Asumal Sirumalani is known as Asaram Bapu or just Bapu by his
followers. He was born in 1941 in the then Sindh District of Pakistan. After
partition his family moved to Ahmedabad leaving their immovable assets in
Sindh. His father founded a coal and wood business. He ran his fathers business
for a short time after his fathers death when he left high school when he was
in class III.
When his wedding was scheduled at the age of 15 he ran away
to an Ashram. His family persuaded him to return and he got married. At the age
of 23 he again left home and wandered in various pilgrimage places of
Uttarakhand and UP. He met his spiritual guru Lilashah in Nainital but the guru
sent him home. Lilashah named him Asaram Bapu in 1964.
Asaram returned to Ahmedabad in 1971 and built his hut at
Motera which he converted later into an Ashram in 1973 starting with 5-10
followers. In 1981 and 1992 the Congress led state government allotted him
14515 Sq.Mtrs for his Ashram. In 1997 and 1999 the BJP led government allotted another
25000 Sq Mtrs for the expansion of his Ashram. As local politicians became his
followers his number of devotees increased. By 2013 Asaram Bapu had 400 major
and minor Ashrams in India and abroad with numerous followers.
This man is controversial right from the start and a number
of Ashrams set up by him had to face legal challenges.
In the year 2000 Asaram’s Ashram was allotted about 10 acres
of land in Navsari district in Gujarat by the Government. The Ashram encroached
on 6 acres leading to protests in the local villages. On a complaint filed by
the locals and after repeated notices brought forth no result the authorities
with police assistance bulldozed the encroachments and took possession of the
land.
In 2001, the Yog Vedanat Samiti of Ashraam Bapu was given
permission to use the premises of Mangalya Temple in Ratlam District MP for 11
days for a Satsangh. The samiti failed to vacate the land and continued to
occupy 40 acres of land. Asaram Bapu denied any involvement and stated that the
allegations were baseless and untenable.
In 2002 his followers convinced a Rajkot based devotee
Bhagwani Devi to donate part of her property to the Ashram. She agreed but Asaram’s
men forged her signature on the Power of Attorney and transferred all her land
to the trust.
The Nasik Muncipal Corporation destroyed a part of his ashram
in Bhilwara for encroaching on government land.
In 2009 the Bihar state religious trust forced Asaram’s
ashram to vacate a piece of land in Patna. Asaram and his followers have taken
possession of the land for a temple.
In 2010 the Gujarat Government took over 67059 Sqr Mtrs of
land which was encroached by Asarams Ahmedabad Ashram.
The Gujarat government has also taken over 70 acres of
agricultural land from Asaram’s family arguing that his family has forged
documents to show that they are farmers.
Two disciples of Asaram who helped him set up the Jodhpur
Asram had their land encroached upon and filed court cases.
In 2013 the Cuttack Muncipal Corporation razed down an ashram
of Asaram stating that he has illegally occupied the land.
In 2013 while addressing a gathering of his followers he gave
a terrible statement about the 2012 Nirbhaya case stating that the victim is as
guilty as the doers. This invited criticism by everyone and Asaram backtracked
fast denying that he he has never said such a thing.
By the year 2008 Asarams ashrams ran 40 gurukuls. $ boys died
in them which led to an allegation that black magic is being practiced there. In
July 2008 boys went missing from the gurukul attached to Asarams ashram at Motera. 2 days later the mutilated bodies
of the boys were found near the ashram. The police did not register the parents
cases and harassed them which led to public agitation.
Two boys also died in the Chindwara ashram of Asaram and
their bodies were found in the toilet. The Narendra Modi led Gujarat government
ahs set up the justice DK Trivedi Commission to probe the deaths of the Motera
Ashram. In 2009 Asaram’s followers took out a rally protesting the alleged harassment by Gujarat police. The protest turned violent and 200 protesters
were arrested after they injured 20 policemen. In 2012 when the Justice Trivedi commission summoned him, he issued a threat to the Narendra Modi government.
In August 2013 a 16 year old girl accused Asaram Bapu of
raping her in the guise of exorcising evil spirits in his ashram at Jodhpur. The
girls parents filed a case at Delhi and the girl’s sexual assault was confirmed
by the medical report.
When Asaram did not appear for interrogation by the end of
August the Delhi police filed various cases on him under different sections of
IPC. Ashram remained in his ashram at Indore and avoided arrest while his
devotees clashed with the police and journalists outside. Eventually he was
apprehended by the Jodhpur police in September 2013 and remains in jail.
Asaram totally denied the charges made by the girl and
claimed he was impotent. He also claimed that it was a conspiracy launched by
the Congress party to malign him. But medical examination conducted by a
medical college stated that he was potent. He has since been in jail and his
bail plea has been rejected a number of times.
Asaram and his son Narayan Sai wer also accused by 2 sisters
of rape in October 2013 in his ashram at Motera. The case is still pending in
the courts.
From 2014-15 there have been many attacks against various
witnesses in the Asaram Bapu case. Amrut Prajapati a personal aide of Asaram
was attacked and killed in May 2014. Another associate Akhil Gupta was killed
in January 2015. Kripal Singh was killed in June 2015. Key witnesses in the
case have disappeared as well.
Asaram had been in jail for the past 4 years and the Supreme
Court has recently rapped the Gujarat government for their inaction on the
case. So far even the victim has not been interrogated. It is surprising as to
why governments should take so much time to convict such anti social elements.
