December 7, 2014

THE CHILLING TALE OF YET ANOTHER 'FREEZER BABA'

[The two cases have more than one similarity and even have shades of the Rampal case blow-up where the Haryana police had to fight street battles with devotees to get the preacher to follow the law. Just like the SAD-BJP government in Punjab today, Jyoti Basu's communist government in West Bengal was reluctant to use force to get the body out as followers of the Sanatan Dal were spread across the state and constituted a powerful vote bank.]



Cast in time: West Bengal's Balak Brahmchari.
JALANDHAR: The strange case of Freezer Baba Ashutosh Maharaj, where his followers refused to accept that he was dead and kept his body in a freezer for nearly a year, may seem otherworldly and incapable of having a precedent, but the truth is that this is not the only case of its kind in the country. 



In 1993, followers of Balak Brahmchari in West Bengal made similar claims of "Nirvikalp Samadhi" and kept his body in ice for 55 days till it was taken out by an IPS officer of Punjab origin. In fact, if there was a Guinness record for samadhis, Ashutosh would have won it hands down given that he has been iced in by his followers in his Divya Jyoti Jagrati Sansthan near Jalandhar in Punjab since January 29 this year.

The two cases have more than one similarity and even have shades of the Rampal case blow-up where the Haryana police had to fight street battles with devotees to get the preacher to follow the law. Just like the SAD-BJP government in Punjab today, Jyoti Basu's communist government in West Bengal was reluctant to use force to get the body out as followers of the Sanatan Dal were spread across the state and constituted a powerful vote bank.

Punjab has a stiffer situation as the ruling alliance would not like to upset Ashutosh's followers just before civic elections that are expected across the state soon. Brahmchari's death was also confirmed by doctors as has happened in Ashutosh's case. When police recovered Brahmchari's body, it was badly decomposed and had maggots. In the Punjab guru's case, the Punjab and Haryana High Court had ordered a high-powered committee on December 1 to cremate his body in 15 days. Ironically, it was a police officer with roots in Jalandhar who had ended the drama in Brahmchari's case. IPS officer Rachhpal Singh, who was then SP of 24 Paragnas, was seriously injured as the followers attacked him with tridents. He remained in hospital for three months after the operation. Singh is now a minister in the Mamata Banerjee government. 


(Ashutosh Maharaj)

"Doctors of a medical college had certified Brahmchari's death but his followers brought the body to the Santan Dal headquarter and kept it in a room where half a dozen air conditioners were fitted and the room was filled with ice," Singh said over the phone from Kolkata. "They had claimed that Brahmchari was in Nirvikalp Samadhi and would come to life soon. In the meantime, I started getting intelligence inputs that they were preparing his younger brother with a similar appearance by growing a beard, hair and when he would be ready as an almost lookalike, they would declare that Brahmchari had come back."



His followers also started giving 'Charnamrit' from the water flowing from melting ice to the followers. "We were sure that it would lead to serious health problems," Singh, who retired as ADGP in 2004 and later joined Mamata's TMC, added.

Finally, after facing criticism from several quarters, the government sent a team of doctors and confirmed that the guru was actually dead. On the night of June 29, 1993, the government decided to remove the body and Singh was to lead the operation.

"The gate was closed with thousands of angry followers inside. They had also made preparations for mass suicide to defame the police. We cut the gate and when I entered, they attacked me with tridents. Except for around 10 policemen, the rest fled. I started marching ahead and we finally managed to overpower them with the threat of firing at them. But we did not fire a single bullet as there were clear instructions not to."

Around 200 policemen finally entered the headquarters. "Meanwhile, a paramedic stitched my profusely bleeding wounds without anaesthesia as the operation could not have been left midway. They had thrown chili powder at us. We even had to seal a petrol pump inside the headquarters as they planned to use the fuel for self immolations."

It took the cops five hours to reach the room where Brahmchari's body was kept. The officials came out with the remains collected, but the police brass of neighbouring districts did not want his funeral in their district. Finally, a minister asked the cops to come to his village and bury the preacher.


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