But first, you have to send him all your cash:
He promised them “light in their lives.”
He laughed with them, danced with them and, most importantly, he prayed for them.
Mohammad Roshan Zameer was the name he gave. Though, with their pockets empty, his alleged victims now wonder if even that was real.
And they may never know.
Because after several members of Peel Region’s Hindu community forked over hundreds of thousands of dollars to the alleged Swami Swindler, he upped and left, leaving nary a coin — or prayer — behind.
On the 540 AM Punjabi Lehran radio show he first spoke on in July, the man became known as Roshan bhai — “Brother Roshan” in Hindi. Roshan means “illumination” or “light.” (link)
It’s an age-old tradition — the God-touting charlatan. I’m always shocked that anyone still falls for it, but I guess there’s a sucker born every minute. In this case, it’s somewhat impressive that “Roshan Bhai” was able to convince members of Toronto’s Hindu community (at least, according to the Toronto Sun) to give money to someone who seemed to be identifying himself as a Muslim holy man. (This point is a bit unclear.)
The Toronto Sun story in particular has one sad-but-funny detail: one of the victims of Roshan Bhai, Paramjit Bhullar, went so far as to actually use a spycam to tape conversations with the charlatan. Despite his suspicions, he still ended up losing $60,000 to Mr. Roshan Bhai.
Are there any Toronto readers who might have heard more about this story?
Um, how does one ascertain whether a prayer that one paid for was really prayed or not? I see how the person who prays can claim credit for any success that might befall the recipient, but what sort of proof-of-purchase can be offered for vaporware like “I will pray for you”?
doesn’t really matter who prays or for what, some would say god doesn’t really listen to prayers but gives you exactly what you need for Him/Her to do His/Her work on/in you and shape you.
While visiting an aunt stationed in Mangalore, we visited a few of the temples. The places had a ‘menu’ of prayers listed by length and price, and a little old woman behind a counter processed your payment on her computer (they even took plastic!) I’m not especially religious, but my mom made a donation and they gave her a receipt. I never asked if it was answered, and it’s probably for the best. I’m not sure what God’s return policy is.
While visiting an aunt stationed in Mangalore, we visited a few of the temples. The places had a ‘menu’ of prayers listed by length and price, and a little old woman behind a counter processed your payment on her computer (they even took plastic!) I’m not especially religious, but my mom made a donation and they gave her a receipt. I never asked if it was answered, and it’s probably for the best. I’m not sure what God’s return policy is.
AR, it’s a little different with this guy. Millions of people make donations to religious institutions all the time, knowing full well what they’re doing (it’s considered a central part of belonging for most people). I have no issue with that practice (even if some people pay by credit card); indeed, whenever I visit my local Gurdwara I donate my $1 like everybody else…
But this guy is promising people stupid stuff like “You will win $21 million in the lottery if you first give me $250,000 in cash”… He’s appealing to people’s greed, and exploiting their gullibility. I might feel sympathy for someone to whom he promised a cure for cancer, but I’m actually not very sympathetic to Paramjit Bhullar, who seemed to just want Roshan Bhai to make him rich…
South Indian temples have archanas which you need to pay for, and where the priest mumbles Sanskrit invocations in arbitrary intonations occassionally pausing to yell “peru?” (Name) and “gothram?” (Gothram, obviously) so he can insert the appropriate syllables in his mantra madlib (in order that God knows exactly whom to direct the blessings to). This guy doesn’t seem much different, except he seems to believe in a commission based (1%) pricing model. Would it have been more acceptable if he had charged a $5 entry fee instead of $250,000?
I don’t see much difference between the two models of delivering questionable (to put it charitably) returns in return for monetary investment, except that one is more socially recognized.
Also, out of curiosity, a question directly related to what Mr. I will
brightenlighten your pockets did: Are his actions illegal? If so, why? Just want to make sure the lawyers in the house stay busy with their pro browno work.Pure speculation, but if a “holy man” is trying to exploit people’s greed, the novelty aspect of being from a different religion might actually help his cause. Also, there is this stereotype of a “mystic sufi god-man” perpetuated by trashy Hindi movies. Perhaps, subconsciously that helped the victims feel more comfortable in trusting him.
I read the raticle and to be fair it seems like this Bhullar guy actually first went to see the priest to talk about family problems and then got ‘brainwashed’ into the idea of winning the lottery?? Maybe he thouht the win could help him solve whatever family problem he had.
The saddest/stupidest thing is this Bhullar fella had to take out a line of credit to pay the $60,000. I dread to think how many people have taken life savings to pay this con artist.
I’m sure this isn’t something confined to desi community either…
I agree that the giving of money to religious institutuons and even the practice of paying for a blessing or getting tabeez (those pendants people have with prayers inside) feels acceptable.
This however was just a downright con, amazing how he managed to swindle so many people!
I suppose they are slightly different, Amardeep, but I’m always a little appalled when people throw money at god/religious institutions to answer their prayers(unless of course, they pray for rain).
Amardeep said
You shouldn’t be surprised. Even the most intelligent people have times in their lives when they are particularly vulnerable to unscrupulous swindlers like this. That they prey on people who are suffering is particularly disgusting.
3 · AR said
I think gawd won’t sell you what you don’t need.
I recall from Maximum City there were some Hindu Shiva Sena members with blood on their hands who patronized Sufi shrines. Even the far right of the Hindu spectrum is not particularly concerned about theology.
Theology? For anyone who is so far to the right it is rarely about theology, IMO. Power is the driver.
Theology? For anyone who is too far to the right it is rarely about theology, IMO. Power is the driver.
There’s a guy on a US Christian channel who does much the same – donate $1000 and unspecified future wealth will be yours at some unspecified date in the future. Fascinating stuff.
That should teach him a lesson.
All he needed to do was watch THE SECRET for free on youtube.
Where were these people when common sense was being handed out?
If soemone is looking for an easy fix, it’s almost a given they’re going to get swindled, rather than told the truth:
Sri Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita (7:16-18):
hmh, do I win the Pardesi Gori guessing game this time? Or at least a thanks for playing? (Good choice of clues, btw).
no rahul…the pardesi desi…but i tried really hard at this assimilation thing…=)
Someone enlighten me here:
Just because it “feels acceptable” — which I think is the case merely because it’s more familiar — is it really any different from what Roshan Bhai was promising? I don’t see any difference at all, frankly. Almost all mainstream religions seem to have a version of this — e.g. the Catholic mass offered in your name or the name of a loved one — and to my mind, they are all exactly equivalent to Roshan Bhai’s sales pitch, except perhaps in intent. It is possible, perhaps, that some or most Catholic priests seriously believe Mrs. X’s $20 are going to get them a special audience with a big man in the sky, while Roshan Bhai probably never believed any such thing himself.
totally agree with you brownelf…spirituality/religiosity is not something that can be bought. it takes work. it requires self-effort, a change from within…but who wants to do that when you can buy god for a few bucks?
How’s this any different from Ajmeri Baba or Peer Syed Sahib? These people are always advertising on the desi channels (ATN and the like) and it’s always been unclear to me which religion they’re practicing.
There’s no dearth of conmen in the world, but it seems there’s no dearth of idiots either. Whoever gave this conman their money deserves to have lost it.
You can always pray yourself for free if you’re so inclined.
I’ve always wondered: what does it take to be a good and effective
congodman? A “friend” wants to know.Does a beard help? What about an ability to reproduce the collected works of Oprah Chopra? How do you convey the combination of optimism and co-dependence that will encourage the
idiotsbelievers to part with their money to you in return for benediction?But Roshan Bai wasn’t offereing prayers to make some feel better or asking for donation to a church/ mosque/ temple which most times are used for refurbishments – These are gains for the community thus deemed acceptable.
Roshan Bai offered something crazy and these people laped it up – a win to the lottery
Part of something I wrote up in an email to the SAWnet listserve, 05/2007:
So everyone here has been upset over the proliferation of so-called “false babas” in India. These babas come to Vancouver and Toronto, rent beautiful homes, and drive luxurious cars. They implore their followers for money and other forms of support. Sometimes they teach out of an adjusted or modified Guru Granth Sahib. And they always leave richer than they left.
Not anymore, though. The Indian community in Vancouver recently banded together to throw out one such prophet because they claimed he was misleading and manipulating Indians living there. They staged a community intervention, in which long bearded Sikhs turned out with women clad in Punjabi suits. The discussion that ensued was broadcast on a local Punjabi news show and it was loud and filled with excitement, but the outcome was clear: the new baba from India had far too much money and demanded way too much style to be a genuinely holy man. He was performing miracles, but the results of his efforts were suspect.
The Edmonton Indians, interviewed on India Radio in Vancouver, said that the baba had planned to come to their community after reaping his reward in Vancouver. We’ve heard about the whole thing, they said. And he’s certainly not going to be welcome here after what went down in Vancity.
I guess its not a surprise that a drama with similar themes is now being played out in the Punjab, where a local guru with 1.5 million followers, who sometimes appears with a crown as a self styled king, dressed up in Guru Gobind’s ceremonial clothes and emulated him- something which Sikhs are forbidden to do. No man should be worshipped as a guru other than the Adi Granth, because under Sikhism, all people are equal. You aren’t supposed to even pretend to be favoured above others in that fashion. So naturally, Sikhs were not happy. Indian media did a wonderful job explaining it, and because it was such a big deal even in expatriate communities, the BBC and the CBC covered it as well.
I loved the BBC’s explanation of this news- they had obviously done their research. But the CBC’s version depicted Sikhs as almost inexplicably savage, ending with threats to kill anyone who tried to be a Guru. Anyway, if you want to read about this latest contretemps, the stories are here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6670569.stm
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2007/05/18/bc-sikh.html
http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20070012712
http://68.178.224.54/udayavani/showstory.asp?news=0&contentid=417991&lang=1
I’m hesitant to walk all over this “guru”, although it does seem he deserves it- because he has a strong Dalit following, and lord knows, the Dalits need options on which ideology they can follow. I’ll leave it to you to decide whether you think he is shady 😉
India Radio= Radio India
its a powerful community mouthpiece
Also, one of my California Sikh friends and his cousins were collecting really hilarious questions to ask Ajmeri Baba the last I heard. They planned to take up a collection, have a party, and put him on speakerphone. Some of the questions were so funny, delivered in a serious tone, that I’m sure the results couldn’t be anything but amusing- that’s Ajmeri Haha, to you.
1 · pingpong said
Well, I’ve been friends with a few pirs and fakirs in my disreputable youth; it was rather a lucrative business at one point (even more so if you could get a politician as an acolyte).
In most cases you mumble something (ostensibly the prayer) and blow on the supplicant or some symbolic prop (e.g. the pen with which the supplicant’s daughter will take her matriculation exam), and the supplicant goes away convinced and happy.
i have wondered this as well. 🙂
i think an important thing is a “show of strength” through effective pr. you have your cronies tell everyone how great you are. miracles help too.
Back in the early 90s my parents would take my sister and I to a swami swindler in Wayne, NJ. We only knew him as “baba ji”.. (real name was Raman K Bachchan). He had A LOT of followers in that area.. He promised to make my mom’s acne go away, and to better my sister’s eyesight. YEAH it was a bunch of bullhonky obviously. In the end he was arrested in Atlantic City for gambling away the hundreds of thousands of dollars that he swindled from his followers. But what I find weird is that I remember him performing pujas back in the day where I SWEAR I saw him do things like turn flower petals into milk and make things just “magically” appear out of thin air. It’s soooooo weird.
sleight-of-hand?
India’s David Copperfield debunks the myth of India’s resident staticky-haired Einsteinian (“Matter is energy”) godman.
Although Abhi might want to hook up with him since he’s set his sights on the moon now.