A LITANY OF LAPSES

A CRUSH OF RELIGIOUS FERVOUR AROUND A GODMAN AND A POORLY ORGANISED JAMBOREE END UP CLAIMING 123 INNOCENT LIVES

- Prashant Srivastava

IT HAD BEEN 24 HOURS SINCE THE STAMPEDE AT A BHOLE BABA' satsang in Hathras. Subhash Lal, 42, a security guard from Morena in Madhya Pradesh, had spent hours at the district hospital looking for his mother, who had attended the religious gathering. He finally found her, among the several lifeless bodies at the hospital.

WHO IS BHOLE BABA?

Born Suraj Pal Singh in a Dalit family of Bahadur Garh village in Etah district, he claims to have been a policeman who worked at the local intelligence unit when a 'divine encounter' led him to quit his job and embark on the path to spirituality. Moving into a mud hut in his native village, and grandly christening himself Narayan Sakar Hari, he began amassing a huge following with his simple discourses on spirituality. Bhole Baba is the name his followers have given to the 58-year-old godman. Unlike bhagwa-dhari (saffronclad) babas, he is attired in a white suit, often with a tie, or in a simple kurta-pyjama. He is often accompanied by his wife Premvati, who is addressed as Matashree.

Devotees are given some kind of holy water at his gatherings. "Whenever I have faced a problem, it gets resolved if I drink the water given by Bhole Baba," says Rekha Devi, 33. Raju Kumar, 35, a devotee from Mainpuri district, also likes it that the baba does not solicit "chadhava" or donations.