Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Ji Insan
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A profile
Asit Jolly
January 15, 2015
Hame maarna apne-aap ko maarne ke barabar hai (To hurt me is akin to hurting yourself)," the grim assertion by India's newest portly cinematic 'superhero' rings out almost like a warning. A reminder, if you may, to those he sees as his 'tormentors', that it will not be easy to take him down with a 50-million-strong fan following that will surely expand once his first movie-MSG: The Messenger of God makes it past the Censor Board to hit 3,000 screens he has hired across India.
47-year-old Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh-yogi, social worker, formally presented by the Dera Sacha Sauda (DSS), the multi-religion sect he heads, as "a saint in the Sufi mould" but without exception revered by over 50 million devoted followers in India and abroad as "God himself".
Most outside the flock would perhaps better recall him as the scandalous guru accused of unspeakable tyrannies-sexual harassment, rape, two counts of murder and, as recently as on December 23, a court-ordered CBI inquest into charges of forcibly castrating adherents.
But as the Dera's chief spokesman Aditya Insan, an ophthalmologist who trained at Delhi's All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and also accepts Singh as his God, insists, "There is always an alternative narrative which is often closer to the truth." While the jury is still out on the allegations against the Dera chief and as the spokesman points out that "even after 13 years, the CBI is still struggling to find from where the first letter (in 2002) containing allegations of sexual misconduct was posted", the other side to Singh's story is decidedly incredible. The only child of Maghar Singh and Nasib Kaur, a land-owning Jat Sikh couple from Rajasthan's Sri Ganganagar district, Singh inherited leadership of the Dera when the ageing incumbent chief Shah Satnam Singh passed him the gaddi in 1990.
From a total 'subscriber' base of under 1 million adherents, the Dera's following swelled more than 50 times under Singh's leadership. Insan claims that "nearly 70 per cent of Guruji's followers are youth who have chosen to forsake intoxicants, non-vegetarian food and immorality", the three cardinal rules Singh insists all his followers must strictly observe.
It was the overwhelming population of young people amid his flock that led Singh to song, dance and eventually to cinema. "It is a sugar-coated pill of quinine to attract the youth," he admitted to a reporter in one of his first media interactions two months ago.
MSG, the dera chief's debut cinematic presentation, is an over-the-top rendition of the Bollywood formula blockbuster, about the truth triumphing over evil. It comes with an overdose of rock and rap music, dance and action sequences, and a surfeit of bad guybashing, in an intensely psychedelic theatrical rendition which he believes will wean young people away from narcotics and immoral behaviour.
Lead actor, co-director, lyricist, playback singer, set and costume designer for the movie, Singh plays himself as a larger-than-life protagonist pulling off impossible stunts that will perhaps instigate southern superstar Rajinikanth into rethinking his fabled onscreen antics. He is shown riding custom-crafted superbikes, all-terrain vehicles, even hopping on and off helicopters possibly inspired by a mix of James Bond and Akshay Kumar cinema.
Singh's tryst with song and dance began three years ago when he staged his first rub-a-ru or face-to-face rock session in October 2011. Until a month ago, he had performed at 102 concerts across multiple venues-from his headquarters outside Sirsa in Haryana to Delhi, Mumbai and several locations in his home state of Rajasthan.
Dera managers claim every concert pulled in more than 100,000 enthusiastic fans. "All my songs-rock, pop, rap, hip-hop and melody-are devoted to God and to inspire the youth," he says explaining that he only chooses modern forms because young people these days do not understand classical music.
And what's more, Insan proudly informs you that "Guruji writes his own lyrics and has arranged the musical score for every one of his 1,000 songs". But wait, there is actually a whole lot else to the unpublished "alternative narrative" around the Dera and its chief that Insan talks about.
Despite his unending spate of troubles with the law, the Dera under Singh has accumulated an impressive and long list of achievements that would leave most other social outfits gasping.
As part of 104 ongoing public welfare projects, voluntary donation campaigns run by the DSS have collected more than 300,000 litres of blood, bringing in three successive Guinness World Records. The Dera also won 13 Guinness awards for de-addiction, ophthalmological, diabetes and cardiac clinics, tree-plantation and cleanliness drives.
Health campaigns under the aegis of the Sirsa-based Shah Satnam Ji Speciality Hospital have also received recognition from the American Society of Echocardiography, the American College of Cardiology and a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation three years ago.
Also, from the 2001 Gujarat earthquake, the devastating floods in Uttarakhand in 2013 to the floods in Kashmir in 2014, the Shah Satnam Ji Green 'S' Welfare Force Wing, by now a 70,000-strong collective of trained volunteers, has delivered disaster relief in some of the most adverse circumstances.
Singh insists that the allegations against him, including the latest charge of subjecting 400 adherents to forced castrations, are false. He points to "conspiracies" by liquor and drug cartels and their political masters who, according to him, lose business due to the DSS's campaign against alcohol and narcotics.
As per its own claims, the Dera- since Singh assumed charge in 1990- has "rescued close to five crore people from the clutches of alcoholism and drug abuse". Insan cites the instance of a Tohana-based businessman, Purshottam Das Mittal, who voluntarily shut down 100 liquor vends he owned after being blessed by the Dera chief in the 1990s.
Starting out from the extensive barren wasteland where his predecessors set up the first ashram outside Sirsa town, the DSS has now spread to 46 centres across India in addition to smaller overseas communities in California, Victoria (Australia), the United Kingdom, Canada and Dubai.
Predictably, the rapidly expanding DSS community, with known pockets of influence in Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan, has over the years brought politicians of all hues flocking to Singh's doorstep, each of them seeking his blessings, but more importantly his benevolence before an election.
And though the Dera chief insists that he has never directed his followers to vote for a particular politician or political party, the DSS's political wing, the Saadh Sangat Rajnitik, invariably sends out a clear signal on the preferred political direction ahead of any state assembly or Lok Sabha election.
Likewise, just days before polling day in the Haryana assembly polls last October, the DSS's political wing declared support for the BJP. This after Kailash Vijayvargiya, the party's election in-charge for Haryana, met the Dera chief with 40 BJP candidates.
The decision to support the saffron party was significantly also preceded by PM Narendra Modi's public praise for the DSS's cleanliness drives during an election speech at Narnaund.
"But we have always sided with people committed to cleanliness and eradicating social evils," says Singh.
For the moment though, with the elections behind him, Singh is preoccupied with shooting for the sequel to his yet-to-be released debut movie. Like its prequel, MSG-2 will feature the Dera chief as the central protagonist and superhero fighting to emancipate tribals in remote districts of Rajasthan.
The man
THE MAN BEHIND INSAN
Ajay Sura The Times of India Jan 18 2015
He sings, wears bling and is spiritual king for lakhs. Meet the controversial star guru Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Insan
'WONDER' KID
The 48-year-old was born in Gurusar Modia, a small village in Rajasthan. Claiming to have supernatural abilities since childhood Ram Rahim, popularly known as Meeta, became the third head of Sirsa-based Dera Sacha Sauda in September 1990. He has not renounced his family and has two daughters and a son. His son, Jasmeet Singh Insan, has been anointed as his successor.
DRIVING PASSIONS
When it comes to cars, the Dera head is up to speed. He is fond of bikes, swanky cars and customizes them to his taste. He has a fleet that includes a Lexus, Audi, Mercedes, Toyota and BMW. He always travels with decoy cars, which are bulletproof, jammer-fitted imported SUVs with the same colour and registration number for safety reasons.He has several modified bikes, which he uses while performing Ruhani Nights (his stage shows). The modified vehicles seen in his upcoming movie are said to have been designed by him.He also charters flights frequently and has a small airstrip on the Dera premises.
STAR-BUCKS
Though there are no official figures for his assets, it is estimated Ram Rahim has around 700 acres of agricultural land in Sirsa, hospitals, “nam charcha ghars“ (religious discourse places) and market complexes across almost all towns and cities of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal and Rajasthan.Besides a world-class cricket stadium, petrol pumps, a multi-speciality hospital, the Dera Sacha Sauda also has a five-star SMG Resorts in Sirsa. As part of its expansion plans, the resort will offer 16 Wonder villas with private pools, 10 Water villas with rooms under water, an international spa, 7-D theatre and a convention centre. The Dera has an international footprint with over 250 ashrams.
GURU IS BIG ON GAANA
According to Dera sources, his six popular albums -“Thank U for That“, “Network Tere Love Ka“, “Chashma Yaar Ka“, “Insan“, “Lov Rabb Se“ and “Highway Love Charger“ -have collectively sold over 10 million copies. Songs from his new film MSG (The Messenger of God) -which he has written, composed and produced -span electronic dance music to rap (a track titled Daaru Ko Goli Maaro) and hip-hop.
CHEF & FEMINIST
He's a man of many talents.Thirty-four to be precise, according to his official website that lists “Excellent Chef, Cost Effective Technology Developer, Feminist, Global Warming Mitigator“ among Ram Rahim's special gifts.A “Sportsman par Excellence“, he reportedly plays over 32 games including volleyball, kabaddi, tennis, cricket, football and water polo, loves adventure (He once sang a song called `Chocolate' in a live concert, suspended 30 feet above the ground from a moving crane) and has “amazing photography skills“.
KITSCH KING
He has abandoned his white kurta-pyjama avatar and reinvented himself as `Guru of Bling'. He strikes quite a kitschy pose with his garish costumes, turbans and tiaras and arm bling. His website calls his look “morally uplifting fashion“ and he claims that he only wears outfits that he has designed. He had over 100 costumes made for the film.A Guru Gobind Singh outfit got him mired in a controversy in 2007. He has had Z-plus security since then.
ONE & ONLY
He is reported to have over 5 crore followers across India and abroad. They all use the surname Insan. Imitating their guru, they wear blue lockets shaped like the numerical 1, suggesting one identity and one God. In the last Haryana elections, he supported the BJP after Amit Shah visited the Dera last year. After forming government, various MLAs, ministers and party top brass are reported to have visited the Dera to seek his blessings.
A backgrounder
The Times of India <>The Times of India
According to his official website, he is referred to as His Excellency, Hazoor Maharaj Saint Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Ji Insan. He was born in Rajasthan to Sardar Maghar Singh Ji and Naseeb Kaur Ji Insan. Though he was born in a Sikh family, he does not adhere to any particular religion. He is the head of the India-based socio-spiritual organisation Dera Sacha Sauda since September 23, 1990 and has 50 million supporters from the Dera Sacha Sauda sect (as reported on Business2community.com). He has adopted the glorious method of meditation from Param Pita Shah Satnam Ji Maharaj.
Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Insan has a long list of talents to his credit that range from from music to engineering, from sports to agriculture, from spiritualism to science. He is also said to play a wide range of sports that include volleyball, netball, throwball, kabaddi, lawn tennis, cricket, football, billiards, table tennis, snooker, shooting ball, yoga, basketball, water polo among others. (As reported on his official website)
This Rockstar Baba, who wanted to make his Filmistan debut in Jan 2015, has many other talents apart from acting? His official website states that he is a fashion designer, a magazine designer, automobile designer, interior and exterior decorator and landscape designer and a cook who has created a wide range of recipes.
As a head of the Dera sect, he enjoys immense popularity and is known for his many initiatives including his drive to eradicate forced prostitution from society and rescue them from high risk groups. Reportedly, he also treats them as his spiritual foster daughters and arranges for their treatment from HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections. His official website states that on Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh's call, 1500 young men volunteered to marry these women and many of these marriages have actually taken place.
He is an avid peace lover and volunteer and is said to encourage his followers to free birds and release snakes into the jungle that are found in his ashram. According to his official website, Guruji (as he is also lovingly called), is said to be an anti-discrimination leader, educationist, anti-population crusader, de-addiction specialist, low cost housing expert, among other key titles. He has also made it to the Guinness Book of world records and holds a total of 16 titles. These include, Guinness World Record for Largest Vegetable Mosaic, Guinness World Record in the Largest Finger Painting, Guinness World Record in Most People Sanitizing Their Hands, and Guinness World Record for Largest Human Droplet.
For his film MSG: The Messenger of God, he has written, composed and performed his own music, that is often described as religious rock. His song 'Love charger' from the album Highway Love Charger has had 1 million views online and is said to have sold almost thirty lakh copies in three days. As per a report on IMDB, Singh's debut film took only 67 days to complete shooting and the trailer has received over 2.2 million views till date.
Allegations, investigations
According to a report on Dailymail.co.uk, in 2002, Singh and his Dera allegedly came under investigation in connection with the charges of sexual exploitation of women followers of the sect, and the murder of a journalist Ram Chander Chatrapati. The allegations started in May 2002 after an anonymous letter, alleging sexual exploitation, was addressed to the Prime Minister and its copies had been marked to several other bodies.
According to a report on Indiaopines.com, Singh has been in the news for several reasons and was accused of allegedly forcing around 400 men followers to castrate themselves in order to make them his slaves. He was also accused of allegedly murdering his driver Faqir Chand, where a CBI special court apparently cleared him of all charges.
According to a report on Indiaopines.com, he is said to be close to militant Gurjant Singh Rajasthani of the much feared Khalistan Liberation Force. Further to reports, it is said that he enjoys VVIP Status and a Z – level security cover. Singh reportedly drives a Range Rover SUV. In fact, hundreds of vehicles are allegedly said to follow him wherever he goes. In these 100, there are 16 black Ford Endeavours. His entourage is also said to include a number of female followers.
In January 2015, taking cognizance of an application seeking CBI probe into alleged suicides (wh Sirsa-resident Ram Kumar Bishnoi alleged were murders) inside Dera Sacha Sauda, Sirsa, the Punjab and Haryana high court issued a notice to the sect head and Haryana government. (The Times of India)
MSG censorship controversy
The Messenger of God or MSG is a Hindi-Urdu feature film starring and co-directed by His Excellency Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Ji Insan. It was due to hit Indian screens on January 16, 2015 amidst reports that its screening may evoke protests from some quarters. Its release was postponed amidst controversy and low level violence.
MSG: The Messenger of God has been co-directed by Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Insan and Jeetu Arora Insaan, wherein Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh plays the lead role. (Insan means 'human' and many members of the cult use it as surnames, to distance themsleves from caste- and religion-based surnames.
(The theatrical trailer of the film begins with His Excellency Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Ji Insan saying: 'Some say [that I am a] sant [saint], some say [that I am an] angel. Some [call me] guru and others God. But we are [royal we] only an [long pause] Insan [human].')
Law and order concerns
There were three clashes between members of Sikh outfits and dera followers in Moga district in the week before the film’s scheduled release
In Baghapurana town of Moga district there was Tension after four flex boards and posters of movie 'Messenger of God (MSG)' were torn. Dera followers protested outside Baghapurana police station, demanding action against persons responsible for the mischief.
Five persons sustained injuries in Moga, when dera followers and members of Sikh organizations indulged in stone-pelting.
Dera followers exchanged fire at Thathi Bhai village where tension escalated after a poster of the movie was burnt. Devotees of the dera accused members of Sikh organizations of burning the movie poster.
As a result security was beefed up at the dera branches.
The Home Ministry had been watching the situation as there were inputs related to possible tense situations arising as certain Sikh organisations have been opposing the movie. The Home Ministry had sent an advisory to states that ‘Messenger of God’ a few days before the film was to be released.
“Various Sikh organisations and individuals are opposing the movie on the ground that its release would disturb the communal harmony and law and order. They also opine that glorification of DSS chief, facing serious criminal cases, should not be allowed,” the advisory said.
Certification by the censors
Five days before the film’s scheduled release, a review committee of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) unanimously decided to refer the decision related to the clearance of the film to the Film Certification Apellate Tribunal (FCAT). CBFC chairperson Leela Samson told PTI as much.
According to reports, the CBFC's revising committee refused a certificate to the film saying it promotes blind faith and superstition.
Amidst reports that the film had been cleared by Film Certification Appellate Tribunal (FCAT), Censor Board chief Leela Samson submitted her resignation. She was reported to have said, ‘It is a mockery of Central Board of Film Certification.’
2007: imitating Guru Gobind Singh; revoked pardon
The Times of India, Oct 17 2015
Akal Takht cancels Dera chief's pardon In a volte-face, Sikh high priests withdrew their `Gurmata' or resolution pardoning Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim for allegedly imitating Guru Gobind Singh in 2007. The preacher was pardoned on September 24 by the Akal Takht, and the revocation comes on the back of widespread condemnation of the hurried manner in which he was given a reprieve. Friday's move is being seen as a damage control exercise after violence flared up in a Faridkot village on October 12 when some Sikh organisations charged Dera followers with tearing up pages of the Guru Granth Sahib.
The jathedar of Akal Takht, Giani Gurbachan Singh, said the priests concluded that the community hadn't accepted the resolution; therefore, it was being cancelled.
MSG part 1: its release, revews and box-office performance
MSG was fnally cleared by the censor board and was released on 13th February, 2015, on a staggering 3000 screens. The only competition it had that week was from Roy, a box office dud starring Ranbir Kapoor and Jacqueline Fernandez, which was rescued from oblivion only by its hit songs. World cup cricket was the bigger rival for audience eyeballs.
Just before the film’s release KoiMoi.com reported, ‘ MSG – The Messenger’s Advance Booking Report Is Surprisingly Fantastic.’
KoiMoi.com’s review was not half as kind. It gave MSG: The Messenger 0/5 Stars and read, ‘What’s Good: The unintentional humour that reeks through every scene is the only thing that’ll keep you pinned to your seats, if anything. These hilarious moments which will occur time and again during the more-than-3-hour-long tirade will make your jaws drop in astonishment. The movie needed a big help from its visual effects team, and they have done their best to bring it to a watchable level. What’s Bad: It wasn’t enough that the makers went ahead and decided to shoot the film with a script that can be described in a few lines. No, they had to garnish it with extremely lousy action sequences, some really bad acting and an awful lot of propaganda meant for nothing but the glorification of Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh. That’s not all; as if he wasn’t satisfied with that, he went ahead and took the costume department under his command as well, and came up with some disturbingly tacky costumes for himself.’
However, within six days of the film’s release reports in the mainstream press started pouring in, declaring ‘MSG’ a sleeper hit.
IB Times reported in Feb 2015, ‘According to Indian Express, the film raked in ₹89 crore in six days. Also, a press release has been doing the rounds, which claims that the film has crossed ₹100 crore mark in India.
‘The screen count of the film also managed to stun everyone. Akshay Kumar's "Baby" and Ranbir Kapoor's "Roy", which were among the anticipated films of 2015, were released in less than 2500 screens.
‘However, BollywoodLife.com reports that the numbers are fake and the film hasn't got good response... The scenario is so bad that Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh eventually bought bulk tickets of his own movie," BollywoodLife.com sources said.
‘Also, trade website Bollywood Hungama has revealed the first week figure of the film, which stands at just ₹9.92 crore.
‘"With an average occupancy of about 50 per cent, MSG has also not done well," Manoj Desai of G7 Cinemas in Mumbai said.’
The film did so badly at the box office that KoiMoi.com did not bother to include it in its long list of the average (and above) performers of the year.
That did not deter His Excellency and his supporters from declaring the film a success: indeed, successful enough to merit a sequel within seven months of the release of Part 1.
Even The Times of India, which had ridiculed the film’s false and wildly inflated box office figures in February, seemed to agree with His Excellency in September. It began its story about the premiere of ‘MSG- 2’ thus, ‘After the success of MSG-1, Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim directed its sequel.’ (Emphasis added.)
Be that as it may, His Excellency is an absolute rockstar for his supporters, who created world records at the film’s open-air premiere, records that are unlikely to be bettered for decades.
MSG 2’s Sept ’15 premiere sets world record
Chetna Choudhry, The Times of India Sep 17, 2015 Over 1 lakh pour into Gurgaon for MSG-2
GURGAON: The premiere of Gurmeet Ram Rahim's sequel to 'MSG', in Gurgaon in Sept 2015 will stake a claim in the record books for the sheer size of the audience at the special screening at Leisure Valley Park.
Even the most conservative estimate of 1 lakh people, given by the police chief, bettered the Guinness record for the highest turnout at a movie screening by about four times. That record stands at 28,442 people, who watched 'Honor Flight' in 2012 in Wisconsin, US. As over 10,000 vehicles, including more than 300 buses, started arriving in the city since the morning, all major junctions reported heavy traffic.
Anticipating the turnout, Gurmeet Ram Rahim matched his sartorial theme with that of the movie — purple kurta and flared golden pajamas, with a ready song on his lips. But rain intervened to spoil his parade. The skies opened up around 9pm, disrupting the screening that had just reached 'interval' and, before long, it was pack-up time as no one wanted to take a chance with the elements or the crowd. If the record keepers choose to be fastidious and see this as a technically incomplete screening, a record might still be out of reach.
For the thousands of fans who had gathered to watch 'MSG-2 The Messenger', the disrupted screening brought back memories of the premiere of the previous 'MSG' movie at the same venue, which was called off at the eleventh hour due to lack of permissions.
This time, permissions had been taken care of The police had issued a traffic advisory a day in advance. Police had also asked the organizers to take people to the venue between 1pm and 4pm to avoid rush hour.
Twelve large LED screens were set up for the movie and two tents, one spread over eight acres a VIP enclosure over two acres, were packed with followers. The screening was scheduled for 6pm but began only at 8pm.
See also
Godmen and cult leaders: India <> Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Ji Insan <> Rampal Singh Jatin @ Rampal, cult leader <>
