I would blame our system first. The root cause of these crooks to flourish is the blind faith of the people. An illogical faith is only possible when people are uneducated. After independence no government tried to eradicate the illiteracy problem from the root. Lack of proper education has fanned the gender discrimination as well as made people an emotional fool who get carried away by the tricks of the Godman and Godwoman. The people do not apply their brain and the worst part is they are made to be afraid of God's curse. When a system allows these crooks to bloom then obviously they will try to make the most out of it.  

It is a fallacy that only illitrate people follow godmen blindly and in the process get swindled. In fact godmen are not interested in such followers. It is the well to do and educated who provide them with funds as they are also weak in character and lack morals and confidence. It is also a wrong observation that sinc independrnce governments have not done anything to remove illiteracy . Statistics do not support such observation.

Yes.Being a godman or woman in India has become a very profitable occupation or rather a sham.The nexus between the godmen and the politicians has been existing ever since the 5th five year plan, which has led to corruption and various malpractises .The politicians misuse their ties with these religious leaders and play a game of vote-bank politcs.The recent  arrest  of Gurupreet Ram Rahim Singh(godman) and the uprisings at Panchkula in Haryana proved the negligence on the part of the state government to take appropriate measures to maintain law and order in the state.This explains the fear on the part of the politicians to loose their vote bank and the control that these religious leaders have on the political society.This,these  godmen receive a considerable amount of money not only via deceiving the people  but also by joining hands with the burreaucracy.

vijay wrote:

It is a fallacy that only illitrate people follow godmen blindly and in the process get swindled. In fact godmen are not interested in such followers. It is the well to do and educated who provide them with funds as they are also weak in character and lack morals and confidence. It is also a wrong observation that sinc independrnce governments have not done anything to remove illiteracy . Statistics do not support such observation.

Considering the extent of rise in population then in comparison to it the literacy rate is quite low. By saying Government has done nothing does not mean that no work in this regard is being done but comparatively it is quite less. There are numerous people who have accumulated a huge fortune but have minimum education and understanding. I believe they are being exploited by such fake religious leaders. Yes, there are definitely some qualified and established personalities who for their personal benefit become followers. They utilize the strength of the crooks for their gain. 

@ Shampa , while a majority of illiterate people are open to manipulation by these vultures , like @ Vijay said it is also true that often we find the educated people following these people and go all out to promote them thereby building an aura around them, further encouraging and making it easy for them to loot people. I get at least two or three msgs on Facebook by educated friends who want me to say amen or spread the word. This is not limited to one religion only ..

usha manohar wrote:

@ Shampa , while a majority of illiterate people are open to manipulation by these vultures , like @ Vijay said it is also true that often we find the educated people following these people and go all out to promote them thereby building an aura around them, further encouraging and making it easy for them to loot people. I get at least two or three msgs on Facebook by educated friends who want me to say amen or spread the word. This is not limited to one religion only ..

No, it is not limited to one religion but in India the majority can be fooled by being Hindu baba. Yes, I have agreed in the previous post that educated and wealthy people are also followers but the difference is, they were not tricked rather they joined hand as a business dealing.      

Reshmika Christopher wrote:

Yes.Being a godman or woman in India has become a very profitable occupation or rather a sham.The nexus between the godmen and the politicians has been existing ever since the 5th five year plan, which has led to corruption and various malpractises .The politicians misuse their ties with these religious leaders and play a game of vote-bank politcs.The recent  arrest  of Gurupreet Ram Rahim Singh(godman) and the uprisings at Panchkula in Haryana proved the negligence on the part of the state government to take appropriate measures to maintain law and order in the state.This explains the fear on the part of the politicians to loose their vote bank and the control that these religious leaders have on the political society.This,these  godmen receive a considerable amount of money not only via deceiving the people  but also by joining hands with the burreaucracy.

Hi Reshmika, welcome to the site. I totally agree with your views . As long as political patronage continues these people will continue to manipulate and make merry at the cost of people. The kind of sleazy lives they lead also sets a very bad example to the society as a whole. Just imagine youngsters getting influenced by them,,

Shampa Sadhya wrote:

I would blame our system first. The root cause of these crooks to flourish is the blind faith of the people. An illogical faith is only possible when people are uneducated. After independence no government tried to eradicate the illiteracy problem from the root. Lack of proper education has fanned the gender discrimination as well as made people an emotional fool who get carried away by the tricks of the Godman and Godwoman. The people do not apply their brain and the worst part is they are made to be afraid of God's curse. When a system allows these crooks to bloom then obviously they will try to make the most out of it.  

Actually, it is the people who are to blame than the government. The very poor, to be honest, are very much engrossed with their own problems and the strife to earn their daily livelihood. They are not the followers of such fake god people. It is middle classes who are more to be blamed. I am not sure if you see this in your state, but in a city like Pune, I have seen posters being displayed in many shops in which 'sure measures for becoming prosperous' are given. A few of these include, spreading semolina and sugar on ground to feed ants - this is supposed to make a person free of his debts. Second measure is feeding fish - this is supposed to bring prosperity in trade. I have seen educated ladies practicing these measures. A poor person will not spend money to feed ants or fish. These con men and women take advantage of this stupidity of the people and dupe them claiming to be representatives of god. And the politicians then take advantage of these con men using their fan following and turning it into their vote bank. The government is already doing all it can to prevent such things, but if people are being so stupid and not learning lessons from past incidents, then such people deserve nothing better.

Gulshan Kumar Ajmani wrote:

Yes. Many Hindus believe that they need some physical spiritual Guru for salvation Such belief is prevalent  in Punjab, Haryana and Western U.P.   May be other places also. The scrupulous elements re benefited by such belief and run the business of Gurudom. Thus even a non matriculate posing as a 'saint'  can mislead even a highly educated person. many politicians also find it convenient to sponsor such gurus.   

Such blind faith goes across all the religion. It is the ignorance and being God fearing  that makes people fall in trap of such God men and God women. These religious gurus take full advantage of such ignorance and make a business out of it.

Well taken care of Godmen lead very boring lives. So they resort to enjoying sexual activities and treating humans as their slaves. But yes they can do so only because most of the followers are prepared to be taken advantage off.