Page 32 - Tehelka-May18

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dismantled only after his aid got to for what we said earlier. ” is destroyed,” she told Tehelka hop-
know about Virender’s illegal ac- Within years, he emerged into ing that other women shouldn’t face
tivities at the NS. There is no infor- baba Dixit with sprawling ashrams similar consequences.
mation whether the NS still runs in in Farrukababad and Lucknow (Ut- She continued, “On behalf of
other centres of Adhyatmik Vishwa tar Pradesh), Chandigarh, Rohtak, all the sufferers I want to ask Dixit,
Vidyalaya. Virender’s famous Jaipur, Ahmadabad, Gangtok, Kol- what kind of university you are run-
preaching lines to all his female dis- kata, Bhopal, Mumbai, Hyderabad, ning where so many females have
ciples surrendered in the ashram: Bangalore, Chennai, Kerala, Delhi, been subjected to sexual exploita-
“Surrender everything to me as I Kampil in UP and in Nepal and tion, looted of their bank balance,
am the Lord Shiva….Lord Krishna … South Africa. In 1998, the first rape families, happiness. If you and your
you are my Parvati…one of my 1,600 case was registered against him and spiritual knowledge is so divine and
queens. You are only safe with me he was jailed for six months. true, what are you afraid of? Why
and the outside world is evil…they are you hiding from the law? ”
will take advantage of your physical Need justice for the loss Another former follower name
body. And, anybody who disobeys A victim from Banda district, Uttar Krishna (65) said, “Humein nyay
me will turn chandal, born in pen- Pradesh, is now living a hard life chaiye (We want justice).We, poor
ury, face rape, diseases.” with her 16-year-old daughter after are always the soft targets of nefari-
ous baba like Dixit. The court should
Making of Baba Virender Dev Dixit enforce stringent punishment to
Virender was one of the last heirs to Dixit for destroying so many lives of
survive the infant mortality fate in Dixit is no less girls and women. ”
his family as he was born after his than Gurmeet Ram A local of Vijay Vihar in New Del-
eight sisters couldn’t survive. His hi, Pankaj Pathak, said, “I was there
youngest sister was born 12 years af- Rahim, Asaram when a poor girl tried to kill herself
ter his birth. In the initial days, when Bapu, Rampal by jumping off the building of Vijay
Dixit was in Ahmadabad to pursue Vihar ashram. There are many dark
PhD in Sanskrit, he came in contact or Ichadari stories inside the ashram.”
with Prajapati Brahma Kumaris Bhimanand — all In 2017, when parents and locals
Ishwariya Vishwa Vidyalaya (BK) in took out a protest against the Vi-
1969. His ideology was a misfit with known sexual jay Vihar ashram for not allowing
that of BK and his attitude towards predators who are them to meet their daughters, a new
female disciples was improper. He movement to rescue all the daugh-
proclaimed that Dada Lekhraj’s soul now languishing ters emerged out of that lane. Total
had entered into him after his death in jails 41 minors were rescued last year.
to which many BKs opposed. Today, so many suffering families
Speaking to Tehelka, BK sister have found the courage to come out
Chandrika of Ahmedabad centre and narrate their ordeals from eve-
said, “One morning around 4 am, leaving the Dixit sect. Her husband ry nook and corner of the country.
Dixit forcibly tried to enter the fe- has disowned her after the real pic- “We arranged free accommoda-
male quarters of BK which was ture of Dixit came into the public. tion and food for the families that
stopped by BK brothers on raising Almost 10 lakh rupees and all her came down from various states
alarm. After that misconduct, he gold jewellery have been taken by with the hope to reunite with their
was immediately banned to enter the ashram. Fortunately, she and daughters. I felt that there should be
all other centres and a circular was her daughter are not victims of rape a mechanism to stop all such fake
issued in regard to this. ” or sexual assault.However, she re- spiritual institutions from running
After a couple of years, he started mains stigmatised after being aban- in our country as their first targets
a separate faction called ‘Advanced donedby her family. are the innocent, uneducated, vil-
Party’ in 1976 with some of the “All the females staying inside lage level people, who could be eas-
Brahma Kumar’s and Kumari’s fol- the Adhyatmik Viswa Vidyalaya will ily manipulated in the name of God
lowers whom he managed to brain- never have a normal dignified life as for them spirituality is every-
wash to join his party. once they are out because society thing. Even the educated, high-class
“BK had earlier firmly opposed will never accept them even though people also fall prey to them. This is
any connection with Dixit or his the culprit is someone else. I am an dangerous.”
ashram during that time. Today, example before you. My husband
again, we strongly oppose and stand has disowned me today. Everything letters@tehelka.com

Tehelka / 31 may 2018 32 www.Tehelka.com

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