美国国家公共电台 NPR After 'Guru Of Bling' Sentencing, Indian State Stays On Alert For Violence

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RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Now a story about a crime that triggered more crime. In India, a charismatic, self-styled guru has been sentenced to 20 years for raping¹ two female disciples² 15 years ago. His conviction last week unleashed³ a torrent⁴ of violence. Thirty-eight people were killed as throngs⁵ of devotees rampaged. And yesterday, thousands of police and paramilitary were deployed⁷ for the sentencing. Here's NPR's Julie McCarthy.

JULIE MCCARTHY, BYLINE⁸: A 15-minute drive from Chandigarh, an army convoy⁹ combs the streets of Panchkula, a palm-fringed city where Gurmeet Ram⁶ Rahim Singh's supporters left a trail of destruction after the court here convicted him of rape¹⁰ last Friday. Cars were burned, columns of motorcycles were set on fire, government buildings were attacked. The deputy commissioner¹¹ of police told NPR that 900 people have been detained in the unrest.

Monday, the army was on standby in the city of Rohtak where the once-celebrated guru Singh broke down at his sentencing inside the prison where he's being held. Local media at the hearing said the burly, bearded guru had to be dragged back to his cell, weeping. Human rights lawyer Navkiran Singh says the 20-year sentence isn't enough. He says that the chief of the Dera Sacha Sauda sect¹² had intimidated¹³ witnesses and is under investigation¹⁴ for killing¹⁵ one of them.

The judge was flown to the prison to deliver the sentence rather than risk transporting Singh back to court where his devotees might repeat Friday's mayhem. Navkiran Singh says that was a perversion¹⁶ of justice.

NAVKIRAN SINGH: Well, it does belittle¹⁷ the judicial¹⁸ system. It still goes a long way to the mind of the people that the man is too powerful.

MCCARTHY: Lawyers for Singh had begged for leniency¹⁹, citing his age - he's 50 - and his work planting trees and helping²⁰ those with drug addiction²¹. But the sentencing judge, Jagdeep Singh, said the guru had acted like a wild beast and did not spare pious²² followers²⁴. He wasn't entitled to mercy. Part showman, part spiritual leader, Singh scripted and starred in his own movies that exalted²⁵ him as the messenger of God, a message that former follower²³ Gurdas Singh Toor says was drilled into disciples.

Singh Toor travels with an armed guard.

GURDAS SINGH TOOR: (Speaking Hindi).

MCCARTHY: Needed protection, he says, after cooperating on criminal investigations²⁶ against the guru, including one that accuses him of encouraging followers to undergo castration to be closer to God, a charge the sect leader denies. Singh Toor explains part of his appeal. He says many of the followers are Sikh Dalits, victims of discrimination who sit at the lowest rung of the social hierarchy²⁷. He says the guru offered them in the sect what they were deprived of in day-to-day life.

SINGH TOOR: (Speaking Hindi).

MCCARTHY: "He would make people feel respected, bestowing²⁸ titles for deeds they did," Singh says. "Someone who married a prostitute would be called the magnanimous man as large as an elephant. He elevated their status if they donated blood, calling them honorable and closer to God," Singh explains. Singh says it will take time for these followers to come to terms with life without their guru. He languishes²⁹ now in prison, a rare case of a self-styled spiritual leader being held to account.

Lawyers for Ram Rahim Singh say he will appeal. Julie McCarthy, NPR News, Chandigarh.