Chandraswami
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Chandraswami (born Nemichand Jain; 29 October 1949 – 23 May 2017)[1][2] was an Indian Tantrik and guru.
His father Dharamchand Gandhi Jain came from Behror in Rajasthan and worked as a money lender, later Chandraswami made a college in Behror on his father's name Dharamchand Gandhi Jain Govt College Behror and donated the land and building to Rajasthan Government to handle the operations. He moved to Hyderabad when Chandraswami was a child. Chandraswami was attracted to the study of Tantra from an early age.[3] He left home when still young to become a student of Upadhyay Amar Muni and the scholar of Tantra, Mahamohopadhyay Gopinath Kaviraj. He later lived in the jungles of Bihar where he spent time in meditation. He claimed that after four years he obtained extraordinary powers called siddhis. Though Chandraswami was by birth a Jain, he became a "sadhaka" (worshipper) of the Goddess Kali.[4][unreliable source] He was also interested in interfaith dialogue, and sat on the Board of World Religious Leaders for the Elijah Interfaith Institute.[5]
Rise to fame[edit]
He first gained fame through his skill as an astrologer but his rise to national prominence came as a result of his association with 3 Prime Ministers of India P. V. Narasimha Rao, Chandra Shekhar and V. P. Singh and many other heavy political leaders like Gulzari lal Nanda, Rajiv Gandhi, natwar Singh, Bhairo Singh shekhawat, Sushil Shinde, Bala Saheb Thakre, NTR from Andhra Pradesh, LK Advani,Yashwant Sinha, Jaswant Singh, George Fernandes , Sharad Yadav, Mulayam Singh, Gopinath Munde, Om Prakash Chautala, Chandrababu Naidu, T N Seshan, Prakash singh Badal, Keshu hai Patel, Arif Mohammad, Bandaru Dattatrey, Subramanian Swamy, Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari, Smriti Irani, Uma bharti, Vasundhara Raje, Buta singh, Ajit Singh, Prafful patel, Mallikarjun Kharge, Keerti Azad and many others celebrities like Rajesh Khanna, Asha Pareekh, Amitabh Bachhan, Kamal Hasan, Raj babbar, Hema Malini, Preity Jinta etc and many business leaders like Dhirubhai Ambani, Harshad Mehta were in the list of Tantrik Chandraswami . Chandraswami was said to have been their spiritual adviser.[6] Soon after Rao became Prime Minister in 1991, Chandraswami built an ashram known as Vishwa Dharmayatan Sansathan in Delhi's Qutub Institutional Area. The land for the ashram had been allotted by Indira Gandhi. Chandraswami is said to have dispensed spiritual advice to the Sultan of Brunei, Sheikh Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa of Bahrain, actress Elizabeth Taylor, British PM Margaret Thatcher, arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi, crime lord Dawood Ibrahim, businessman Tiny Rowland, and Palestinian political leader Yasser Arafat. His loyal supporters include his secretary Vikram Singh,Assistant Vijayraj Chauhan, the late Kailash Nath Aggarwal known as Mamaji , brother babu bhai, nephews Sunil jain gandhi, mammu Gandhi and Satish gandhi. Chandraswami's finances have fluctuated with his political fortune.
Legal challenges[edit]
Chandraswami has been accused repeatedly of financial irregularity activities. In 1996 he was arrested on charges of defrauding a London-based businessman of $100,000. He has faced charges for repeated violation of the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act.[7] An income-tax raid on his ashram is reported to have uncovered original drafts of payments to Adnan Khashoggi of $11 million. In its report, the Jain Commission dedicated a volume to his alleged involvement in the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi. Seventeen years after the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, the Enforcement Directorate was still investigating his alleged role as financier of the killing. In May 2009, the Supreme Court granted Chandraswami permission to travel abroad, lifting a ban on overseas travel imposed as a result of his alleged involvement in the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi. In June 2011, the Supreme Court fined Chandraswami, for violating the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, a sum of ₹9 crores.[8]
Death[edit]
Chandra Swami died of multiple organ failure at Apollo Hospital in New Delhi on 23 May 2017. Some of his followers believe that he was given slow poison while admitted into the hospital.
References[edit]
- ^ "Adoring the godman". India Today. 1994-11-30.
- ^ article.wn.com/view/2002/11/13/NEWSLINE_ANCHOR_Chandraswami_celebrates_b_day_with_villagers/[full citation needed]
- ^ Times of India, 22/12/2007[full citation needed]
- ^ "Shri Chandraswamiji Maharaj Ji". Archived from the original on 2011-10-14.
- ^ "Elijah Interfaith, Sharing Wisdom Fostering Peace #MakeFriends". elijah-interfaith.org. Retrieved 2020-10-28.
- ^ "Rao's spiritual adviser behind bars: Another setback for Congress party". CNN. 1996-05-03. Archived from the original on 2002-01-16.
- ^ "SC grounds Chandraswami's plans for foreign visit". The Hindu. 2008-02-26. Archived from the original on 2016-04-26.
- ^ Mahapatra, Dhananjay (2011-06-16). "SC gives Chandraswami a week to pay up Rs 9 crore FERA penalty". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 2012-09-10.