The five-year jail term served by self-styled 'godman' Asaram has been a test for his followers too. While some have decided to abandon their faith in him in the aftermath of the rape charges levelled against him in August 2013, there are others who firmly believe he has done no wrong.
In light of the Jodhpur High Court delivering the verdict in the central jail in the city, The Quint spoke to locals to see if the 'godman' continues to draw unwavering support.
Type 1: The Unaffected Devotee
While the Jodhpur police has kept a strict vigil on incoming Asaram supporters from the bus-stand and railway station, there continues to be support from whose who live in Jodhpur. These are the followers who have stood by Asaram through five years of arrest.
Prem Purohit, 55, a car mechanic, tells The Quint conclusively:
Asaram has been falsely implicated. This is an attempt to tarnish the Hindu religion and its representatives, otherwise the Hindu religion would have moved further ahead. He has been framed.
Prem has been to the ashram in Jodhpur multiple times just to get a glimpse of Asaram whenever he visited.
When asked if he would go and wait outside the central jail to show support, he said, "If they let us get there, then only will we be able to get there. They will stop us before we reach. They know that there is a possibility of a repeat of the Ram Rahim case here. They are scared and that is why they aren't letting people go. A saint like Asaram doesn't come around often."
The Jodhpur police has turned the city into a fortress. "Five companies have been roped in, of which three are special task forces. Things are under control for now," Ashok Rathore, the Jodhpur commissioner of police, told The Quint.
In the same compound where Purohit works, we find 30-year-old Dasraj who is a vegetable seller. Dasraj believes that he is one of the most honest and upright followers of Asaram.
When Asaram was sent to jail, I went and visited his family for an entire month in Gujarat for emotional support.Dasraj
He is willing to bet on the possibility that Asaram will be released, "Asaram will definitely come out, there is no doubt about it. You come here after the verdict and I'll be sitting right here and then we will talk," he said.
Dasraj insists there is a conspiracy against Asaram.
The girl’s family actually wanted money so they asked Asaram. He declined and in anger, they cooked up the case against him.
When asked if he and others like him plan to go to central jail, he said, "I will go and there are many others who will go as well. In Jodhpur, there is a big following for Asaram. Out of 100, 90 percent follow him. He has done good, that is why there is a following." When asked about the rape charges against him, Dasraj casually says, "There is a case against everyone these days. When a man does something right there is a case put against them."
Type 2: The Followers Who Stopped Believing
However, not all were like Prem and Dasraj. The Quint met with people who identified themselves as his followers, but renounced their belief in him once they heard the rape charges.
Bhuvan Lal, a 48-year-old driver said:
I used to believe in him. Spent money and visited the Pal village ashram and the one in Surat, Gujarat. But after these allegations surfaced five years ago, I wasn’t able to bring myself to go there again.
Lal has two daughters who are both teenagers. "I’m not going to show up at the jail tomorrow, there’s no reason to," he told The Quint.
Another 50-year-old male tea-stall owner, who insisted he not be named, accused the 'godman' of betrayal. "Unhone humaare saath vishwaasghat kiya hain. (He has betrayed us. How do I trust him now? She was like his daughter and that is how he looked at her? It is unfathomable. He is no godman, he is a man who committed a crime and should be prosecuted," he said as everyone around silently nodded to his venting.
As the 50-year-old man poured tea for another 55-year-old, the latter joined the discussion as he waited for his bus to arrive. He too didn’t want to be named. When The Quint asked both of them why, they said they didn’t want to be at loggerheads with Asaram’s supporters considering the upcoming verdict.
Continuing to talk about Asaram, he said, "My belief in the man has gone and it can never come back. I want him to get the most strict punishment so that no other ‘godman' thinks they can behave like this with a female. What he has done is unspeakable," he says. Both men sat across and criticised the man until the bus came.
A few kilometres down the road from Asaram's ashram, we stop at a 42-year-old vegetable seller, Mohan. He says the day he heard about the rape charges against Asaram, his skepticism about godmen rang true. "He is a rapist. People who believe in him really need to stop and think about their daughters. He misused our trust in him," he said.
While there may be pockets of unwavering support, there are clear signs of anger and resentment over the rape charges. While the strength of support for the 'godman' will be clarified after the verdict is delivered on 25 April, the fact remains that many of those who once believed in him, discarded their faith to demand that he be punished.
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