The God-men who have millions of followers and teach morality in public turned out to be fraudulent commission agents, caught in a sting operation on Friday.
For many it could be a sad day but at Hindustaniat we believe that the Cobra Post-IBN 7's operation Maya, which nailed these Babas--Pilot Baba, Vedanti Maharaj, Suryam Namboodiri and Kireet Maharaj, is a welcome move. It will hopefully check the growing superstitions in the society.
Twenty first century India should have no place for such cheat 'sants' and 'mahatmas'.
1. Pilot Baba, who has a great following and influence amongst politicians and bureaucrats was caught on camera, shamelessly demanding commission to turn black money into 'white'. The Baba who after retirement from Air Force as Wing Commander, turned a Sanyasi, and is known to take long 'samadhis' boasted about his connections with top leaders. He offered to convert Rs 7 crore into 'white' by taking Rs 3 crore.
'Give me Rs 10 crore, I will keep Rs 3 crore and the rest will be returned to you in the form of cheque issued by my trust', he said. The payment of Rs 7 crore would be shown as money paid in lieu of some construction work at his Ashram. He was caught by the hidden camera. He boasted of his association with Arab Sheikhs and most politicians. Also, said that he had all sorts of men and can get anybody 'picked up' from his house in case of mischief.
2. Ram Vilas Vedanti, who has been associated with Ram Mandir movement, and runs the Matri Sewa Trust was also caught. He said that he will keep the commission and then give back the money, converted to 'white'. "I have my own trust and there is no need to ask anybody or seek anyone's advice in issuing a cheque'.
This holy man turned a financial dealer of worst kind and a fraudster with no conscience. He lied about his own position in the trusts and had no hesitation in asking how much 'percentage he will get'. He was shamelessly lying and dealing with journalists of Cobra Post who had masqueraded as agents of Corporate companies. Vedanti is known for his association with Hindutva ideology and support to Ram Mandir movement. His comment against Muslims were also in a bad taste.
3. Kirit Maharaj was the third person to be caught on camera. He made the most surprising statement. 'I can make a chutney of Rs 100 crore in five months and finish it'. By 'chutney' he meant that he could show this black money, into legally earned amount, with his fraudulent methods.
Like a seasoned businessman, he kept bargaining and negotiating. He wanted 40% commission. He said how he would show that the money was given by his Vrindavan Project and get it converted into 'Number 1 ka paisa'.
4. The fourth of the godman who was exposed in the first series of IBN expose, was Suryam Namboodiri, who hails from South India and has an Ashram at the Lajpat Nagar in New Delhi. Though he couldn't communicate, the dealings were finalised through his disciple.
The Baba is well-known for making accurate predictions but failed to realise that the persons sitting with him were not financial agents but reporters on a mission to nab him. Surprisingly, all these god-men preach morality but had no difficulty in discussing all sorts of illegal ways and appeared willing to go to any extent in their greed for amassing wealth and money.
The IBN-7 (CNN-IBN's Hindi channel) with the help of Cobra Post has exposed seven babas and names of three more will be revealed on Saturday. But there is one question, what will happen to the religious channels that survive on such 'gurus' and their discourses!
The rest three Babas include include Swami, Pragyanand, Anil Joshi and Acharya Pramod.
Aise babaon se to bhagwan bachaye hinduon ko...
