Mumbai: Complaint filed against self-styled godman for controversial remarks about Sai Baba

A complaint has been lodged against Dhirendra Krishna Shastri, the self-styled godman and head of Bageshwar Dham, for making controversial remarks against Sai Baba. The complaint was filed at the Bandra police station in Mumbai.

Rrahul Kanal, a leader from the Thackeray group, has filed a complaint against Dhirendra Krishna Shastri at the Bandra police station in Mumbai. Kanal expressed that Bageshwar does not have the right to speak about Saibaba.

Taking to his Twitter, Rrahul Kanal writes, "We, the people of India, are witnessing a malicious and hateful campaign against our beloved Sai Baba by Bhageshwar Dham , He has been addressing beloved Sai Baba with disrespect and pure intention of spreading hatred mainly spreading false information , This kind of behavior isnot acceptable in any society and we must take a stand against it. We urge all citizens to come together to condemn this act and make sure that such activities are not repeated in the future. I have lodged my complaint to Add CP and DCP of mumbai police and to shirdi sai baba sansthan to ban his entry and also lodge an FIR in shirdi against this man ,Such a person should be arrested and also banned in Maharashtra."

We, the people of India, are witnessing a malicious and hateful campaign against our beloved Sai Baba by Bhageshwar Dham , He has been addressing beloved Sai Baba with disrespect and pure intention of spreading hatred mainly spreading false information , This kind of behavior is pic.twitter.com/95k4OiSI10

— Rrahul Narain Kanal (@Iamrahulkanal) April 3, 2023

Speaking at a religious event in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, Dhirendra Shastri said that Sai Baba can be called a saint or fakir, but he cannot be called a God.

“Shankaracharya ji has not given Sai Baba the place of a deity. Pbeying Shankaracharya ji is the duty of every Sanatani because he is the prime minister of our ‘dharm’. Any saint of our dharma, be it Goswami Tulsidas ji or Surdas ji, is a saint, a great man, a ‘yug purush’, a ‘kalpa purush’ but not a God.”

“People have their faith. We cannot hurt anyone’s faith. Sai Baba can be a saint, a fakir but he cannot be a God,” he added.

Dhirendra Shastri, popularly called Bageshwar Dham Sarkar, is the head priest of Bageshwar Dham in Madhya Pradesh’s Chhatarpur district. He is widely popular in the state and other parts of the country. He travels across the country for religious addresses known as ‘katha’.