Heap of faith

The Hathras tragedy points to a heady mix of faith, riches and power

- SANJIB KR BARUAH

Rock legend Bruce Springsteen would not have heard of Hathras when he quipped at a concert years ago: "Blind faith in your leaders, or in anything, will get you killed".

"The Boss' could have been talking about politicians. But an Indian god man, with a besotted following in the country's most populous state, and in the world's most populated country, is no less a magnet for "blind faith".

India has always been fertile ground for godmen. But with startling regularity, many of them have been making their way into head lines for, not spiritualism, but for crimes ranging from tax evasion to murder.

'Bhole Baba' Narayan Sakar Hari is just the newest guru on the block.

On July 2, in a newly cleared maize farmland in Uttar Pradesh's Phulrai Mughal Garhi in Hathras-next to the busy National Highway-121 lives (112 of them women) were snuffed out.

Their bodies, later taken out in trucks and tractors, had been crushed under a sea of humanity as a stampede broke out with followers rushing to scoop up the dust where 'Bhole Baba' had treaded minutes earlier. The dust was believed to be blessed with curative properties.

Dr Surya Prakash, chief medical superintendent at the Hathras civil hospital, about 30km from the stampede site, told THE WEEK: "Our hospital reported 34 dead. Most of them from asphyxia or suffocation." The FIR filed at the local Sikandrarao police station said that while about 80,000 people were expected to attend the satsang (religious congregation), 2.5 lakh turned up.

This led to a frenzy, sometime after 2pm, as screaming men, women and children tried to get out.