A wild goose chase for gold after a sadhu’s dream

Incredible India marches on this time with a bizarre treasure hunt, triggered by the metaphysical experience claimed by a sadhu that 1,000 tonnes of gold is buried in the subterranean chambers of an ancient fort in Unnao, Uttar Pradesh. The wild goose chase, initiated in a hurry by the Archaeological Survey of India, however, provides a highly welcome comic relief amid all the dreariness that permeates the life of Indians today.Whether or not the ASI operation was based on unverifiable dreams or on measurable scientific data, the excavation work at the fort site was accorded extraordinary priority on the orders of the central culture ministry after federal Minister of State for Food Processing Charan Das Mahant met sadhu Shobhan Sarkar, the head priest of the Shobhan Temple in Unnao, who reportedly had told him that the treasure of gold revealed in his dream was so huge that it could come in handy at a time when the nation is facing a “crisis with the rupee.” A responsible minister of a government that has been in perennial crisis after crisis could not let go of such a chance and so he had immediately written about this to the prime minister, the finance minister, the home minister, the mines minister and to the ASI and the Geological Survey of India. He had also reportedly informed Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. Surely, the sadhu and Mahant will be feted and felicitated for their efforts if the dig indeed yields gold. But if it turns out to be a futile hunt, the ASI’s credibility will stand greatly eroded as dreams have never been known to form the stuff of archaeological activities. After barbs from allies, the opposition and media for ordering excavation work on the basis of such intangibles, and for encouraging superstition and undermining science, the Congress-led UPA government seems to have seen reason and persuaded the ASI to issue a rejoinder. Its officials now claim that they are not acting on the sadhu’s night-time vision but on the basis of historical importance of the site and the Geological Survey of India’s report indicating the presence of metals under the ruins. But the clarification raises more questions than it answers. While Congress leaders have been coy in fielding brickbats, BJP’s Hindutva icon and prime ministerial aspirant Narendra Modi, presented himself as a modernist and pounced on the issue, which provided him readymade ammunition to take a credible pot-shot at the government. He said the world was mocking the folly of an official organisation digging for gold because of a sadhu’s dream. The government could have helped the nation more by going after the more easily believable and well-documented black money stashed away in the vaults of Swiss banks, he said.Modi must be reinventing himself for his new role as prime minister in waiting. His deriding the dream of a sadhu is seen as another step in that direction after his recent stunning stand that provision of toilets for all should get priority above building of temples. But the followers of sadhu Sarkar had reportedly written an open letter to Modi slamming him and the NDA for its failure on various issues and claiming that the seer only wanted India to become a financial superpower. That was enough for the PM aspirant to retrace his steps by tweeting “lakhs of people have reposed faith in seer Shobhan Sarkar over many years. I salute his austerity and renunciation.” A state BJP lawmaker also rushed to the monk’s ashram with folded hands, genuflecting before him and seeking forgiveness “on behalf of Modi.” But far-from-mollified Sarkar said political bigwigs who “enjoy doing injustice to a fakir who owns nothing but a saffron cloth will have to suffer the consequences.” Later Sarkar’s spokesperson, Swami Om Ji Maharaj said Modi’s apology had been accepted on the ground of his “ignorance” of matters relating to Uttar Pradesh.BJP sources have said Modi plans to contest next year’s general election from outside Gujarat, and Uttar Pradesh is one of the possible venues. That explains his easy climb-down. Realising one’s dream is more important than just sticking to one’s words. What the sadhus see in the goings-on is also the double standards of the UPA government towards saffron-clad swamis when they contrast the alleged persecution of Baba Ramdev for his agitation against black money against the swift action on Sarkar’s “dream” of buried gold.It is a commentary on the state of affairs in India that a sadhu can activate the normally lackadaisical ASI into splurging public money while neglecting its ordinary duty of preserving and looking after India’s historical monuments. As a bemused country watches the frivolities, the question that should be raised above all the brouhaha over digging is why this rush? Why did the government which has countless other priorities to attend to, including its own survival a few months from now, should rush its archaeologists and an army of people with shovels and pickaxes to start digging for the treasure?In the unexplained rush, the ASI has bypassed the usual procedures for initiating such a mammoth excavation. It was not discussed by the standing committee, but cleared by the Director General. Citing Seventh and 19th century texts in its defence, the ASI has tried to explain that the site is important. However, by failing to disclose in full the objectives of the excavation and the reasons for taking it up in a hurried manner, it has fuelled more doubts. Even if there are valid archaeological reasons, why did the process have to start only after the sadhu had reported his dream? Extra-sensory experiences are no substitute for scientific explanation.The excavation at Daudiya Kheda in Unnao district has inspired another swami to come up with a similar revelation of 2,500 tonnes of gold buried in Adampur village in Fatehpur district. The sadhus seem to have sensed the weak spot to galvanise the lazy and inept regime. But whether to prove or disprove the leap of faith over reason, the government would do well to finish the Unnao dig rather than plunge into more treasure hunts in a gold-crazed country that had to repeatedly raise the tax on gold imports to cool down the current account deficit.