Yagnam for Raju the 'messiah'HYDERABAD: They gathered, they prayed and they pledged. At the stroke of five in the morning on Wednesday, 3,000 people of various hues and denominations led by the Raju clan from 60-70 nearby villages assembled at the Green Park locality at Medchal in the fond hope of freeing their 'hero'. They performed 'homam' before Ganesha idols and prayed sincerely to the 'navagraha' seeking divine intervention in getting the Raju brothers an early bail. Medchal is the stronghold of the Ramalinga Raju extended family with his mother and brother still living there.
The prayers that went on till about 11 am had scores of Raju supporters hailing him as their guardian angel. Couples, in groups of nine, performed 'yagnam' and pledged their support to the founder of Satyam, who they asserted could never lie. The scam, they said, had in no way shaken their trust or respect for Ramalinga Raju "our leader''. Describing Raju's family as their very own, men and women chanted shlokas in unison praying for peace for the family.
Contradicting Raju's confession of fraud, his supporters said that the man (Ramalinga Raju) who had devoted himself to their welfare for more than three decades could never have committed a crime. "His confession to the fraud is only an honest man's attempt at saving the lives of thousands by taking all the blame on himself,'' said a supporter.
"His only fault was that he inflated the funds. But have you ever wondered why he did it?" questioned a Raju well-wisher. "He did it only for his 53,000 associates, so that they were not left jobless," the Raju admirer added.
Try discussing Raju's 'crime' and there is an angry outburst in his support. "We are very simple people and do not understand jargons of the share market or nuances of the IT sector. All we know is that he has done all he could for our betterment," says an acquaintance of the Raju family adding, "that from drinking water to education he had addressed all problems of the villagers in the last few decades."
It is pay back time for his followers, says the gathering, and they are ready to do all they can to bring him and his family out of this turmoil. "One lakh of our volunteers were ready to donate blood to Red Cross, which is our way of showing solidarity with the family. But there isn't provision for storing so much blood," said a Raju fan. The other way that the crowd has decided to register their support with the family is by pledging their corneas. Their messiah, they said, has always believed in helping the needy and, therefore, their rally would also be on the same lines.
So, the man who has lost face in the country still seems to have his set of admirers who continue to look upon him as the Almighty in disguise. SOURCE: Times of India
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