by Nirmala Carvalho

Charged with sexual assault against a 15-year-old girl, guru Asaram Bapu claims to be the victim of a "plot" orchestrated by Sonia Gandhi, leader of the ruling and secular-oriented Congress party. For the president of the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC), the holy man "is a coward who wants to divert attention from his many crimes."

Mumbai ( AsiaNews) - "This so-called spiritual leader uses religious conversions only to divert attention away from the serious charge of rape against him," said Sajan George, president of the Global Council of Indian Christians ( GCIC ), as he spoke about a Hindu holy man, Asaram Bapu, who made slanderous statements against Sonia Gandhi, head of the ruling and secular-oriented Congress party, and her son Rahul.

Last week, the guru, 72, was accused of raping a 15-year-old girl, who was on a visit with her family to the holy man's ashram in Jodhpur (Rajasthan). In denying the charges, Asaram Bapu blamed Sonia and Rahul Gandhi as the "architects of a plot" against him.

"I am not against any party", the holy man yesterday said, "but some people told me that the woman and her son are behind this [the rape charges]. I heard that those who are behind religious conversions receive their support. "

"This so-called spiritual leader spews poison and indulges in a dishonest and unfounded hate campaign, which shows his cowardice," Sajan George told AsiaNews.

"Asaram Bapu is not only guilty of raping a minor but has been involved in several controversies, including allegations of land grabs, murder and attempted murder," said the GCIC president, who was recently awarded a prize named in honour of Martin Luther King.

Speaking about "religious conversions," Sajan George noted that those are loaded words to mean Christians, who are often accused by Hindu extremists of practicing forced conversions.

"If that were true," he said, "why is it that the percentage of Christians has been steadily falling?" In fact, back in 1971, Christians were 2.8 per cent [of the population], but in 2011 they were 2.3 per cent."

"Alluding to Sonia Gandhi's Italian origins is an old political trick Hindu extremists use," the Christian leader added.

In March this year, Ms Gandhi celebrated 15 years as Congress president. When she was first elected, her party ruled in three States, now it rules in three more.

Asaram Bapu is not new to outlandish statements. In January, some of his statements about a gang rape in New Delhi elicited strong criticism. On that occasion, he said that the victim, a 23-year-old woman who later died from her injuries, was "equally responsible" for her attack.

• india
• guru
• asaram
• bapu
• religious
• conversions