After the disappearance of a young woman from Shahjahanpur, some of her fellow students have said they are being asked to post positive messages about Swami Chinmayanand on social media.
THE WEEK reached out to students of the law faculty at the Swami Shukdevanand Law College (SSLC). Three students said there was ‘tremendous pressure’ to write positive comments about Chinmayanand on social media.
The 23-year-old girl, who went missing, had uploaded a video on social media alleging that her life, like those of many other girls, has been destroyed by a ‘very big leader of the BJP’ who was a ‘sanyasi’. Chinmayanand, who heads the management committee of the SSLC, has been named in an FIR filed by the woman’s father after her disappearance.
One of these ‘positive messages’ that have appeared on social media over the past 24 hours questions why Chinmayanand is being targeted by the police when CCTV footage of the girl, being accompanied by a boy, has surfaced from Delhi. “Why is there a case against swamiji” asks the user. Another post from a different user says, “The case against the extremely venerated swamiji is both unfortunate and defamatory”. A third goes: “If the girl claims to have evidence, she should present it at once”.
A student leader from the college said there had been a falling out of some kind between Chinmayanand and the woman. “She had a job at the college library without having the necessary qualification. She was the only student whose birthday was celebrated by swami. Something must have gone wrong between them for her to post that video”, he said.
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Another student told THE WEEK, “She was capable of getting fee concessions, which even the principal could not. The buzz was that one only had to speak to her to get things done in the college. Everyone knew of the proximity between them”.
The woman’s parents have denied such allegations.
“My report to the police was based on what I saw in that video. What would an ordinary family like mine gain from taking on swami. When we first saw the video after it was out in the media, we concurred among ourselves (the family) about who my daughter could be talking about”, the woman's father Harish Sharma told THE WEEK. He further said his daughter’s application for the librarian’s job at the college was made after the post had been advertised.
“People are asking me why I sent her to the college. Should we stop educating our daughters because there are wolves out there. We got no concessions in fees. I had thought that after a masters’ degree, my daughter would be selected for the judicial services and do us proud”, he said.
The girl’s mother, Rajni, a school teacher, said the family had never met Chinmayanand. “Only our daughter can say what the truth is. We had scolded her when her phone was switched off for a few hours on August 14. But even then she did not say anything”, she added.
The police have said intensive efforts are on to trace the woman.
