Rampal

Rampal was born Rampal Singh Jatin in Dhanana, a village in the Gohana tehsil of Sonepat district, Punjab (part of Haryana since 1966). His father Nand Lal was a farmer, and his mother Indira Devi was a housewife.[15][16] [17]

He obtained a diploma from the Civil engineering from Govt. Polytechnic Nilokheri, and then worked as a junior engineer in the Government of Haryana's Irrigation department.[18] In 1995, he resigned from the job.[17][19]

Rampal is married to Naro Devi. They have two sons and two daughters. The family lived in the Barwala ashram until the siege.[17]

According to his official biography, Rampal was an ardent devotee of the Hindu deities Hanuman, Krishna and Khatushyam. He states that he never achieved salvation, well-being or peace as a result of this devotion. One day, he met Swami Ramdevanand, a spiritual leader of the Kabir panth. Swami Ramdevanand told him that he could not attain salvation through the prevalent religious practices, which were a "false web" spread by the Hindu trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh, along with their parents Brahm ("Kaal Niranjan") and Durga ("Ashtangi Aadi Maya").[20]

Rampal states that he then studied several spiritual books, including Bhagavad Gita, Kabir Sagar, Sat Granth by Garib Das, and "all the Puranas". He claims to have found evidence supporting the statements of Swami Ramdevanand in these books. He claims that he started an intense jaap (meditative repetition of naam or god's name), after which he started experiencing "mental peace and extreme happiness".[20]

In 1994, Swami Ramdevanand asked him to start preaching.[20] He gained local popularity by touring various villages and cities in Haryana. He became so busy that he resigned from his job in May 1995.[20] His resignation was formally accepted in 2000, with effect from 1995.[20]

In 1999, Rampal founded the Satlok Ashram in Karotha village of Rohtak district, drawing on his following from within the Kabir panth. At that time, he lived in Shastri Nagar of Rohtak with his wife and two sons; his two daughters had married.[15]

During the 2000s, he established several other ashrams, and gained followers in Rohtak and Jhajjar districts of Haryana.[8]

In 2006, Rampal raised objections to certain parts of Satyarth Prakash, the central text of the Arya Samaj religious sect. He termed these parts as "impractical and anti-social". This angered the followers of Arya Samaj, who surrounded his ashram, eventually resulting in a clash between the followers of two sects on 12 July 2006.[8] During the clash, one person named Sonu was shot dead, and 59 more were injured.[21][22][23] Rampal was charged with murder and attempted, and jailed for 22 months. His followers claim that he was falsely implicated in the case. Rampal was forced to vacate the Karontha ashram.[21]

Another complaint of forgery was filed against him a day after the 2006 clashes. According to this complaint, the sale of land for his Karontha ashram was fabricated using impersonation.[22] Rampal's followers claim that they had no role to play in this impersonation, and the person who sold the land was at fault.[24] On 1 May 2018, the court acquitted Rampal and his followers Rajender and Ravinder Dhaka in the land grab case registered in 2006.[25]

After Rampal was released on bail in 2008, he set up his base in Barwala, Hisar.[8] In 2009, the High Court returned the Karontha ashram to him.[26][27] An appeal against the judgement was filed by Haryana government and Arya Pratinidhi Sabha, but was rejected by the apex court in February 2013.[28] On 1 May 2018, Judicial Magistrate Harish Goyal of Rohtak Court acquitted Rampal and three others in Karontha Ashram land forgery case and rather held the complainants guilty.[29][30]

After obtaining bail, Rampal did not appear in court regularly, for trial in the murder case.[31] His followers were inside the karontha ashram when Arya Samaj-affiliated villagers in an attempt to attack the ashram clashed with the police protecting the ashram in May 2013, which resulted in death of 3 people and around 100 people were injured.[32][33] Unable to check the villagers, the police forced Rampal followers to leave the Karontha ashram, and move to Barwala ashram. Arya Samaj activists demanded his arrest and trial.[34] On 14 May 2014, he appeared in the Hissar court through a video link. On this occasion, his followers entered the court premises and created chaos.[35] Rampal is a controversial preacher but has large number of followers in Haryana state of India and in other parts of Northern India.[36]

In July 2014, Rampal's followers again tried to disrupt the court proceedings.[16] In September 2014, Rampal was asked to appear before the Punjab and Haryana High Court in Chandigarh, in a contempt of court case. The local administration imposed Section 144 and deployed 2,000 police personnel to prevent his followers from entering the city. Despite this, thousands of followers gathered in the city, although Rampal did not appear before the court.[37]

Rampal claims to be an incarnation of Kabir, whom he considers to be the supreme god.[52][53] He claims that all the major religious scriptures — including Vedas, Gita, Quran, Bible and Guru Granth Sahib — name Kabir as the supreme god.[54] Some of his followers consider him an incarnation of Kabir.[16]

Rampal preaches against temple visits, Dowry, idol worship, donations, untouchability, adultery and "vulgar singing and dancing". He is strictly against the consumption of tobacco and alcohol as he believes that it incurs great sin and causes immense suffering in next lives.[55]

• Official website