Indian guru convicted of rape has millions of devoted followers – and a Bollywood franchise where he saves the world
Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh has started a film franchise in which he stars as the “Messenger of God,” or MSG, with divine powers to save the world
The millions of followers of the flashy Indian guru consider him the embodiment of God on Earth.
When he appears in a “darshan,” or audience, once a week at his ashram in Haryana state’s Sirsa town, the guru of the Dera Sacha Sauda sect, who calls himself Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, makes his followers weep and clap and flatten themselves to the ground at the sight of him. The sect claims as many as 50 million followers.
Like many spiritual leaders who find blind devotion in the still largely conservative nation of 1.3 billion, the 50-year-old promotes vegetarianism, campaigns against drug addiction and holds massive blood donation camps.
The burly, bearded guru, who according to the sect’s website was born to a wealthy landowner in Rajathan, became the sect’s third guru when he was anointed in 1990 at age 23 as the reincarnation of the previous leader.
But the bling-loving leader – he’s fond of red leather jackets, bejewelled hats, bicep-baring T-shirts – has another love: Cinema.