Interesting interview of Prof R.RAM, PU DON on DERAS Dera culture is an assertion of alternative religions By Vikram Jit Singh (Stephanian) / TNN The dera culture presents a site of conflict as alternative religions increasingly assert and challenge organised religions. But the law and order stand-off and public cacophony surrounding the Satlok Ashram in Haryana hid this deeper truth. Public presentation of such conflicts has been limited to pigeon-holing these as law and order problems or ones that pitch communities against each other or the establishment, avers Ronki Ram, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Professor of Political Science at the Panjab University, Chandigarh, and one of the few academics engaged in grass-roots research of proliferating dera cultures. In an interview with TOI, Prof. Ram, who is also Dean, Faculty of Arts, PU, and an author and media columnist, laments that mainstream society has not woken up to the seriousness of such major crises/conflicts and has treated such episodes dating back to the Bhindranwale cult, Dera Sacha Sauda, Bhaniarewala, Dera Sach Khand, Satlok Ashram etc as routine events requiring no further inquiry or an empathetic understanding of the peoples larger quest for identities. Excerpts... Why are deras attracting mass support? * Deras provide space for different people for different reasons. When actually examined, deras harbour a very heterogenous set of followers. In deras, people find a home away from home. That dera home is not the same one as you find in the cultural boundaries of your normal existence. Deras provide a space, which is neither private nor public in the usual public sense. The hierarchy of `home gets squeezed in deras. Family hierarchies are not observed, such as women eating after men and children. Followers go to a langar together and sit with those who are not family members. This enlarges the domestic-like space in the premises of deras. Do people turn to deras because they feel excluded by mainstream religions? * Mainstream religion is very structured. There are ceremonies, rituals, customs you have to respect and cannot disobey. If you do not belong to the traditionally `higher castes, these structures tend to exclude you. For example, which people are allowed into the sanctum sanctorum of a shrine, whose house a priest will visit and so on? Rampal challenged such structures. He told his followers to desist from untouchability, `mundaan, `shradhh, yatras, idol worship, pilgrimages etc. But the Rampal episode has been seen only as a law and order problem. The principles on which his dera was based were not taken into account. Such deras were actually raising a revolt against organised religion. What was the caste/class composition of Rampals followers? * As a hunch, I would say that the followers were associated with marginalised groups such as Dalits as Rampal was a Kabirpaanthi. But I suspect that he had followers from different religions, classes and castes, and was perhaps even attracting a section of the former Arya Samajis. Satguru Kabir was revered as God by Rampal. Followers of Satguru Kabir put him on the same pedestal as Brahma and Vishnu. Rampal challenged the dominant castes in Haryana. Why are Indians so `naturally attracted to Godmen, babas etc? * Peoples minds are so conditioned by the cultural ambience in which they are brought up that they automatically get sucked into the dera culture. The dera has a remedy for all problems. Godmen are seen as storehouses of wisdom and answer existential riddles. They provide answers for failures, insecurities, suffering etc. In Haryana, we see the political establishment court the Dera Sacha Sauda of Sirsa and yet simultaneously crack down on Satlok Ashram? * Politicians go to deras to seek the Godmens blessings as they are attracted by the size of the following. But there are many undercurrents running through the deras, which the Godman or baba may not have control over. Sociologist Dipankar Gupta is of the opinion that Babas catering to gullible folks would hardly be a social nuisance if politicians did not meddle in this magician-client relationship. Gupta cites the case of Bhindranwale while articulating that had he been left alone in his dera, he would probably be living today and so would thousands of innocent Sikhs who were caught in the crossfire.
Posted on: Sat, 06 Dec 2014 06:29:21 +0000
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