.
Forget the long speeches laced with religious songs with devotees finding themselves exhilarated, this time it was the turn of Kiritbhai himself to listen to music albeit of a different kind.
It was surprising to see him rushing to the Bombay police complaining about the fraud committed on him by a couple calling themselves Jhunjhunwalas. In his complaint to the police the religious preacher is reported to have told the police that this fraudster couple won his confidence and then took a loan from him and just vanished.
The senior police officers rather found themselves out of their wits when they discovered that Kiritbhai, who preached a life of simplicity and a turn away from the 'material world' had loaned 35 million Rs. to the fraudster couple. Definitely this was no small amount and it seems they duly alerted the Income Tax people to know for themselves the source of this income
As things stand today while the Bombay police is trying to locate the fraudster couple, the income tax people have also become active. For the Income Tax sleuths the query is simple : how a religious preacher who has no recognisable source of income and who preaches virtues of Spartan life could amass wealth to the tune of crores which could be loaned at interest. ? And if one were to believe a section of the media Kiritbhai seems to have become incommunicado. When 'Newstoday' a hindi eveninger from Indore ( March 30 2008) tried to contact Kiritbhai to know his version of the chain of events, he refused to talk over this issue and claimed that he was 'right now in Bengal'.
It is for everyone to see that if Kiritbhai had not rushed to the police and maintained silence about this 'fraud committed on him', nobody could have ever known the role monies play in the spiritual world of jetriding sadhus and globetrotting Bapus.
Of course, looking at the manner in which cases against the high and the mighty are hushed up it is not difficult to predict what would happen next in this particular case. One fine morning one can hear that Kiritbhai himself has 'decided' (or one should say 'advised') to withdraw the case to save himself from further embarrassment claiming that it was a pure case of miscommunication.
Our recent past is witness to a similar case of coverup when CNN-IBN and Cobrapost had aired an expose which showed godmen laundering money, in the name of God, all for a commission (CNN-IBN Posted Monday , May 07, 2007 at 08:11). The government had then even promised 'swift and strict' action in this case which had shocked the entire country. Ramvilas Vedanti, Chairman of the Ramjamabhoomi trust in Ayodhya, who is famous for making inflammatory speeches against Muslims and the secular fraternity, had appeared as a pastmaster of money laundering and tax evasion in the sting operation. He even shares a secret with the interviewer that he has formed a separate trust to facilitate his work of converting black money to white money for a commission.
Looking at the fact that it was time of UP elections and few of the godmen -who were caught on the camera - had never tried to hide their proximity to the Hindutva brigade, the expose had then assumed political overtones. To offset the damage to its image vis-a-vis the expose, the BJP had questioned the authenticity of the sting operation while the VHP had as usual tried to raise the pitch over the fact that why hindus were being victimised.
Titled 'Godmen turn Conmen, Taxman red' a writeup on the group website had provided details of the sting operation. (CNN-IBN Posted Sunday , May 06, 2007 at 20:30 Updated Monday , May 07, 2007 at 02)
New Delhi: Spiritual gurus, babas, Godmen – they are known by many names and are often the repository of a collective religious faith in India.
But the faith has been maligned and many who claim to be Godmen, promising to rid lives of evil are nothing short of evil themselves.
After a CNN-IBN-Cobra Post investigation revealed the ugly side of some the most popular Godmen, sharp reactions have been pouring in.
The investigation caught these gurus - Pilot Baba, a former Indian Air Force officer, Vedanti Maharaj, former BJP MP and Guruvayur Surya Namboodiri, who claims to be an astrologer - on camera and showed how they used their positions to launder money by bargaining like an experienced conmen.
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad – to which Vedanti owes his affiliation - seemed eager to distance itself from the baba. VHP Vice President Giriraj Kishore said Vedanti was not a part of the VHP and also blamed the media.
"People like Vedanti are not worthy of being a part of VHP. Also, I think a section of the media is out to malign us. Otherwise what was the need of Shankaracharya being arrested? All this is being done to bring bad name to Hindus. This has nothing to do with religion. Vedanti is not part of any organisation," Kishore said.
As far as bringing these Godmen under law, it was clear that criminal proceedings could have been initiated against them. In a tete with the CNN-IBN correspondent Shiv Pujan Jha spoke with the former income tax commissioner Vishwabandhu Gupta. Mr Gupta had strongly emphasised on bringing these Godmen under the law. According to him it was a "..[f]it case for criminal proceedings. Two of the biggest religion mafias are the Ram Janmanbhoomi Nyas and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad amongst the Hindus. They have 10 bogus trusts floated from the same address. The names are there (in our record) and so are the addresses. They are getting money from 50 countries abroad and are also getting tax exemptions. There are no accounts as well. You see, this is a big menace. We have calculated and found that religious leaders annually earn $3 bn which is about Rs 10,000 crore -Rs 15,000 crore worth of money. What they do is they get land at throwaway prices. During the last government, 11 including that Sadhvi Ritambhara – whatever her qualifications are – got a fantastic (sic) piece of land at a throwaway price for the services that she heads today. There have fraudulent names, addresses, existences and expenditures. They use it for spreading communal hatred. Money has been used by Bajrang Dal cadres in Gujarat to purchase Motorola, we have got receipts for that." ( See : CNN-IBN Posted Sunday , May 06, 2007 at 20:30 Updated Monday , May 07, 2007 at 02)
Looking at the dilly-dallying by the state over this expose Brinda Karat, leader of CPI(M) had demanded action against the seven godmen who had 'admitted involvement in halwa operations on a television programme' (The Hindu, 26 May 2007). In a letter sent to home minister Shivraj Patil she had categorically said : "These gentlemen run Trusts and charitable foundations which are used as cover for their nefarious and illegal activities. They have cynically misused and made a mockery of the faith of those who have become their devotees. They have made crores through a racket of helping tax evaders. But equally important, the routes they have provided for conversion of black money into white caneasily be used [by] terrorist organisations and anti-national elements to fund their activities,".
History bears witness to the fact that no action was taken against the erring 'Godmen' despite strong prima facie evidence against them.
Perhaps friends of Kiritbhai may ask the government to emulate the approach adopted last year.