Dinesh Kamath's news item 'Bapu’s men defend their spiritual guru' that was published in Newsband

No Holi for Asaram Bapu and his people, says the govt

Bapu’s men defend their spiritual guru

By Dinesh Kamath

NAVI MUMBAI: The Maharashtra government has banned self-proclaimed spiritual guru Asaram Bapu's Holi celebrations. The directive comes after Asaram Bapu, along with his followers, continued to indulge in pre-Holi revelry in Navi Mumbai in defiance of an earlier government order against it. The festivities have been widely criticised for resulting in wastage of thousands of litres of water at a time when the state is facing its worst drought since 1972.

But Asaram Bapu’s men did not agree that the revelries amounted to wastage of water. They defended Asaram Bapu by saying that Palaash flowers, tulsi, neem, Ganga jal and other ingredients were mixed with water and this had medicinal value and hence Bapu’s followers treated it as Prasad. They further argued that this formula was from the scriptures and Bapu's followers have found that this solution prevents skin diseases, cools down body temperature and casts away depression.

Asaram Bapu's followers had assaulted journalists at his Holi celebrations yesterday in Navi Mumbai. Three media persons were injured and the police have now arrested 23 people on connection with the incident. Asaram Bapu’s men once again defended the spiritual leader by blaming the media persons for the ugly incident that took place.