Hello everyone.....
These last few weeks, a new Baba has entered the market. Bageshwar Baba. You’d wonder what’s special in this Baba. It’s being claimed that this Baba miraculously understands the problems of his believers, And gives them equally miraculous solutions. But that’s not all, With an added angle of Hindu-Muslim, The media will automatically get you popularity. Satirist Rofl Gandhi had an interesting take on it. The fraud employed by Bageshwar Baba Is the same that’s used by Christian and Muslim conmen.
- why is everyone censoring Bageshwar Baba?
- Can’t Hindus get conned peacefully without others objecting to it?
- Isn’t that right?
Some people aim to be IITians, and scientists, IAS officers. But if someone wants to be a fool,
- Why shouldn’t they be allowed to?
Everyone has the right to be fooled. And people of all religions are aware of this right. People might be divided on religion, But people from all religions are united for superstitions. You can find such conmen from all religions. And some people follow them very loyally. Come, in today’s article, let us understand this Bageshwar Baba. And let’s also understand the general phenomena of these conmen.
Starting with the Bageshwar Baba, The person donning the persona is Dhirendra Shastri. He is from a village in Madhya Pradesh. There he runs an ashram called Bageshwar Dham. According to a report from Dainik Jagran, His real name is Dhirendra Krishna Garg. He is only 26 years old. Just imagine that. A 26-year-old man is now a Baba. Perhaps, some years down the line, We’ll see teenagers dropping out of school to become Babas. Anyway, let’s talk about Dhirendra. He was in the news for the first time Because of his communal insightful speeches. In April last year, he was preaching in Madhya Pradesh’s Sagar, Where he called out to all Hindus to unite, And have bulldozers run over the homes of ‘stone-pelters’. after that, he went on to ask everyone to take up arms, But if everyone takes up arms,
- what is the police for?
- Should the police vacate their offices and become Babas?
- What about the lawyers, judges, and law and order?
It was quite obviously a communal speech aimed at disrupting public peace. But we’re familiar with the law and order in our nation now, No arrests were made. A few days later, Dhirendra called himself a Dhaba. And admitted that he will continue making such hateful speeches. As if it wasn’t enough to insult law and order, Dhirendra was back in news for allegedly practising untouchability.
Dhirendra was in Nagpur for a Ram Katha. Here, he did what he normally does. Reading people’s minds and giving them miraculous solutions for their problems. Here Shyam Manav enters our story. Shaym Manav is the National Convenor of the Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti. An organisation founded in the 1980s by Narendra Dabholkar. As you can understand from the name of this organisation, The organisation was founded to fight against superstitions. But in August 2013, unfortunately, Narendra Dabholkar was murdered, shot to death. When he was on a morning walk in Pune. Obviously, some fanatics were responsible for this. But thankfully, four months later, in December 2013, A law was passed in Maharashtra against human sacrifices, superstitions, and black magic. This was a huge win for this organisation. They had been campaigning for years to have a law against superstitions and black magic. After Narendra Dabholkar's death, Shaym Manav continued this work. He has been with the organisation since its inception. He calls himself a Sanatani Hindu. In the same way Gandhi and Swami Vivekananda called themselves Sanatani Hindus. He says he isn’t against anyone’s God or religion. He simply opposed the fraud taking place in the name of religion. That he works in accordance with the Constitution of India. A report from Dainik Bhaskar claims that Shyam Manav has busted more than 200 such fraud Babas.
His first major case was the legendary Shakuntala Devi. Known as the Human Computer. Shyam Manav claims that he wasn’t against her mathematics programs, But eventually, she started getting into astrology and future predictions. Then he had to take action for busting her ploys. Police registered the complaint and an FIR was made. She had to flee from the event she was supposed to attend in Nagpur. This case was so widely known, that Shakuntala stopped practising astrology and future predictions after this.
Another major case was related to foreign missionaries. He recalls how 5 missionaries were visiting Nagpur, To conduct a session where blind people got back their eyesight. Deaf people started hearing, They claimed to make such miracles happen. Back then, he used the 1986 Drugs and Remedies Act to fight these scams. He lodged a complaint against these 5 missionaries under that law. And it was the first time when 4 foreign missionaries were arrested in India.
Coming back to the story at hand.
Dhirendra Shastri was in Nagpur. Shyam Manav found out that he was there for Ram Katha. He didn’t mind that, and in fact, welcomed it. But then, he found out that the ‘Baba’ was holding his court over there. Where he will apparently be performing miracles. This was to be held in Nagpur on the 7th and 8th of January.He informed the police about this with proof And asked them to take action against it. But the police took no action. Later, Nagpur police gave a clean chit to the Baba Claiming that after examining all evidence They found nothing that went against the Black Magic Act. Apart from informing the police, Shyam Manav challenged Dhirendra as well.
- Two challenges.
First, to identify 10 people in a room, Dhirendra had to guess their names, father’s names, ages, and phone numbers.
Second challenge was to predict 10 items kept in the room next door. Shyam Manav claims that if the Baba could answer with even 90% accuracy, He will give him a reward of ₹3 million. If the Baba won, Shyam Manav agrees to bow down to his feet. Apologise to him and disband his organisation.
- What happened next?
- Did Bageshwar Baba accept this challenge?
On the poster of the event, it was mentioned that it would last till 13th January. But Dhirendra left Nagpur on 11th January. Shyam Manav called him a deserter. Since he couldn’t accept the challenge, He fled from there. Some Hindutva organisations took affront at this. And they started burning Shyam Manav’s effigies. After this, death threats were made to Shyam Manav. That they will ensure that he meets the same fate as Narendra Dabholkar. Another Narendra Dabholkar. Fortunately, he has been provided security cover since then. In Dhirendra Shastri’s defence, his cousin Lokesh Garg came forward to claim that they received death threats too. That Dhirendra’s family was asked to prepare for his funeral. And Bageshwar Dham was given security as well.
- what happened to the challenge?
In his response, Dhirendra claimed that he did not flee. The Ram Katha was scheduled till 11th January. And that if Shyam Manav was keen on giving him a challenge, He can do so in Raipur. In its response, Shyam Manav released a video on YouTube. He says that, "To ensure that no information reaches them under the fraud and proof conditions, we cannot create such an environment. This is why this challenge can take place effectively in Nagpur. There are two reasons for this, The police and the law and order situation in Maharashtra being one."
Secondly, he claimed that Maharashtra’s Home Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Had visited Baba’s program, So Baba and the Home Minister already have cordial relations. So if the challenge plays out in Nagpur, There cannot be any shenanigans from either side.
- What do you think, friends?
I believe that Dhirendra Baba should accept the challenge. A person like Bageshwar Baba shouldn’t be worried about minor details.
- Nagpur or Raipur, what difference does it make?
Thousands of followers of Bageshwar Baba live in the imagination that Shyam Manav would have to eventually bow down to the Baba.
Meanwhile, friends, Shankaracharya Swami Avimukteshwaranand gave an interesting statement. He asked the ones claiming to perform miracles To go to Joshimath and stop the land from sinking. He said that if someone could indeed perform miracles, He needs to prevent forced religious conversions, Suicides, disputes, and domestic violence. Any miracle that would benefit society and our nation. Only then can we call someone a miraculous person. I have some suggestions for Dhirendra. I think he should join RAW. He would be helpful in discovering secret information about other countries. He can help police to catch thieves and criminals. In fact, he has claimed to cure cancer with his medicines and blessings. I don’t know what is he waiting for.
- Why is our government not doing anything?
- Why are hospitals wasting precious time?
They should take lessons from this Baba to learn how to cure cancer and treat everyone. There are so many patients in India. But friends, none of this will happen. Because all of it is a fraud. James Randi, one of the most famous magicians in the world. Dhirendra’s petty tricks are nothing compared to James Randi. But James used his tricks to entertain people. And Dhirendra uses his tricks to con people. And to form a cult. James Randi founded the James Randi Foundation, To promote scientific temperament. In it, he came up with a $1 million paranormal challenge. It was a simple challenge. If any person in the world could show him proof Of the existence of supernatural and paranormal entities, like ghosts and such, He would win $1 million. But no one has won this challenge yet.
Surprisingly, despite all this, People all over the world are attracted towards We see Babas producing gold chains from thin air. Someone turns water into petrol. To an extent, superstition can be accepted as harmless, and rather, a self-harming thing, But many of these Babas have been found to be involved in heinous crimes. In 2017, the topmost body of Hindu Sadhus, Akhil Bhartiya Akhada Parishad, Issued a list of 14 fake Babas. The President of this Parishad warned people to beware of such conmen. Because these conmen are a blight on sadhus. There were several popular names on the list. Aasharam, Radhe Ma, Nirmal Baba, Gurmeet Singh, Narayan Sai. There are several other Babas who have been found to be involved in crimes. Nityanand, Mirchi Baba, Jalebi Baba, Premanand, Chandraswami, Amit Chaitanya. As I said at the beginning of this article, This problem isn’t limited to only one religion. You can find Muslim fake Babas as well. Akmal Raza told a woman that if she wanted to cure her husband's medical condition, She needs to hand over her daughter to him. Deen Mohammad, a black magic practitioner. He was caught doing similar things. Similarly, you will find some Christian Babas as well. In a tragic case from Kerala, a woman was blackmailed using her secret confession. Normally, when you go to church, you can confess your sins in confidence to the priest. But her confessions were used to blackmail her. And then they took advantage of this woman. And then there are some Christian babas who claim to be able to perform miraculous cures. Bajinder Singh has more than 2 million subscribers on YouTube. Similar to Bageshwar Baba, he too can guess names, dispel evil spirits, And can even cure disabilities. A film was made on such Christian Babas. Trance Directed by Anwar Rasid. The film is a masterpiece. Do watch it if you haven’t. While talking about such conmen, Let’s not forget about those who speak English. Because some educated people believe That if a Baba is speaking in English, It makes them credible. Whatever they say, must be true. One such Baba tells people not to eat during an eclipse, Because food gets rotten. Another time he claimed that if you look at water angrily, Before drinking it, it will make you sick. In another video claimed that after death, Nails and hair continue growing for 11 days. And miraculously, such Babas are even invited to IITs for lectures. This shows you how much India lacks a scientific temperament.
- The question arises, why do people fall for these conmen?
Illiteracy can be said to be a reason. But this cannot be the only reason. Because we see several cases where educated people, employed in good jobs, Are getting conned by these fraud Babas.
The second reason can be the faults in our Indian education system. It does not focus on people’s critical thinking abilities. Children are forced to learn without question. This is why we see YouTube influencers who are IIT graduates, But claim that lighting wood on fire for worshipping can purify the air. Though they’ve studied the basic laws of combustion in chemistry at school, And written it in their answer sheets, Passed exams with good marks, They still do not try to understand it.
The third reason is faith. Faith means blindly believing something. No need to think or question or doubt. Simply believe in it. People believe because they want to believe. Often these conmen exploit the poor emotional state and problems in the lives of these individuals. People are frustrated in their lives. They see no solution. Normally, people go to a therapist or psychologist for mental problems in most of the developed countries, But this culture hasn’t gained traction in India yet. People have no one they can turn to with their problems. And so they go to these conmen.
Mentalists Karan Singh Magic and Suhani Shah do the same thing that these conmen do. Reading people’s minds. The difference is that they do it for entertainment.
It bears mentioning that the concept of Babas, Inherently there’s nothing wrong with it. It is a nice concept. People who study the scriptures, Have a spiritual understanding of life, And they act as a life coach. As a personal counsellor. This was commonplace in the olden days. But no fees were charged for this. It was a selfless service by real Babas. Hindu saints, Buddhist saints, Jain saints, and Muslim saints. History is full of such people. Adi Shankaracharya, Baba Farid, Kabir, Guru Nanak, Baba Bulle Shah, Swami Dayanand Saraswati, Swami Vivekanand, and Jiddu Krishnamurti. But the recent trend has jobless good-for-nothing people pretending to be Babas. These fraudsters have no life advice to give to people. They just know how to fool people and run their businesses. The concept of asking for alms, Has now turned into begging. This is why, friends, it is crucial to expose these conmen. It is important to protect people and society from their ill intentions. This will benefit religion and science both.
Thank you.....
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