Cult Leaders: The economic elites of Punjab

We won't be wrong if we say that majority of the rich , famous and successful people of India live in the metropolitan cities like Delhi and Mumbai. If we are living in such areas we can easily imagine some HNI's (High Net-worth Individuals) having a fortune of hundreds or thousands or even lakhs of crores. Suppose if someone is referring to an HNI having a net-worth of say 500-crores, then we'll most likely assume that the point of reference must be a  cricketer or some successful local businessman (where 1 million US$ = 6.5 crore INR approx.). If we hear someone having a net-worth of say 5000-crores, we assume that it must be some celebrity actor or a corporate leader of a higher stature.If we hear about someone having a fortune of over 50000-crores or even 1 lakh crores, we easily figure out that it can't be anyone else than the economic elites of the country like Tatas, Birlas, Ambanis or Adanis. 

It's not a new thing to come across that people living in metropolitan cities condemning life in small towns and being highly critical of the career prospects (be it a job or self-employment) in these areas and out-rightly call them regressive and backward as far as the lifestyle is concerned. I believe that India as a whole is a conservative nation and has some pockets mainly metropolitan cities that have some sort of cosmopolitanism in its culture. Whether it's Punjab, UP, Bihar, Haryana, Maharashtra, Gujrat or any other state, the basic cultural fabric is woven by the conservatives living in that area. Hence, youngsters having a modern outlook towards life always have a tough time adjusting in their hometowns and they feel choked in such an atmosphere and hence aspire to get out of there in pursuit of better life and more freedom to live life on their own terms. Those having more resources prefer to leave the country as such but those who are professionally sound and career-conscious prefer to move to a bigger town for better career prospects. This horizontal mobility of young population is based on the firmly held conviction that if they stay in their home state, there is little chance for career growth.

Now, a thought for all those educated people who either use religion as a stress-buster or just a subject of discussion or consider it an outdated concept for the present civil society. How we define religion ?? It's Hindi translation into the word "Dharma" may get us out of context but sticking to the English term "Religion", we can have its multiple definitions and the most profoundly accepted universal definition is that "Religion is a way of life." Characteristics of religion would be:

1) Belief in the supernatural

2) Voluminous religious text

3) Set of values and beliefs

4) Set of taboos

5) Peculiar insignia

6) Segregation of sacredness and profanity

OK now let's move onto another term "Industry" and study its definition and characteristics. Industry, in Lehman's terms,  could be defined as a set of homogeneous firms (big or small in number) producing a homogeneous product or rendering a particular service. General features of Industry would be:

1) A Market

2) Products/ Services

3) Consumers

4) Service providers

5) Marketing strategies

6) Competition etc. etc.

Now, will it be wrong to say that religion if incorporated and commercialized can very well be called an industry?? Because the industry not only provides employment opportunities to the skilled labor but also opens doors for self-employment for the big fish. And we have ample amount of self employed cult leaders (commonly referred to as "Dere wale Babe") in Punjab who are the BIG fish of the industry called religion.

There are innumerable examples of such cults that have become too powerful to be snubbed by SGPC, hence they indulge in defamation of such cults, the most common example to raise your eyebrows would be "Dera Sacha Sauda" led by Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, as using derogatory language for him on religious platforms has become a common trend.

Now we can very well imagine the extent of his power and security cover that, he has survived major attacks on his life by the sikh radicals. Not only this, at least twice a dozen of political leaders as big as MLA's and Ministers from both Punjab and Haryana seek his blessings to empower their vote banks. Once I just came across his photo with the CM of Punjab Mr. PS Badal which I'll share here.

We can clearly see Mr. Badal standing and praying in front of him with folded hands. Now, I don't need to enlighten the readers about the extent of power of Badal family as they are the power elites of Punjab who can very well control the govt. even if they are not a part of it. But Babas like Gurmeet Ram Rahim belong to the category of economic elites who are very well in a position to control the power elites or the people running the govt.

Actually, Dera Sacha sauda isn't the only example of a powerful dera in Punjab. There are other deras which might be even more powerful. Deras like Radhaswami, Nirankaris, Naam-dharis too have immense wealth and power and govt. is in no position to function without their co-operation. Now taking into account all this dera culture of Punjab, can't we compare it with the culture of Europe of late 18th and early 19th century which is usually referred to as "Dark Age of Europe" because there was no scientific temperament, there was rule of ignorance & superstition and religion was the only institution that could lead to the upward mobility of people. Europe was considered liberated from the dark ages after the era of industrialization. Now it would be unfair to say that there is zero industrialization in Punjab or India but industry is definitely in a demented state in Punjab and I'm sure science and modernization must be a nightmare for those babas like Gurmeet Ram Rahim who capitalize on people's fear and entice them with their lavish lifestyles, palatial estates and a fleet of luxury cars and SUV's.

So I think it's either people like these babas who're not letting the common man grow and come out of the dark ages or it's just that there was nothing like dark age in the world and religion continues to enjoy the status of an undisputed money-making business since time-immemorial as it has the ability to capitalize on people's fears. Religion in one form or the other will continue to be a part of people's lives but Karl Marx's theory cannot be overlooked in which he says "Religion is an opium of the masses" but I think his theory can be better complimented by saying that: "If religion is an opium of the masses, it certainly is a luxury of the classes".

But as a Punjabi I would really like to see this Dera culture fading away and the genuine industries, besides religion, help in the transformation of the state from a mere hub of deras and babas to the hub of careers and opportunities.