NEW DELHI: Reacting strongly over the Hathras stampede incident which claimed 121 lives at an event held by ‘Bhole Baba’ alias Surajpal Singh, Uttar Pradesh governor Anandiben Patel on Friday urged people that they should not indulge in display of blind faith.
“You know that an incident occurred in Hathras recently. People lost their lives…I pray for the departed souls.But besides this, when we talk about educating, I believe that we should not do things before people that would lead to such incidents…When someone says, ‘Have my charanraj and touch it to your head, all your pain and difficulties will go away,’ does it actually happen?…Display of blind faith and speaking such things before followers is a crime. I believe that they should be punished for it…We are making an effort to free people from blind faith”, she added further.
‘Death a matter of destiny’
Bhole Baba, a self-proclaimed godman who on Wednesday said that ‘death is inevitable and a matter of destiny’.
Upon arriving at his Kasganj ashram from Mainpuri with his wife and lawyer, he addressed the media, saying, “Who can avoid the inevitable? Everyone who comes into this world must leave someday.”
Bhole Baba then shifted the focus, suggesting a conspiracy against him. “Our counsel, A P Singh, and eyewitnesses reported that a poisonous gas was sprayed at the gathering. This indicates a plot to damage my reputation,” he alleged.