The spiritual leader Bhole Baba, who convened the stampede in Hathras that killed at least 121 persons earlier this week, is a member of the Dalit Jatav community.

His original name is Suraj Pal and he used to work as a constable in the Uttar Pradesh Police. After taking voluntary retirement in the 1990s, he started to hold satsangs in western Uttar Pradesh. He has a massive following among Dalits alienated from Hinduism because of caste discrimination. 

Many Dalit rights activists are troubled by this. They say that the belief systems spawned by figures like Pal, who come to be seen as "godmen" or even incarnations of Hindu deities, undermine the radical politics of Bhimrao Ambedkar, who was himself a Dalit.

Abhik Deb reports in the aftermath of the tragedy.

Hathras stampede: How caste discrimination has stoked the popularity of Dalit spiritual leaders

This growing religiosity has alarmed community activists, who say it opens the door to Hindutva.

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