Since the leader of the north Indian sect Sacha Sauda came in news for all the wrong reasons, there was has been exactly one thread of the story that was at least vaguely positive. That Honeypreet, his adopted daughter might now have a good shot at becoming the leader. Now, don’t get me wrong, I have no love lost for the girl, especially given the fact that she is now in hiding. But women, often find themselves rising to power in current times, when the preceding male head has turned on the opposite sex in an abuse of his power. If nothing else, at least it should balance some gender related issues, though women are as apt to be misogynistic as men.
But, make no mistake, culture is a long game. It doesn’t change in a day, a month or a year. Especially, not the kind where crimes against women are so fundamentally entrenched into the thinking, that they are not even seen as crimes. Let’s start at the very beginning.
At Sacha Sauda,the now jailed leader, ostensibly encouraged people to gain a livelihood through agriculture, and show people the righteous path i.e. give up drugs, alcohol and indulgence in illicit pleasures of the flesh. For a moment, let us believe that all the work was actually done, because why else the large following? But clearly, despite that, he showed that a man can do good things but to him women will still be second grade, since he did not desist from rape on gun point. And so much was the notion of power, that the guy carried it on again and again, and yet again.
Further, the code for female sexual exploitation is ‘Pitaji ki maafi’. When I first heard this, I thought it was some guilt pang the leader felt after committing the crime as I imagined him falling to his knees and begging his victims for forgiveness. But that was optimistic or what. Because it actually implies that the receiving end of the horror, has actually been granted forgiveness from Gurmeet Ram Rahim. He is affectionately (?) called Pitaji in the sect. In other words, first you suffer that extreme trauma and then you ask the rapist for forgiveness?
It was clearly a show of power, and possibly a way to crush the spirit into obedience. This line of argument is further endorsed by the fact that the peculiar guru encourages male members of the sect to permanently relieve themselves of their sexuality for the purpose of spiritual ascension. Something he clearly did not himself feel the need for.
Even after receiving the court verdict, his lawyers pleaded mercy on the grounds that the accusations are from 18 years ago and in the intervening period there have been no complaints filed against him. The question, that follows is of course why did he commit the crime 18 years ago? And how does it make him any less guilty? Also, who is to say that the lack of complaints is not a reflection of greater consolidation of power but a lack of crimes committed by him? There is after all a literal gun pointed to the victim. Of course, the individuals representing him will find every trick in the book to seek mercy, but at a fundamental level it reflects a complete lack of understanding of why the crime is as significant as it is.
While Gurmeet Ram Rahim spends the next 20 years in prison, the moot point of the entire episode is that where there is absolute power in one person’s hands and vulnerability in the other person’s, exploitation is quite likely. Unfortunately, in patriarchal societies, the power is mostly in the hands of men, which makes women vulnerable by default. This, is what really needs to change.
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