Bhaiyyuji Mahraj's suicide opens up the ugly face of Obscurantism in India

Godman Shot Himself Dead And Proved That He Was No Superman But An Ordinary Mortal

The suicide by fame Godman has brought to light that Indians including the political leadership are greatly influenced by such charlatans and cannot lead India away from obscurantism and blind belief

All suicides are sad more so when a man who is supposed to be in communion with god kills himself, it does raise eyebrows. Bhaiyyuji Maharaj was a self-styled godman aged about 50. The sad part is, he shot himself dead by putting a bullet from his revolver in his head. He left behind a suicide note but that reveals little, except that he was an extremely troubled man. The police are investigating, but as is well known they have little to go on as the case looks clear and cut.

Godman

A word about the godman will not be out of place here. The man was earlier aspiring to be a model and tried his hand at modeling in Mumbai.

He flopped and he was wondering what to do. He had a flash and decided to become a godman as he was aware that Indians by nature are easily swayed by godmen and have blind faith in them. Its a practice that exrtolls obscurantism, but then the Bhaiyyuji Maharaj decided to exploit it. He built up a tremendous following and the MP Chief Minister was at his feet and to top it he made him a minster of state. Bhaiyyuji Maharaj needless to say rose from rags to riches.

His personal life was mired in controversy and after the death of his first wife he married again, nothing wrong with it but a man who is in communion with God can do without worldly pleasures. Domestic peace was shattered and Bhaiyyuji Maharaj was not strong enough to face it and took the drastic step.

Eternal question

Bhaiyyuji Maharaj had a great political following from the BJP. There are photos of him with Narendra Modi. Again nothing wrong with it but playing courtier to Baba's and Maharaj is not the best thing to do for a leader of a nation. It shows the BJP leadership is steeped in obscurantism and I can see no reason why he was given so much importance. It's sad but Asaram Bapu was also eulogized by Modi and Vajpayee and now he sits in jail for rape.

The death of Bhaiyyuji is very sad and I sympathize with his family. But the eternal question remains why are Indian so influenced by such godmen who are among the richest in India where  50% of the population does not get two square meals a day