Friday, 25 April 2025
Friday, 25 April 2025
Politicians in poll-bound Bihar have latched onto a reported statement by a godman, Bageshwar Dham Sarkar, also known as Dhirendra Krishna Shastri, calling for a Hindu rashtra.
“The trumpet of Hindu Rashtra will be blown from Bihar. Hindu Rashtra has to be made in the hearts of Hindus, not on paper. So that no one points a finger at Sanatan, saints, Hindus, temples are not destroyed, nor Hindus are divided into castes,” Bageshwar was quoted as saying by Zee News during a religious discourse in Gopalganj.
Election strategist-turned-Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor lashed out at the religious leader on Monday during a press conference in Darbhanga.
“The country is run by the principles laid down in the Constitution and not according to the diktats of babas,” Kishor said. “Of course, all have the freedom to express their views in a democracy…But it must be remembered that laws governing the country are framed in Parliament, the members of which are elected by the people. Things are not decided in discourses (darbar) of babas.”
He said, “the Constitution, which has been guided by the wisdom of Mahatma Gandhi, clearly states that India shall be a secular country. The words of a Baba do not carry greater weight than Gandhi.”
Lok Janashakti Party leader and Union minister Chirag Paswan said that a sizeable portion of the population agrees with Bageshwar, while adding that the country will run according to the Constitution.
The BJP ally party’s leader said: “This is not the first time he has said this. Bageshwar has always expressed his wish that he wants to see India becoming a Hindu Rashtra. Those who agree with him, they attend his events and have faith in him. A big portion of the population agrees with him. Without going into what he is saying and what not, the country will run according to the Constitution... I have said this before, there is no need for any political party to interfere in this.”
Bageshwar, who had earlier reportedly claimed to heal the sick, exorcise spirits and even solve business woes, has called for a Hindu nation before.
On February 19, 2023, he had also called for Hindu Rashtra and Sanatan Bharat in Chhattisgarh, per a report in Zee News.
In May 2023, Bageshwar was quoted as saying: “One day a saint asked me if a Hindu nation is possible since I am advocating for the same. I smiled and replied that India is already a Hindu nation and it’s just that the announcement is pending,” he said, reported the Financial Express.
According to a report in the ANI, he also said that “Pakistan could be turned into a Hindu nation if the people of Gujarat stay united.”
In November 2024, he resurfaced again with the same demand during a padayatra in Chattarpur, Delhi, according to a report in TV9 Bharatvarsh.
In January 2025, during a visit to Puri’s Jagannath temple, he reportedly urged Hindus to come together to create Hindu nation and said that the trumpet of creating a Hindu nation can be blown only from Odisha, according to local media.
Shastri has also been an active proponent of ‘ghar wapsi’, or “re-conversion” to Hinduism.
In September 2024, according to a report in the Amar Ujala, he alleged that an NCERT Class 3 textbook promoted “love jihad” because it contained a letter exchange between a Hindu girl and a Muslim boy.
“Why is Reena writing to Ahmed?” he questioned.
Shastri gained prominence as the priest of the Bageshwar Dham temple in Madhya Pradesh’s Chhatarpur district.
He found himself in the limelight in 2023 when the Maharashtra-based All India Superstition Eradication Committee (Akhil Bhartiya Andhashraddha Nimulan Samiti) threw him a challenge to demonstrate his miracles in a public forum. The miracle-working baba left town.
The committee, led by rationalist Shyam Manav, filed a complaint against him under Maharashtra’s Anti-Superstition and Black Magic Act, accusing him of promoting blind faith and exploiting people.
The police found no grounds to prosecute.
Later, Shastri invited anyone sceptical of his divine abilities to witness them in Raipur instead.
“I am just a servant at the feet of Bageshwar Balaji. I do as he inspires me,” he said, washing his hands of the entire controversy.
