Virendra Dev Dixit -- an offshoot of Brahma Kumaris sect

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It is one thing to be the victim of a religious cult, but what about the perpetrators? These latter vary from commonplace conmen to abnormal megalomaniacs. The latter are the greater threat, especially if deranged or unscrupulous. This seems to be the case with Virendra Dev Dixit, the head of Adhyatmik Ishwariya Vishwa Vidyalaya. On December 19, the Delhi High Court ordered a raid on one of his ashrams in Rohini. Subsequently, a team led by Swati Maliwal, head of the Delhi Commission of Women, inspected other premises. TV reports showed warrens of cramped and barricaded cells in which the inmates, among them minors, were confined. Maliwal was quick to accuse the Baba of “running a human trafficking racket”. The Delhi High Court ordered a CBI investigation on the goings-on of the organisation. In the meanwhile, Dixit, the “Baba” behind the whole racket, is absconding.

Who, then, is this man? He heads a breakaway faction of the internationally renowned Brahma Kumari sect. The Brahma Kumari is a UN-recognised, new, religious movement founded by Lekhraj Kripalani in Karachi in 1936.

They have over 8500 centres worldwide and several million followers. Dixit came in contact with them in Ahmedabad in 1969, the year that Lekhraj passed away. Dixit ostensibly tried to take over the movement by claiming that Lekhraj’s spirit had entered his body. But the Brahma Kumaris refused to accept his claim; he was driven out of Ahmedabad and Mount Abu, the headquarters of the movement.

Subsequently, Dixit moved to Delhi, claiming to represent the purer front flank of the Brahma Kumaris. He attracted several disenchanted dropouts so that by 1976 his group came to be called the “Advance Party.” But, again, there was an altercation with the main group of the Brahma Kumaris. Dixit left Delhi to set up his headquarters in Kampil in Uttar Pradesh. He proclaimed himself to be “Krishna”, promising his followers that he would create a new world with the help of his “gopis”. Hence all the women inmates in his various ashrams.

This is not the first time that Dixit has been in trouble with the law. In 1998 he was arrested and jailed for six months; the Income Tax department also raided his ashram in Kampil. No wonder, he kept a somewhat low profile during the last nearly 20 years. But the recent raids have revealed his shocking and disgraceful activities. He is once again in the spotlight. The law will, of course, take its course. However, I am afraid that is not enough. As a nation, we need better awareness and education to prevent the recurrence of such tribulations meted out to the helpless and hapless