Yoga guru Ramdev on Tuesday said “self-styled godmen” involved in illegal activities should be hanged. “Whoever violates those limits should not only be sent to jail, but should be hanged till death,” PTI quoted Ramdev as saying in Rajasthan’s Kota. “There should not be any compromise on this.”
Ramdev claimed that wearing saffron clothes was not the only criterion to be a religious leader, ANI reported. “There is a protocol for every job, same is with the babas [preachers],” he said. “Just by donning saffron clothes, one cannot be called a baba. It is all about character.”
His comments came on the day the police questioned religious leader Daati Maharaj, who is accused of raping a disciple in his ashrams in Delhi and Rajasthan.
Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh of Dera Sacha Sauda, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh member Aseemanand, Nithyanand, Asaram and his son Narayan Sai, Radhe Ma, Sachidanand Giri are some of the other well-known religious leaders who have either been accused of or convicted of criminal charges in recent years.
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