Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Age, Caste, Wife, Family, Biography

Some Lesser Known Facts About Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh

• He was born to Maghar Singh Sidhu and Naseeb Kaur, after 18 years of marriage. ^[25]India Today

• His origins were not humble. His father, Maghar Singh, was a landlord in Rajasthan’s Sri Ganganagar district.

• Although he was born into a Sikh family, he wasn’t inclined towards any particular religious faith.

• Ram Rahim was a kid when Maghar Singh started going to Dera Sacha Sauda (DSS), a religious cult founded by Baba Balochistani Beparwah Mastana ji in 1948. The dera attracted devotees from backward classes and Dalit communities. Maghar Singh was a follower of Shah Satnam Singh, who served as the Dera head until 1990.
  

  Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh – Shah Mastana Ji Dham, Sirsa, Haryana

• Following the footsteps of his father, Gurmeet also became a Dera worker when he was just 7. Although Gurmeet wasn’t as spiritual at that time, he used to assist his father in Seva and do various odd jobs at the Dera like driving a tractor.
  

  Childhood picture of Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh

• In the 1980s, at the age of 18, he got married to Harjeet Kaur.

• In 1990, Shah Satnam announced that he wanted to step down and pass on his leadership role to a chosen successor. There were three contenders and Gurmeet was not in the race. However, in a surprise move, Shah Satnam appointed Gurmeet Singh his successor and bestowed upon him the title Huzoor Maharaj Gurmeet Ram Rahim.

• On 23 September 1990, at the age of 23, Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh became the third Chief of the DSS.

• Right away, Singh’s followers at the dera started saying he was the rebirth of Baba Balochistani. Before he died in 1960, Balochistani had made a prophecy that he would be reborn after seven years. The fact that Gurmeet Singh was born in 1967, seven years after Balochistani’s death, helped him take the position of the Dera chief.

• When Ram Rahim was just a Dera worker, one of his friends named Gurjant Singh was jailed after he took revenge for his uncle’s murder. In jail, Gurjant was influenced by separatist Khalistani militants. After coming out of jail, Gurjant became a Khalistani terrorist and quickly rose in the ranks. Many in Sirsa believe that Gurjant was involved in the process of making Ram Rahim the Dera chief. However, there’s no concrete proof of any violent threats. Gurjant was later killed by security forces in Mohali.

• After becoming the Dera chief, he became celibate and officially renounced his family. At that time, he already had a son and two daughters. Reportedly, they continued to be with him in his dera quarters.

• Ram Rahim was often seen posing with his daughters and sons-in-law at various public events but his wife remained out of the spotlight. Some say she stays inside the Dera complex and prefers wearing simple clothes like other disciples; hence, she is often not recognised by Dera followers.
  

  Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh’s wife, Harjeet Kaur (in red circle), during an event

• Both his daughters, Charanpreet and Amarpreet, are married. His sons-in-law assist in managing the dera business. Ram Rahim gave really fancy names to their children. Charanpreet’s sons are named Sweetluck Singh and Subah-e-Dil.

• His son, Jasmeet Insan, is married to Husanmeet Kaur, the daughter of Punjab Congress MLA Harminder Singh Jassi.

•  Like the previous Dera chiefs, Gurmeet wasn’t a simple-living-high-thinking leader. He was fond of shiny clothes and accessories and wanted to live a glamorous life.

• Due to his shiny clothes, the media houses often refer to him as the “godman of bling,” guru in bling,” and “Baba of bling.” ^[26]The Hindu ^[27]Hindustan Times

• When Ram Rahim grabbed the gaddi, the Dera had a meagre following of under a million. Under Singh’s leadership, the following increased over 70 times.

• The Dera headquarters in Sirsa spread across 700 acres was no less than a wonderland. Inside the vast complex was a heart-shaped hospital named Shah Satnamji Speciality Hospital, a huge shopping complex with a food court inside, a luxurious ship-shaped resort called the MSG Resort, a gym equipped with all the latest machines, a school named Saint MSG Glorious International School, and much more.
  

  The MSG Resort at the DSS headquarters in Sirsa

• It also had a theme park-like resort, featuring replicas of the Taj Mahal, the Moon, Oval Palace, Amoeba, Crown, Eiffel Tower, Palace, Spring Villa, Sun, Horse house, Disneyland and Raj Mahal.
  

  A picture of the theme park-like resort at the DSS headquarters in Sirsa

• The Dera housed numerous Sadhvis, women devotees. He built a cave-like underground house in the dera for meditation, but in reality, he would sexually exploit women there. A window-like tunnel connected Ram Rahim’s room (Dera Awas) to the room of Sadhvis (Sadhvi Niwas).
  

  Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh’s mysterious cave, where he exploited his women devotees

• He would choose a woman devotee and make them surrender their bodies before him. He preached to them that it was an act of forgiveness (maafi to be precise) and not rape. These women believed it to be a blessing. Afterwards, these women remained in the dera until they married off to his male devotees, neutered or castrated men who served Ram Rahim like slaves. ^[28]India Today

• His bad deeds were first highlighted in 2002 when a sadhvi gave testimony against him, writing a letter to Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. However, his influence continued to increase.

• In 2007, he stirred controversy by wearing a robe similar to Guru Gobind Singh at a congregation in Salabatpura. This led to an explosives attack on him near Nilokheri in Karnal district on 2 February 2008. He escaped unhurt but 11 persons, including six security men, were injured in the blast. Later, a Khalistan Liberation Force member named Bakshish Singh was arrested for the same.

• In a media conversation, in November 2014, Ram Rahim revealed that he attracted the youth with a sugar-coated pill of quinine. ^[29]India Today

• His followers started adopting the surname “Insan.”

• With a large number of followers, he acquired political influence. Ahead of the 2007 Punjab polls, he publically announced support for the Amarinder Singh-led Congress.

• In the 2014 Haryana Assembly elections, the Dera’s political branch, Saadh Sangat Rajnitik, endorsed the BJP for the first time.
  

  Ram Rahim Singh with BJP leader Manohar Khattar

  This support led BJP to its first victory in the state, where it secured 47 out of 90 seats and formed the government. Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a campaign rally near the Dera headquarters before the elections and also praised Ram Rahim. Additionally, 44 BJP candidates, led by Kailash Vijayvargiya, the party’s campaign manager for Haryana, visited Singh to seek his endorsement. This visit followed a meeting between the BJP’s Amit Shah and the Dera leader.

• He adopted a young girl, Honeypreet (originally named Priyanka Taneja), as his third daughter. She had been a devotee of Ram Rahim since the late 1990s. In 1999, Ram Rahim arranged her marriage to Vishwas Gupta, a follower of the Dera. Later, Honeypreet accused her in-laws of demanding a dowry to invest in Vishwas’s business. On the other hand, Vishwas claimed that Ram Rahim had an illegitimate relationship with Honeypreet. In 2011, Vishwas reached the Punjab and Haryana High Court to seek the custody of his wife from Ram Rahim. In 2014, Vishwas and his father publicly apologized to Ram Rahim and said that their allegations were false.
  

  Gurmeet Ram Rahim With Honeypreet

• His daughters call themselves Papa’s Angels. ^[30]India Today They have acted in his MSG series of films.

• While running the Dera, he entered into the entertainment industry.

• In 2012, he released his first commercial music album titled Thank You For That under Universal Music Group.
  

  Thank You For That (2012) by Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh

• A singer, songwriter, and composer, Ram Rahim later released several music albums like Network Tere Love Ka (2012), Chashma Yaar Ka (2012), and Highway Love Charger (2014). The albums usually promoted spirituality and god’s worship or revolved around social issues.

• He has hosted hundreds of concerts called ‘Ruhani Ru-ba-Ru Nights.’
  

  Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh during a concert

• In 2015, he made his film debut with MSG: The Messenger of God. In the action comedy film, Ram Rahim played the lead role of Guruji, a rockstar, action hunk, stunt master spiritual leader who fights social evils and works towards the welfare of society.
  

  Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh as Guruji in MSG: The Messenger (2015)

• The film received negative reviews from critics, who deemed it to be a propaganda film. However, it was reported that Ram Rahim’s devotees had led the film to join the 100 Crore club.

• Later, he released the films MSG-2: The Messenger (2015), MSG: The Warrior Lion Heart (2016), Hind ka Napak ko Jawab (2017), and Jattu Engineer (2017).
  

• Ram Rahim is usually credited in various departments of his films, including direction, writing, choreography, editing, make-up and hair design, background scoring, and prop design.

• The Indian Express included Ram Rahim in its list of the 100 most powerful Indians of 2015.

• As part of his public welfare projects, he organised drives for blood pressure, diabetes, and cholesterol screening that were recognised by Guinness World Records. He holds six Guinness World Records, three for organising the largest blood donation camps, and three for organising the largest tree plantation drives. ^[31]India Today

• Besides that, he has 22 Guinness records to his name for simple things like the largest poster, largest finger-painting, most people sanitising hands, and the most (32,207) birthday videos received in a single day. ^[32]India Today

• Working together with the American Society of Echocardiography, he also set up a world record event for “Most Cardiac Echo Tests.”

• In 2009, Ram Rahim launched a campaign aimed at eliminating forced prostitution and rescuing women involved in the sex trade. The campaign also encouraged their introduction to mainstream society by arranging marriages with respectable families. He also provided medical care for those affected by HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases.

• Rahim motivated his followers to marry former sex workers out of which 1500 men agreed to marry women who had left the life of prostitution. A significant number of these marriages have successfully occurred.
  

  Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh during a mass wedding of former sex workers organised by Dera Sacha Sauda (DSS)

• His contributions to sports include establishing the MSG Bharatiya Khel Gaon, a sports complex spread across 23 acres in his Dera headquarters.
  

  Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh posing in front of MSG Bharatiya Khel Gaon

• The Yoga Federation of India (YFI) recommended his name for the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Dronacharya Awards (2017) for producing ‘World Champion yogis.’

• There were violent protests involving widespread vandalism across India following his conviction in two rape cases in 2017. Reportedly, 31–38 DSS members were killed and around 120–300 people were injured during clashes with the police.

• On 26 August 2017, the Punjab and Haryana HC directed the police to seize the properties of DSS and draw compensation for the vandalism caused by his supporters during the protests.

• Thereafter, the Haryana government revealed that the total net worth of Dera Sacha Sauda in Sirsa was around Rs 1,453 crore. The government also estimated that DSS owned properties worth around Rs 1,600 crore across the state. ^[33]India Today

• Meanwhile, the Punjab government reported that Dera properties in the state were worth Rs 52 crore. ^[34]The Indian Express While DSS had Rs 74.96 crore in 473 accounts in multiple banks, its chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh had Rs 7.72 crore in 12 accounts in his name.

• In the same year, it was also reported that DSS had 56 acres of land in Telangana’s Nalgonda district. ^[35]Hindustan Times

• Thereafter, he was jailed in Sunaira Jail in Rohtak.

• In jail, Ram Rahim Singh was diagnosed as a sex addict by a team of five doctors, including a psychiatrist, from the PGIMS. The doctors declared that he was suffering from satyriasis – an excessive and uncontrollable desire for sex. Interestingly, during his rape trial, Ram Rahim had claimed he was impotent, hence, medically unfit to have sex. ^[36]India Today

• On 2 September 2017, Ram Rahim was prohibited from participating in any future Indian film and television projects by the Indian Film & Television Directors’ Association (IFTDA) and the Cine and TV Artists Association (CINTAA) on the grounds of criminal behaviour and moral misconduct. ^[37]Hindustan Times

• It was reported that the Dera chief enjoyed consuming alcohol till 1988. ^[38]India Today While talking about the same, a doctor said,
  

  He may not be drinking liquor now, but he regularly consumed energy drinks and sex tonics that were specially imported from Australia and other countries.”

• He has been occasionally spotted smoking a cigar.
  

  Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh smoking a cigar in a helicopter

• He was granted a a one-day parole in 2020, and a 12-hour parole in 2021 to visit his sick mother.

• On 22 February 2022, the Haryana government provided him with Z-Plus category security following reports of threats to his life from pro-Khalistan activists. The decision came when he was out of jail on furlough on 7 February 2022 for 21 days to meet his family members in Gurugram. ^[39]India Today

• In 2022, while he was undergoing a 20-year sentence for raping two of his disciples, he told his followers that his blood group had changed from O positive to O negative. However, the Dera chief presented no evidence, medical or otherwise, to support his claim of change in his blood group. ^[40]DNA

• During his 30-day parole in June 2022, he stayed at his Dera Sacha Sauda Ashram, Barnawa in Uttar Pradesh.

• During his 40-day parole in October 2022, he released music videos of the songs Sadi Nit Diwali, Jaago Duniya De Loko, and Chat Pe Chat, on his YouTube channel.

• In January 2023, he was given another parole for 40 days.

• On 23 January 2023, a video went viral in which was seen Ram Rahim using a sword to cut a massive cake at Barnala Ashram, Baghpat. The act violated the Arms Act, 1959’s prohibition on public weapon displays.

• He was granted a 30-day parole in July 2023, and a 21-day furlough in November 2023.

• On 19 January 2024, Ram Rahim was again granted a 50-day parole.