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Saint Shri Asaram Bapu
Born	(1941-04-17) 17 April 1941 (age 83) Berani, Sindh, British India
Nationality	Indian
Citizenship	Indian
Organization	Shree Yog Vedanta Sewa Samiti
Notable work	PARENT'S worship day
Criminal status	In Prison
Children	Narayan Prem Sai (Son)
Motive	To make India visha guru
Conviction(s)	sexual harassment, 2018
Criminal charge	sexual harassment,
Capture status	in jail
Accomplice(s)	Narayan Sai
Date apprehended	1 September 2013
Imprisoned at	Central jail, Jodhpur Case is still In higher court
Website	ashram.org

Asumal Sirumalani, known as Asaram Bapu, is a Holy Saint in India. Starting to come in the limelight in the early 1970s, he gradually established over 400 ashrams in India and abroad and was popular among politicians and common people for his religious discourses (pravachan). In April 2018, Asaram was plotted guilty of sexual harassment of a so called minor girl( Age 21 according to documents)and is currently serving life imprisonment for the sexual assault in Jodhpur.The case was still in higher court.

He was never mentioned in a list of fake baba released by Akhil Bharatiya Akhara Parishad, the apex organisation of Hindu Sants (saints) and Sadhus (ascetics) in India.

Early life and family

Asaram was born on 17 April 1941, in the Berani village of the Nawabshah District in British India (Present-day Berani Town is located in Jam Nawaz Ali Tehsil of Sanghar district Sindh Pakistan), to Menhgiba and Thaumal Sirumalani. His birthname was Asumal Thaumal Harpalani or Asumal Sirumalani.

Following the partition of India in 1947, he and his family moved to Ahmedabad, then part of the former Bombay State in India, now Gujarat, leaving behind their immovable assets in Sindh. The family moved to Ahmedabad, where Asaram's father founded a coal and wood selling business. Asaram ran this business for a short time after his father's death.

According to Sant Asaram Bapuji ki Jeevan Jhanki, an autobiography published by his ashram, Asaram received his formal education at Jai Hind High School, up-till class III, when his father died. He had a series of escapades to ashrams which started with running away to an ashram in Bharuch at the age of 15, eight days before his scheduled wedding to Laxmi Devi, which though finally happened. The book also mentions Lilashah as the spiritual guru, who accepted him as his disciple and named him Asaram on 7 October 1964.

Activities

Ashrams

According to Sant Asaram Bapuji ki Jeevan Jhanki, Asaram returned to Ahmedabad on 8 July 1971. On 29 January 1972, he built a hut at Motera, then a village on the banks of the Sabarmati. Although his official biography doesn't mention it, Asaram also lived in Motera's Sadashiv Ashram for two years, before setting up his own hut adjacent to it. He converted his hutment into an ashram in 1973, starting with 5–10 followers. In 1981 and 1992, the Indian National Congress-led state government allotted the ashram 14,515 m land. In 1997 and 1999, the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government allotted it 25,000 m for expansion. Asaram had few followers in the beginning, but the numbers increased as local politicians became his devotees. By 2013, Asaram had 400 major and minor ashrams in India and abroad, with numerous followers.

Teachings

Asaram has organized spiritual discourses all over India, whence his disciples are accorded diksha (initiation by a guru) by him. Around 20,000 students visited his satsang in Ahmedabad in December 2001.

Parents' Worship day

Asaram's Yogi Vedanta Seva Samiti (YVSS), organizes a Matri Pitri Poojan Divas ("mother-father worship day") on 14 February, as a form of protest against Valentine's Day, which is supposedly symbolic of a Western cultural invasion. Asaram's proposal was supported by many prominent Indian politicians including union ministers and President Pranab Mukherjee.

In 2015, the Government of the Chhattisgarh state institutionalized the practice, and directed all schools to observe Matru-Pitru Diwas ("mother-father day") every year on 14 February.

Controversies

Land Encroachment

A number of Asaram's ashrams have faced legal challenges, on grounds of illegal encroachment. Multiple state governments has razed ashrams to reclaim lands, that was illegally encroached upon including by forgery of documents. There have been multiple pending cases and investigations into Asaram's Samitis for reasons of illegal encroachment.All cases were closed and ashram gets clean chit bh court.

Gurukul Deaths

By 2008, 40 of Asaram's ashrams had gurukuls (residential schools) attached to them. The death of four boys at two of these Ashrams in 2008 led to allegations of black magic being practiced there.

On 3 July 2008, two boys went missing from Asaram's residential school (gurukul) in Motera (Gujarat). On 5 July 2013, the boys' mutilated bodies were found on the banks of the Sabarmati river near the Ashram. The parents alleged that the police harassed them and refused to register a complaint against Asaram or the ashram administration. The incident led to public agitations, with allegations that the boys had been sacrificed by Asaram and his followers for black magic.

A CID probe, ordered on the behest of the High Court of Gujarat rejected the claims of practice of black magic.

The Narendra Modi-led Gujarat state government set up the Justice D.K. Trivedi Commission to probe the deaths in the Motera ashram. In 2009, Asaram's followers organized a rally, protesting against their alleged harassment by the Gujarat police. The protest turned violent, and over 200 supporters of Asaram were arrested after they attacked and injured 20 policemen.

According to the CID report, no evidence of black magic practice was found in Asaram's Ashram.

Delhi gang rape comments

In January 2013, while addressing a gathering of his followers, Asaram reportedly said that the victim of the 2012 Delhi gang rape was as guilty as her rapists: "The victim is as guilty as her rapists… She should have called the culprits brothers and begged before them to stop… This could have saved her dignity and life. Can one hand clap? I don't think so." He also reportedly opined against harsher punishments for the accused in the Delhi rape victim case, as he felt that the law had the potential to be misused.

The comments were widely criticized.

Asaram denied the accusations and stated that his statement had been distorted and misrepresented.

Jodhpur rape conviction and imprisonment

According to fake paid media August 2013, a 21-year-old girl accused Asaram of sexually assaulting her on the night of 15 August at his Manai ashram in Jodhpur on the pretext of exorcising her from evil spirits, though ashram inmates called such molestations "samarpan"(All such claims were denied by ashram inmates According to ashram inmates presented on crime scene denied of Bapuji doing such EXORCISING)On that given date Bapujiwas not even presented on ashram of jodhpur . The girl's parents, who were disciples of Asaram, filed a complaint with the police in Delhi after 5 days of such incidents, and a sexual harassment case was registered .medical examination of the girl never confirmed sexual assault.Acp Lamba who arrested Bapuji said to media the girl never said she was raped.The paid media showed the girl was raped by hindu saint .Which was a culture created by media to sentence anyone before court .

When Asaram did not appear for interrogation by 31 August, Delhi Police booked him under multiple non-bailable sections of IPC. Asaram bapu was in Indore Ashram when Acp Lamba arrested him, None of his followers clashed with policemen and journalists but media showed a wrong news of that.Cite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page). and flew him to Jodhpur, where he is imprisoned.. Before his arrest he got wide-scale support from the ruling party in the state of Madhya Pradesh including local MLA Ramesh Mendola

Asaram has dismissed the girl's allegations and the case is in higher court against the sentence of life imprisonment

Surat rape case

In December 2013, Asaram's son Narayan Sai was also arrested on charges of rape, after two sisters from Surat alleged that he and his father had raped them in Asaram's ashram during the mid-2000s. The elder sister accused Asaram of repeated sexual assaults during 1997–2006 at the Motera ashram. The younger sister accused Narayan Sai of sexually assaulting her during 2002–2005 at the Surat ashram. One of the sisters also alleged that Asaram's wife and daughter helped the two men exploit the girls.. The trial in this case is currently in progress.

Attacks against witnesses

From 2014–15, there have been numerous attacks against various witnesses in the Asaram case. Amrut Prajapati, a former aide of Asaram, who had turned against him, was shot and killed on 23 May 2014, after multiple prior attempts. Another former associate Akhil Gupta who was the prime witness in the Surat rape case, was shot and killed on 11 January 2015. Mahindra Chawla, his ex-follower and prime witness in Surat rape case narrowly missed an attempted murder.

References

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48. "Vanzara protected Asaram like a wall". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 11 June 2014. Retrieved 12 July 2015. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
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External links

• Official website

• 1941 births
• Living people
• Sindhi people
• People from Shaheed Benazir Abad District
• Scholars from Ahmedabad
• Indian prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment
• Indian rapists