False gods exact a high price from their devotees

When a mere man is worshipped as God, the results are never good; as reported by Elena Salvoni and Agence France-Presse in the London Daily Mail, July 2, 2024:

Around 100 worshippers have been crushed to death at a Hindu religious gathering in northern India, government medics have said.

The death toll has risen to 107, with scores of others injured, according to a senior government official. There are fears the number of dead could increase further.

A large crowd had gathered near the city of Hathras, Uttar Pradesh state, for a sermon by a popular preacher but a fierce dust storm sparked panic as people were leaving.

Many were crushed or trampled, falling on top of each other, with some collapsing into a roadside drain in the chaos.

'The attendees were exiting the venue when a dust storm blinded their vision, leading to a melee and the subsequent tragic incident,' said Chaitra V., divisional commissioner of Aligarh city.

Unverified videos show people crammed together as panicked shrieks and sirens ring out. Separate footage shows bodies piled up on the ground outside a local hospital in the aftermath.

Indian president Droupadi Murmu said in a statement on X: 'The news of the death of many devotees including women and children in the accident in Hathras district of Uttar Pradesh is heart-rending.

'I express my deepest condolences to those who lost their family members and pray for the speedy recovery of those injured.'

State Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said his thoughts were with the bereaved families and he ordered an urgent investigation into the incident.

'Instructions have been given to the concerned officials to conduct relief and rescue operations on war footing and to provide proper treatment to the injured,' he wrote on X.

Indian prime minister Narendra Modi said he has spoken to Adityanath regarding the tragic incident.

He said the Uttar Pradesh government 'is engaged in providing all possible help to all the victims.'

'My condolences are with those who have lost their loved ones in this,' he added, 'Along with this, I wish for the speedy recovery of all the injured.'

Crowds had been massing to celebrate the Hindu deity Shiva in the town of Sikandrarao, some 120 miles (200km) southeast of New Delhi.

Hathras District Magistrate Ashish Kumar said that it was 'a private event and permission had been given by the sub-divisional magistrate.

'Security arrangements were made by the administration but the other arrangements were supposed to be made by the organisers.'

Deadly accidents are common at places of worship in India during major religious festivals.

At least 112 people were killed in 2016 after a huge explosion caused by a banned fireworks display at a temple marking the Hindu new year.

The blast ripped through concrete buildings and ignited a fire at a temple complex in Kerala state, where thousands had gathered.

Another 115 devotees died in 2013 after a stampede at a bridge near a temple in Madhya Pradesh.

Up to 400,000 people were gathered in the area, and the stampede occurred after a rumour spread that the bridge was about to collapse.

About 224 pilgrims died and more than 400 others were injured in a 2008 stampede at a hilltop temple in the northern city of Jodhpur.

Perceptive readers will notice that the devotees were gathering to worship Shiva. Shiva is a major deity in Hinduism, and is known as the Destroyer in the Hindu trinity that includes Brahma and Vishnu. The destruction resulting from this incident was reported by Cherylann Mollan of BBC News and Dilnawaz Pasha of BBC Hindi, July 3, 2024 (bold, links in original):

The number of people killed in a crush at a religious gathering in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh has risen to 121, making it one of the deadliest such disasters in more than a decade.

The incident took place during a satsang (a Hindu religious festival) in Hathras district on Tuesday.

Police said the number of people present at the venue was three times the permitted limit and most of those who died or were injured were women.

A case has been registered against the event's organisers.

The tragedy has sparked outrage in India, and has led to questions about lapses in safety measures.

What happened?

The crush took place in Pulrai village, where a self-styled godman called Bhole Baba was holding a religious gathering.

Officials said the event was massively overcrowded.

Authorities had given permission for 80,000 people to gather but around 250,000 people attended the event, according to the first information report (FIR) lodged by the police.

Chaos broke out at the end of the event as the preacher was about to leave in his car.

The police report said thousands of devotees ran towards his vehicle and began collecting dust from the path in an act of devotion.

As crowds swelled, several of those sitting and squatting on the ground got crushed.

The document added that some people tried running to a patch of mud-filled fields across the road, but were forcibly stopped by the organisers and were crushed.

Police have registered a case against a man who they say was the event's main organiser and a few others on several charges, including culpable homicide.

On Tuesday, distressing images from the site were circulated online.

Some videos showed the injured being taken to hospitals in pick-up trucks, tuk tuks and even motorbikes.

Other clips showed distraught family members screaming outside a local hospital as they tried to find their loved ones among rows of bodies left at the entrance.

Bunty, who uses only one name and comes from the state's Aligarh district, said he was devastated at the loss of his mother.

He saw her body lying outside a hospital on a news channel on Tuesday evening.

"But when I went there, I could not find my mother and have since been trying to locate her body," he told BBC Hindi.

Others expressed anger over the incident.

Ritesh Kumar, whose 28-year-old wife was among those killed, said his life had been upended.

“My family has been destroyed. The government should see to it that we get justice,” he said.

Who is Bhole Baba?

The self-styled godman's original name is Suraj Pal but he reportedly re-christened himself Narayan Sakar Vishwa Hari. His devotees call him Bhole Baba.

He hails from Bahadurpur village in Kasganj district, which is about 65km (40 miles) from Hathras.

Sanjay Kumar, a senior police officer in the state, told BBC Hindi that he was a constable in the police but was suspended from service after a criminal case was lodged against him.

He was reinstated in the force after a court cleared him but left his job in 2002, Mr Kumar added.

Details about his life are sketchy, but Mr Kumar says that after leaving the force, he began to call himself Bhole Baba.

He does not have much social media presence, but has hundreds of thousands of followers in Hathras and neighbouring districts.

Huge crowds attend his sermons where he is mostly seen in white clothes.

Since the tragedy, the preacher is believed to be hiding in his ashram in Mainpuri, about 100km (62 miles) from Pulrai village.

Shalabh Mathur, a senior official in Aligarh police, said a search was underway to find him and question him.

Police say he runs an organisation called the Ram Kutir Charitable Trust, which was also the main organiser of Tuesday's event.

Satsangs are events where people gather to pray, sing devotional songs or listen to a preacher and they are often attended by a large number of women.

Gomti Devi, who was present at the event, said she had a lot of faith in the Bhole Baba.

She said she wears a locket with his photo because he "cures diseases, ends domestic troubles, and provides employment".

Gomti Devi holds up a locket with the religious leader's image

As reported by Reuters, July 3, 2024 (bold, links in original):

A massive gathering addressed by an Indian policeman-turned-preacher, considered an incarnation of God by his followers, turned horribly wrong on Tuesday, as at least 121 people, mostly women and children, died in a stampede.

"Bhole Baba", or the Innocent Elder, is the sobriquet of a self-styled godman who was a police constable before he turned to spirituality and became a preacher. Originally Suraj Pal Singh, he later changed his name to Narayan Sakar Hari. He is currently untraceable, and police in India's northern state of Uttar Pradesh, where Tuesday's tragedy occurred, said they were still trying to trace him.

Here are some known facts about the preacher:

ORIGINS

Bhole Baba was a police constable in Uttar Pradesh for nearly a decade before he resigned and turned to spirituality, Sudhir Kumar, a senior police official said. The preacher is a native of Kasganj village, close to the Hathras area where the stampede took place.

He used to travel across the states of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, in India's northern belt, where he has a huge following, and address gatherings, mostly on the first Tuesday of every month, local media said.

A member of India's low-caste Dalit community, Bhole Baba's aim was to create an ideal society, free of superstition and full of compassion, according to a hoarding erected at the site of Tuesday's incident.

ONLINE PERSONA

Posters and videos posted on Bhole Baba's YouTube channel, which boasts of millions of views, show him dressed in either traditional Indian kurta tunics or pristine white suits and ties, often sporting sunglasses, a departure from the spartan image of most godmen.

Holding a microphone in hand, seated on an ornate throne and with his wife by his side, Bhole Baba is seen addressing huge gatherings of mostly women, almost all of whom are sitting on the ground, hands folded in reverence. "Humanity was the true religion, is the true religion and will always be the true religion," he is quoted as saying in a poster.

To protect himself from devotees who would rush to touch his feet and seek his blessings, Bhole Baba had formed a security team known as Narayani Sena, with men and women guards who would escort him to gatherings, an NDTV report said.



Who is Bhole Baba aka Narayan Saakar Hari?

Suraj Pal Singh, known to his followers as Bhole Baba, was born in Bahadur Nagari village in Uttar Pradesh's Etah district to a farmer. He joined UP police and was a head constable working with the Intelligence Unit for over 18 years. However, his followers say he has also claimed that he worked for the Intelligence Bureau.

In 1999, he took voluntary retirement from the service, changed his name to Narayan Saakar Hari and began holding satsangs. He told his devotees he felt an inclination towards spirituality and world peace and he resigned to begin his spiritual journey.

From Suraj Pal to Narayan Saakar Hari

According to a report, he claimed to live in a hut in his village and travelled across Uttar Pradesh to preach. Narayan Hari also enjoys a large following in neighbouring states of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.

Unlike most self-styled godmen, Narayan Hari is seen wearing a white suit and tie or a simple kurta pyjama accompanied by his wife Prem Bati. He also claims he does not keep any money offered to him by followers at his satsangs and distributes it among his followers.

Covid Satsang Had 50,000 Attendees

Even though the self-styled godman is known to keep his distance from the media, he has been embroiled in several controversies. In 2022, he held a similar satsang in UP's Farrukhabad even as cases of Covid were on the rise. While the district administration only permitted 50 people to attend the event over 50,000 people reached the site to attend the programme. The large crowd led to the significant traffic snarls in the area.

Seeing the large crowds that turn up for his satsangs, the godman has a security team named "Narayani Sena" that consists of men and women guards who escort him from his ashram to the satsang locations.

As reported by Reuters, July 5, 2024 (links in original):

The chief organiser of an Indian preacher's event where a stampede killed 121 people this week surrendered to police on Friday, a lawyer for the preacher said, after police had launched a manhunt.

Devprakash Madhukar was named a key suspect in an initial report registered by police under charges including attempted culpable homicide. Police had announced a reward of 100,000 rupees ($1,200) for information leading to his arrest.

A.P. Singh, lawyer for self-styled godman Bhole Baba, said Madhukar was the main organiser of the Hindu religious event on Tuesday attended by about 250,000 people in a village in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh. District authorities had permitted an event of only 80,000 people.

"He has surrendered from Delhi. We are not seeking an anticipatory bail," Singh told reporters. He denied any wrongdoing by the event's organisers and said Devprakash was getting medical treatment in a hospital after the stampede.

The preacher said on Saturday he was saddened by the incident and his aides would help the injured and families of the deceased.

"I have faith that anyone who created the chaos will not be spared," he told Indian news agency ANI, in which Reuters has a minority stake.

($1 = 83.47 Indian rupees)