Now ‘Akhil Bharatiya Akhara Parishad’ will award sainthood to avoid fake babas

Lucknow, September 11: In a bid to weed out fake babas, the Akhil Bharatiya Akhara Parishad has decided to formulate a process to award the title of 'saint'. The body has also released a list of fake babas that includes names of Asaram, Radhe Maa, Gurmeet Ram Rahim, Narayan Sai, Nirmal Baba, Om Baba.

"We are going to send copies of this list to the Centre, the state governments as well as all the opposition parties with the demand that a strong legislation be brought to check the activities of these self-styled cult leaders," Giri told reporters here.

He also claimed that he had yesterday received a phone call from a person claiming to be a devotee of Asaram, who "threatened to kill me if a mention was made of his guru in the list of fake babas we planned to bring out today".

"An FIR has been lodged at the Daryaganj police station in the city, based on a complaint of Giri. The matter is being investigated," Senior Superintendent of Police of Allahabad Anand Kulkarni said.

The top body of Hindu religious leaders came up with this plan following the conviction of Gurmeet Ram Rahim. Large-scale violence took place in various parts of Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan following his conviction by the court in the two cases. Forty-one people were killed in Haryana in the clashes.