New Delhi:

Just a pat on the back by preacher “Bhole Baba” and Ramkumari said a stone in her kidney vanished. The 85-year-old gave no proof but this story and countless others of similar “miracles” led to Baba’s following rocketing in India’s northern states.

A gathering addressed by the former police head constable in a crowded field last week drew a quarter of a million people and caused one of the deadliest stampedes in the country.

Bhole Baba was born Suraj Pal Singh Jatav. He quit the police in 2000 to join a series of Hindu preachers and gurus who are sought by millions for miracle cures and spiritual advice. They are often called godmen, and many have been wooed by politicians for the influence they wield.

Their patrons have included international celebrities like the Beatles, who spent days in the ashram of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in the late 1960s. Some of these gurus expanded beyond India, most famously Osho, who lived and preached in the United States in the early 1980s.

Almost all of them are credited by their followers with miraculous powers.

“I had gone to one of his early gatherings and told him I had chronic pain from a kidney stone for many months,” said Ramkumari, Baba’s former neighbour in Bahadurnagar village in India’s Uttar Pradesh state, where he was born and still has a home.

The village has only about 50 homes in all and is set amid fields which grow corn, wheat and rice. On the periphery is a sprawling, pearly-white ashram run by devotees of Baba.

“He smiled and blessed me with a pat on the back. The stone vanished soon after,” said Ramkumari, who gave just one name.

Another resident in the village, 55-year-old Surajmukhi, said Baba’s blessing helped her give birth to a son after seven daughters. Sons are sought after in many Indian families.

“We desperately wanted a boy,” said Surajmukhi. “Then I met Baba with my husband. He made me chant some mantras (verses), gave me some water to drink and patted me on my back. After nine months I had a baby boy.”

Lying on a cot next to her, Baba’s older sister Sonkali, thin and frail, said: “It was a miracle”.

Baba, formally known as Narayan Sakar Hari now, is estimated to be about 72 by his family and followers, who are spread across India’s heartland states of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh.

LINE TO GOD

Two neighbours who have known him since his childhood, including Ramkumari, said he took the path after a dream one night about 25 years ago that a divine spirit had given him supernatural powers. He quit the police in the city of Agra and started preaching, they said.

Baba would later claim he had a direct line to God and could channel divine blessings to people.

“Soon after we saw a line of cars bringing Suraj Pal into the village and people said he would henceforth be called a Baba (elder),” Ramkumari said.

Reuters could not contact Baba. He told Reuters partner ANI that he was grieving and his aides would help the injured and the families of those who died.

The stampede at his gathering on Tuesday killed 121 people, mostly women, and injured scores out of about 250,000 who had congregated in a canopied paddy field to listen to him, many trampling over one another as they ran after his car when he was leaving.

Police say authorities had allowed only 80,000 to attend, and have arrested six aides to Baba who were involved in organising the event. The main organiser surrendered to police on Friday.

Police said that in the initial days of his rise to fame, Baba had claimed that he could bring the dead back to life and even tried to take away the body of a 16-year-old girl from a crematorium promising a miracle to the family. Police intervened and the matter was closed soon after.

Posters and videos posted on YouTube show him dressed in traditional Indian kurta tunics or pristine white suits and ties, often sporting sunglasses, a departure from the spartan image of most godmen.

Still, his clout is smaller than other gurus and godmen in India, including Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and Sadhguru. Yoga guru Baba Ramdev, known to be close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, runs the Patanjali consumer goods brand that has boomed in recent years.

Two godmen, Asaram Bapu and Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, were both convicted of rape in separate cases and jailed, after years of drawing thousands of devotees to their sermons and ashrams.

GIVE PEOPLE HOPE

Sociologists say such gurus are often believed to possess healing powers, and are especially popular among those who are poor, sick or feel underprivileged.

“People are insecure – economically, socially and otherwise,” said Dipti Ranjan Sahu, head of sociology at the University of Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh.

“Unemployment, deprivation, discrimination, ignorance, illiteracy – these things play a part. So they see hope in the godmen, maybe some miracle will happen.”

Surinder Singh Jodhka, who teaches social sciences at New Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University and has researched on the subject, said “people are kind of looking for some meaning in their life” and that’s where godmen come in.

“People are feeling lost and they are looking for some sense through which they can identify with other people, they feel less lonely,” he said. “This gives them hope and they are willing to believe in it.”

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Hathras, UP:

Vinod, who lost his wife, mother and 16-year-old daughter in the Hathras stampede, expressed his grief over the incident, saying that he lost everything.

Speaking to ANI, Vinod said, “I did not even know that all three had gone to the Satsang because he had gone somewhere outside.

Someone told him that there was a stampede in the satsang after which I reached the spot and found out that my 16-year-old daughter, mother and wife had died. I could not even find my mother’s body.”

“I am left with nothing… everything is gone,” Vinod added.

Kamla, the mother of another 16-year-old victim of the Hathras tragedy, expressed grief over the death of her daughter Roshni. She said, “I have been coming to Baba’s satsang for 20 years. Today, I went to attend satsang with my 16-year-old daughter and a stampede broke out around 2 in the afternoon. I and my daughter were slightly injured. She was fine but as soon as she reached the hospital, she fell unconscious, later the doctors declared her dead.”

Kunwar Pal, uncle of the victim 3.5-year-old child, said, “The child had come here with his mother…His mother is still missing…We are a resident of Aligarh…”

Meanwhile, the husband of the victim Gudiya Devi, Mehtab said, “I tried to stop her from attending the Baba’s Satsang many times but she did not listen. She had come for the Satsang with our daughter & two neighbouring women. The two neighbouring women and my wife died in the incident…My daughter is safe…”

Heera Lal from Aligarh, a family member of a victim, said, “My entire family travelled in a bus to attend Satsang. All his family members are fine except his sister-in-law who got injured in the stampede.”
The stampede occurred at a religious event in Hathras on Tuesday, in which 116 people were killed and 18 people were injured, officials said.

Earlier, police conducted a search operation at Ram Kutir Charitable Trust in Mainpuri district in search of ‘Bhole Baba’, who conducted a Satsang in Hathras where a stampede took place on Tuesday.
“We did not find Baba ji inside the campus…He is not here…” said Deputy SP Sunil Kumar.

The Uttar Pradesh government has announced Rs 2 lakh compensation to the family members of those who died in the incident.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has also ordered a thorough investigation into the incident.

Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his condolences over the loss of lives in the stampede in Hathras and wished speedy recovery to the injured.PM Modi also spoke with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath following the tragic incident.

“The Uttar Pradesh government is engaged in providing all possible help to the victims. My condolences to those who have lost their loved ones. I wish for the speedy recovery of the injured,” PM Modi said in a post on X.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Lucknow:

After 116 people lost their lives in a stampede incident at a religious event in Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras on Tuesday, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath unequivocally said that whether this is an accident or a conspiracy, the government will get to the bottom of it and will give appropriate punishment to the people responsible.

Chief Minister Yogi told ANI that the police along with the state ministers are at the spot.

“PM Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah have expressed deep sorrow and condolences to the bereaved families. The Government of India and the state government have also announced a compensation of Rs 2 lakh to the family of the deceased and Rs 50,000 to the families of the seriously injured. The state government will get to the bottom of this entire incident, whether this is an accident or a conspiracy, we will get to the bottom of it,” he said.

“Doing politics instead of expressing condolences on such an incident is extremely unfortunate and condemnable. The government is already sensitive in this matter and the government will get to the bottom of this matter and give appropriate punishment to the conspirators and those responsible for this incident,” he emphasized further.

Further, the UP Chief Minister said that a team has been formed to investigate the matter.

“The incident is extremely sad and heart-wrenching. Local organizers had organized a program of ‘Bhole Baba’. After the program, when the preacher of the Satsang was coming down from the stage, suddenly a crowd of devotees started going towards him to touch him and when the ‘sevadars’ stopped them, this accident happened there. To investigate this entire matter, we have formed a team under the chairmanship of Additional DG Agra and have asked them to give a detailed report,” he said.

“Given the incident, the Chief Secretary and DGP of the state are camping there. Three ministers of the state government Chaudhary Laxmi Narayan, Sandeep Singh, Asim Arun, all three of them are at the spot,” Yogi Adityanath added.

Aligarh Commissioner Chaitra V informed that 116 people died in the incident.

“116 people have been confirmed dead. 18 people are injured. Treatment is being ensured for the injured in Aligarh district. Primary investigation is being carried out,” she said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)