Saints to expose fake counterparts

Apparently concerned over the exposure of Rampal, the All India Akhara Parishad (AIAP), an apex body of saints and sadhus in the country, has decided to identify the fake saints and expose them.

The parishad was mulling forming of a separate body comprising the ‘Dharmacharyas’-religious leaders, and entrust it with the task of ‘exposing’ the fake saints and protecting the genuine ones.

Parishad sources said the proposed ‘Dharmacharya Board’ members would visit the ‘ashrams’ and ‘mutts’ all over the country in a secret manner and collect information about their functioning and the concerned saints.

“The information gathered will then be used to prepare a list of the fake saints. The list will be given to the parishad, which in turn, will initiate action against them and expose them before the people,” said a senior parishad office bearer.

He said that the idea behind the exercise was to protect the innocent people from being exploited by those, who have penetrated the ashrams and mutts only to make money and use them as a means to satisfy their lust.

“Such fake saints have proved to be the biggest enemy of the religion. They bring bad name to the vast majority of genuine saints and sadhus, who do nothing but show the people the way to salvation,” the office bearer added.

He said that the parishad would soon convene a meeting of the prominent saints from across the country and discuss the plan. “We hope to start the job of identifying fake saints very soon,” he said.

The Akhara Parishad consists of 13 prominent ‘akharas’. The AIAP also organised the ‘Kumbh’ in different parts of the country.