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print version[a collection reports from November 2014 that appeared in the Indian media following the violent confrontation between the private milita of a Haryana godman and the Police personnel.]
The ‘missing’ scientific temper
by Pheroze L. Vincent
‘Politicians encourage godmen as they will lose influential vote banks if they act against them’
An absence of scientific temper in government has facilitated the mushrooming of opportunistic preachers who have attained cult-like status among the lower castes and the poor, say India’s leading rationalists.
The fanatical resistance put up by the “commandos†of self-styled godman Rampal in Hisar is a symptom of the malaise encouraged by politicians for electoral gains, they explained.
“He [Rampal] has used pseudo intellectualism to impress the lower castes looking for dignity and importance. There are others like the Gurmeet Ram Rahim of Dera Sacha Sauda and the Radha Soami Satsang in Punjab and Haryana who have found success by these methods,†said Mangalore-based Narendra Nayak, the president of the Federation of Indian Rationalist Associations.
Using poet Kabir’s legacy that appeals to both Hindus and Muslims, Rampal was able to gather a number of followers, Jaipur-based B.L. Yadav, the president of The Rationalist Society, said.
“Kabirpanthis, who are spread all over north and central India, have been i
