Unholy row: Succession war leaves godman Ashutosh in a freezer for ten months

An uneasy calm prevails in Nurmahal, Jalandhar. A situation similar to the Sant Rampal’s Satlok ashram–Haryana police standoff is developing in a dera (Ashram) in Punjab. Defying the Punjab and Haryana High Court order, followers of Ashutosh Maharaj’s Divya Jyoti Jagriti Sansthan (DJJS) in Nurmahal (Jalandhar) have refused last rites of the Sant, who reportedly died 10 months ago. A large number of musclemen have been deployed around the ashram to prevent entry of the `unwanted people’. The court in its order on 1 December, has asked the Punjab government to perform the last rites of Ashutosh Maharaj within 15 days. Ashutosh Maharaj had been declared `clinically dead’ by doctors from Satgur Partap Singh Apollo Hospital, Ludhiana, on 29 January. But later his followers denied the visit of these doctors and instead claimed the guru had entered ‘Samadhi’ (deep meditation) and will come out of it anytime. Since then the ‘body’ of the Maharaj has been kept in deep freezer kept in the ashram. The followers reason that since the Guru was not dead but was only in Samadhi, there was no question of performing his last rites. A spokesman of the dera claimed Ashutosh Maharaj had gone in similar Samadhi thrice earlier in 1981, 1983 and 1987 for around a week and had come out of it. He will do the same now, he said. [caption id=“attachment_1832975” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Ashutosh Maharaj. [/caption] There has been a heavy rush of followers of the guru to the Divya Jyoti Jagriti Sansthan’s headquarters at Nurmahal ever since the High Court delivered it order a few days ago. Neither the police, nor journalists have been allowed to go inside the ashram as the followers have put up barricades around a kilometer from the sect headquarter. “We have decided to appeal in the Supreme court against the High Court order in which it was directed to cremate Ashutosh Maharaj’s body within 15 days,”says Swami Vishalananda, spokesman of the Dera. Such is the resistance of the followers that he Punjab police has so far failed to assess the body of the Sant or his dera completely. Trouble could erupt if the 200 strong police force tries to forcibly enter the `forbidden’ area. Dera’s security wing is controlling entry of the visitors to the ashram. The security wing has been frisking all the visitors and allowing inside only the true devotees. No one is allowed to go near the enclosure where the Sant is in Samadhi. The dera has deployed a heavy task force on the public road leading to the ashram. In such a situation, the state government and the police have adopted a very cautious approach. Yesterday Director General of Police, Punjab, Sumedh Saini held a meeting with SSP Jalandhar-Rural, Narender Bhargava in Chandigarh to formulate the police strategy to deal with the explosive situation. According to sources, government officials of Punjab are monitoring the situation closely to avoid any law and order situation. Dera’s decision to challenge the High Court order in the Supreme Court, may come as a reprieve to the administration as it could prevent an immediate confrontation with the followers of the Sant. DC, Jalandhar, KK Yadav said the district administration was handling the issue carefully to avoid any untoward incident. Orders of the court will be followed, he said. Incidentally, the Punjab and Haryana High Court order had come as a result of two petitions seeking a probe into Ashhutosh Maharaj’s `mysterious death’ and release of his body to perform last rites. The Court, however, had declined to give the mortal remains of the sant to Dalip kumar Jha from Bihar, who claimed to be the son of the Guru and another petitioner Puran Singh who had been the driver of the Sant. Dera also denied Dalip Kumar Jha was the son of Ashutosh Maharaj. The high court in its detailed judgment had observed that, “Exhibition of his (Ashutosh’s) body in a transparent refrigerator appears to be not in consonance with any tradition or ritual of Hindu religion. Exhibition of a dead man for any purpose except for `last darshan’ would be an insult to the dignity of the dead person.” The court in its order also observed that religious freedom was not an absolute right and was subject to various restrictions like public order, morality or health. It has come to light that the succession row in the Divya Jyoti Jagriti Sansthan had complicated the complex matter. It was not clear who will head the ashram after Ashutosh Maharaj. Sources say there is a tussle going on among two lobbies in the ashram on the succession issue. While one of the lobbies wants the successor from Nurmahal, the other group from Delhi one of its own to sit on the `gaddi’ vacated by the guru. Although the DJJS headquarters is situated in Punjab, Ashutosh Maharaj was born in a well-off, educated family in Nakhlor village of Darbhanga district, Bihar in 1946. His original name was Mahesh Kumar Jha. He left his wife and an infant son to become a disciple of Satpal Maharaj, founder of Manav Utthan Sewa Samiti (New Delhi). There he got a new name, Vedpravaktananda. In 1983, he decided to form his own sect in Punjab and thus was found the Divya Jyoti Jagriti Sansthan in Nurmahal, Jalandhar district on a 40-acre piece of land which based its teachings on the Vedas. Ashustosh Maharaj didn’t really get along well with the Sikhs. He had a tiff with the Sikh community when in 1998 he wore a turban at Khadoor Sahib. Later he was provided Z security by the Union government, while his dera was provided security by the Punjab police the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) appealed to the Sikh community a number of times to boycott the dera. In 2009 followers of the Dera and the Sikhs clashed in Ludhiana in which a person was killed in the police firing that ensued. People from various communities and religions became members of the DJJS which has as many as 36 centres in the country. The dera has been known to shift its political stand. The DJJS was reportedly considered close to the Congress when Capt Amarinder Singh was the chief Minister of the state in 2002-2007. It reportedly did not get along very well with the Akalis. At present the dera is said to be close to the BJP government at the centre, but the spokesman declined to comment on it. Talking to Firstpost, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) spokesman Manjit Singh said it was absolutely deplorable that politics and religion were being mixed by people for their benefits. “Greed for power is leading people to play this dirty game. Both religion and politics are trying to use each other which is playing havoc with the interest of the nation and its people. This must stop immediately if the society is not to be further divided,” he said. “There is tension in the city as a result of the entire episode. We hope the matter is resorted amicably. We don’t want a repeat of the Hisar incident here," said Jitender Singh, a resident of Jalandhar.