South Asia Citizens Wire - 19 November, 2004 via: www.sacw.net
[1] Kashmir: The Road to Peace? (Sachi Cunningham and Jigar Mehta)
[2] India: Death in the Womb: Sex Selection Law Fails To Check Foeticide (Anna Dani)
[3] India: Astrology and such things are a big market
- Astrology's religious sanction has given this new priestly class a way to rake it in (S. Anand)
- The Future Is Big (Soma Wadhwa)
[4] India: Big Time Hindu priest in Holy Shit !:
- Kanchi Acharya arrest: Affidavits - full text [PDF]
- Holy smoke! (Sudha G. Tilak)
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[1]
pbs.org Nov 17, 2004
KASHMIR: THE ROAD TO PEACE?
Sachi Cunningham is a second year student in documentary film at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. She has an undergraduate degree in history from Brown University, and has worked in the film industry in Asia and the U.S.
Jigar Mehta is also a second year documentary student at the Graduate School of Journalism at UC Berkeley. He received an undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering from Berkeley. Mehta worked as a cameraman on the Sundance award-winning film, My Flesh and Blood.
Kashmir is a divided land. India controls one part, Pakistan controls the other. It has been this way since 1947. Pakistan and India have fought two wars over this beautiful, tragic highland, and for the past fifteen years, the Indian army in Kashmir has battled a pro-independence movement. For Muslim militants it has become a jihad or holy war.
When we arrived in Kashmir, we saw soldiers everywhere, peering from the tops of balconies and peeking out of bunkers on street corners. There are nearly 600,000 Indian security forces in the Indian-occupied part of Kashmir, home to some 8.5 million people. It is the highest soldier-to-civilian ratio in the world.
We came here because there is, at long last, talk of peace. India and Pakistan, both nuclear powers, signed a cease-fire agreement in November 2003 and pledged to go forward with twelve "confidence-building" measures. For the first time in fourteen years, the two countries played a cricket match last spring, and it went off peacefully. Now they are proposing the re-opening of Kashmir's main highway, which is currently blocked at the Line of Control which divides India- and Pakistan-held Kashmir.
We decided to take a road trip as far as we could go on this Srinagar-Muzaffarabad Road -- to see what life is like in the legendary valley of Kashmir and to ask people what they thought about the prospects for peace.
GO TO THE STORY http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/fellows/kashmir/map.html
Live Discussion
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A59763-2004Nov18.html
Join FRONTLINE/World Fellows Jigar Mehta and Sachi Cunningham as they discuss their report from Kashmir, as India and Pakistan make overtures toward ending their bitter conflict over the disupted territory. Friday, Nov. 19, 11 a.m. ET
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The Times of India November 19, 2004 | Op-Ed.
DEATH IN THE WOMB: SEX SELECTION LAW FAILS TO CHECK FOETICIDE
by Anna Dani
The desire for a male child at all costs in India has now resulted in an alarming scenario. The child sex ratio for the country stands at 927 in 2001, down from 945 in 1991. But in India all statistics hide more than they reveal - if we disaggregate data we find great inequalities both between states and within states. The more prosperous states like Haryana, Punjab, Delhi and Gujarat show ratios which have declined to less than 900 girls for 1000 boys. Fur-ther disaggregation of data shows that 70 districts in 16 states and Union territories of the country have recorded a decline of more than 50 points in the sex ratio in the last decade.
Where does Maharashtra stand in this shocking development? The state recorded a child sex ratio of 946 in 1991; today it stands at 913. The prosperous sugar belt districts of Kolhapur, Sangli, Satara, Ahmednagar, along with Jalgaon, Beed and Solapur, all record child sex ratios below 900, with Sangli the lowest at 850. Panhala taluka in Kolhapur district has the dubious distinction of recording a sex ratio of 796, similar to many districts in Punjab.
Ironically, the districts which have a high tribal population, areas chronically beset by all the ills of under- development as we conventio-nally understand it, record sex ratios which are more civilised and egalitarian - thus Gad-chiroli district stands at a ratio of 974, Nandurbar at 966 and Gondiya at 964.
The discovery of the ultrasound technique has proved to be the nemesis of the female foetus in India. The medical fraternity was quick to see entrepreneurial opportunities in catering to insatiable demands for a male child. The portable ultrasound machine allowed doctors to go from house to house in towns and villages. The Pre-conception and
Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act 1994 (PNDT Act) was a result of determined action by NGOs against grossly unethical medical terminations of healthy pregnancies. But while the Act seeks to regulate and prevent misuse of pre-natal diagnostic techniques, it rightly cannot deny them either.
A decade later, we find plummeting sex ratios, especially in many urban areas of the country. Unfortunately, scientific inventions to detect genetic abnormalities, going far beyond the ultrasound technique, are playing a dubious role. One needs to spend just half an hour with infertility experts to be educated on the newest technologies. The menu is an impressive one - karyo-typing, which analyses chromosomal abnormalities and incidentally reveals the sex of the foetus, a procedure that takes about 11 days and costs around Rs 5,000; fluorescent in situ hybridisation, which has 95% accuracy, takes two days and costs Rs 10,000; comparative genomic hybridisation, a very recently introduced technology, requiring only two days; polymerase chain reaction, the results of which are available in a day with a cost of Rs 5000; and pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD), where the results take about a week. PGD is made available in Thailand for sex selection of Indians who are aware of the law against such tests in the country, at a cost of about Rs 1.5 lakh.
All these techniques can be used to detect the sex of the foetus within four to six weeks of pregnancy, making abortions a less serious business than the usual methods that come into play only 14 weeks after preg- nancy. Thereafter, abortions not only become medically dangerous for the mother but acquire entirely different moral dimensions. The recent technologies do not automatically lend themselves to this heinous practice of sex selection. The PNDT Act allows pre-natal diagnosis only for chromosomal abnormalities, genetic metabolic disorders and congenital abnormalities. Similarly, PNDT techniques on pregnant women are allowed only in certain
conditions - if she is more than 35 years old, exposed to certain drugs, radiation, or has a history of mental retardation and so on.
The law, however, permits ultrasound clinics, clinics for medical termination of pregnancies and assisted reproductive facilities as a routine matter and as a legitimate business. In a democracy it is difficult to restrict right to business and livelihood if the usual parameters are fulfilled. But genetic abnormalities do not affect more than 2 per cent of a population; infertility affects about 10-12 per cent of the population; and abortion ser-vice centres are far in excess of the small numbers which actually require such services for purely bona fide medical reasons.
However, the law also permits abortions for failure of contraception. In Maharashtra alone, there are more than 2,700 abortion centres (and counting) and 3,600 ultrasound clinics (also increasing daily). State statistics indicate that more than 1.25 lakh abortions are carried out "legally" every year. It is a huge challenge for the government to detect violations of the PNDT Act, since it is a crime of collusion and by consensus.
The Indian Council of Medical Research has now issued guidelines on regulation of genetic and assisted reproductive facilities. But since such facilities are not used across the board for sex selection, it remains to be seen if this has an appreciable impact on the sex ratio. The preferred methods will obviously remain the cheaper and more dangerous ones such as ultrasound and amniocentesis in the second trimester of pregnancy. Beyond that, the culture of deliberate neglect also contributes to ultimate deaths of older girl children.
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[3]
Outlook Magazine November 22, 2004
THE PANDIT PLAN
ASTROLOGY'S RELIGIOUS SANCTION HAS GIVEN THIS NEW PRIESTLY CLASS A WAY TO RAKE IT IN
S. Anand
After being interviewed for Outlook's report on astrology, Chennai's Nambungal Narayanan, who claims innumerable correct predictions, asked me with childlike enthusiasm, "When will your magazine feature this?" "You must tell me that," I told him, who had predicted a John Kerry victory. He replied with sudden confidence, "In two-three weeks." As I was leaving, he again dropped his guard: "Please call me when the issue comes out."
Despite such unwitting lack of confidence, how and why is it that in India future-telling has emerged as a far more powerful industry than in the Christian West or Islamic world? Debunked as pseudoscience, astrology in the West does not have the formal sanction of religion.
However, in India, astrology has been a part of religion. In most Brahminic south Indian temples, there's a navagraha shrine for the nine planets (which includes the sun and moon, but excludes the earth!). There are temples dedicated to specific planets-for instance, the Saturn temple Saneeswaran Koil in Thirunallar, Tamil Nadu. The very word Saturn-saniyan-is used in Tamil as a curse. Says Meera Nanda, author of Prophets Facing Backward: Postmodernism, Science and Hindu Nationalism, "Hinduism has a holistic worldview where objects in nature and human subjects are not separate entities but different manifestations of the same universal consciousness." Hence the anachronistic persistence with a geocentric universe, and belief in planetary influences on humans.
This has led to astrologers emerging as the new priestly class. "Since there's lots of money to be made in remedial astrology," says G. Vijayam, executive director of Vijayawada-based Atheist Centre, "astrologers today are like the greedy Brahmins of the Vedic period who barter other-worldly sacrifices for this-worldly goodies. Astrology, numerology, gemology and such like are the diseases of affluence. The poor have no use for them." Vijayam says the root is in karma theory which encourages a fatalistic attitude. "In India, it's one way of making money without working. It perpetuates ignorance, makes people docile and robs them of initiative."
Astrology also helps perpetuate the caste system with its emphasis on match-making. "Astrology comes in handy to prevent inter-caste marriages by projecting a scenario of horrific failure," says K. Nandan, whose marriage outside caste was scuttled by his lover's astrology-besotted family. For the millions seeking solace in astrology, the appeal is clearly not to reason. It's about belief, and is part of the Hindu way of life. Esoteric vedanta for the classes, populist jyotish for the masses.
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Outlook Magazine November 22, 2004 http://www.outlookindia.com/full.asp?fodname=20041122&fname=Cover+Story+%28F%29&sid=1
ASTROLOGY
The Future Is Big
It's India's fastest-growing industry. Insecurity, uncertainty, innovation, technology: it's present perfect for those catering to the future-tense.
Soma Wadhwa
Tomorrow, suddenly, is today's fastest growing business. The future, in India today, is worth Rs 40,000 crore and counting. Literally. It's your future and mine-health, education, careers, relationships; the fate of the share investment your uncle made last week; the outcome of decisions taken in corner offices of giant corporations; fortunes to be fashioned, formed, finished. If karma is a chameleon, the destiny industry is T-Rex on turbo. There has never been a more profitable present for Indian future-tellers.Elderly bare-torsoed men sitting under trees? Parrots picking cards spread out on the pavement? Well-thumbed palmistry primers from Cheiro? Wake up, smell the coffee.
Future-telling and insurance are primed to be the two growth industries of this decade.
We are talk-ing call centres crammed with clairvoyants forecasting for those with the mobiles and the mind to ring in. R&D labs where newer software, to help the computer calculate horoscopes more accurately, are in perpetual make. University-affiliated classes
crowded with wannabe oracles. Swank seminars in posh hotels, where delegates who refer to themselves as jyotishpandits, jyotishacharyas and jyotishmartands make Powerpoint presentations of their prognoses. Television studios continuously beaming into homes what the planets have in store. Astrologers, palmists, numerologists, tarot-card readers fronted by sleek public relations executives.
The Indian Future Telling business is on a bull run threatening to become a stampede. There's an unprecedented rush of customers, young and old, men and women, willing to pay whatever it costs to know fortune's impending intent. Enthusiastic purchasers of soothsayers' skills, skills that are being bought to map and minimise the many risks that riddle life today. And the Future Telling Industry is repackaging its products vigorously to cater to this, its expanding, and exacting, new clientele.
Enter Future Point's hi-tech Delhi office and savour soothsaying as off-the-shelf retail.
"Your Happy Future is Our Concern," advertise its brochures. The "products and services" on offer: consultation sessions, computer horoscopes, astrological software, remedial gems, yantras, rosaries, a monthly magazine on astrology and occultism, a directory of astrologers
and Mewar varsity-affiliated courses on astrology, palmistry, numerology, vaastushastra. Arun K. Bansal, "topper in both MSc and MPhil physics", presides over these operations with his wife Abha, and spends most of his work hours on product development, the latest addition in his portfolio being an astro pocket computer, Leo Palm-"its usp: making horoscopes in a minute, anywhere, anytime".
Arun K. Bansal, Cyber Astrologer For this "MSc MPhil physics topper", powerful computer software generates predictions that are "authentic, accurate, accessible".
"Esoteric mumbo-jumbo, panditjis who count on fingers, newspaper forecasts that divide entire humanity into 12 types are for pastime and frivolous curiosity," shrugs Bansal. "Serious players in the predictions business today have to deliver services that are authentic, accurate and accessible. We have to be seen as spiritual scientists, professionals who not only predict your future but also tell you how to better it."
Future-telling and insurance, foretells sociologist Shiv Visvanathan, are primed to be the two fastest growing industries this decade: "Because both have recognised the mammoth marketing possibilities around today's most urgent human need-the need to feel some control over life so rife with unexpected variables. Jobs, businesses, marriages, relationships, are all more fickle than they ever were, making for very stressful times. And both these industries have taken to selling stressbusters by providing some semblance of certainty in uncertain times".
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McCann Erickson president Santosh Desai, a keen researcher of consumer psyche, takes Visvanathan's point further: "The need to have control over one's life runs into becoming a growing obsession with the Self today.Everything centres around 'My Life' and its perfectibility. Follows that we now also want to buy information on our future, to be able to customise and perfect it".
K.N. Rao, Astrologer-Teacher Rao is advisor to an astrology institute that began with 40 students and six teachers in 1987. Today it boasts 900 students and 26 teachers.
That's why future-readers have expanded the scope of their business, from just prediction to supplying correctives, says Parveen Chopra, editor of Life Positive, a spiritual magazine. "Correct predictions might make for a future-teller's fame today, but his prescriptives for a better future make him his fortune." Because the world is for your asking once those angry planets are propitiated through the appropriate yagnas, havans, pujas, mantra therapies, yantras and gems that the soothsayer points you to.
Add it all up, and the industry estimates its own size as around Rs 40,000 crore at least.
So, the right stone on a finger can obliterate Saturn's ill will? "What's there to disbelieve?" counters Delhi-based remedial astrologer R.K. Sharma. "All genuine future-tellers should
Apparently, if India changes its name to Bharat, it'll be a lot better for all of us.
be able to predict, and heal, the future. Or else, they are as ridiculous as doctors who know how to diagnose an illness but not to cure it!" A pharma graduate, Sharma assigns his clients prescriptive gemstones to "counterbalance the malefic effects of planets and stars" after "deep study" of the clients' horoscopes, "because prescribing the wrong gem can bring devastating harm to its wearer, and many amateur astrologers are wreaking havoc". His success rate? Well, he had a two-wheeler in 1978, he rides a Toyota now. Or, a more appropriate measure, he could barely afford the Rs 11,000 worth of emeralds he'd prescribed himself in 1978, while today his body carries emeralds worth over Rs 5 lakh: "My affluence accrues from the affluence I bring to others."
Talking of affluence, there's news for those who thought astrology was, or is, for old-mould traders: many companies today have future-tellers on retainers. And the supply side has innovated to cater to this new corporate demand.
R.K. Sharma, Remedial Astrologer The Toyota-riding pharmaceutical studies graduate-turned-gemstone specialist puts his money where his mouth is. He wears Rs 5 lakh worth of "energy-enhancing" emeralds on his body.
Meet Mumbai-based "astro-finance specialist" Pandit Raj Kumar Sharma, known for his predictions on the euro, the dollar, and bourses like the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, nyse and Nasdaq. A columnist in two German financial magazines, Die Telebrose and DM Euro, Sharma has conducted seminars in companies like BMW, and is under contract with various foreign companies for an annual fee of $4,000-5,000: "I provide them 25 to 30 special services and tips on business growth. My finance predictions have a 95 per cent accuracy rate." He claims to have predicted the Columbia shuttle disaster, the Congress victory in the last Lok Sabha elections, and Manmohan Singh's prime ministership.
Nambungal Narayanan, Corporate Astrologer Narayanan, who predicted MGR's election defeat in 1980, counts Polaris Software, Apollo Tyres and The Hindu Group among his clients.
Chennai's Nambungal Narayanan, who shot to fame in 1980 when he predicted that MGR would lose power, earns the majority of his income now from companies: he advises them on names, name amendments and logo designs.
Says software firm Polaris' K. Govindarajan, senior VP, special projects, "We consult Narayanan on every new name and design. He is our friend, philosopher and guide." Other major clients include K.G. Balakrishnan, CMD of KG Denim, Oswal Spinning and Weaving Mills and Mehta Jewellery.Claims Narayanan: "I told Omkar Singh Kanwar to shorten his company's name Apollo Tyres Limited to Apollo Tyres Ltd. And I suggested the name 'Frontline' when The Hindu group launched their magazine."
Dubbed India's most influential corporate astrologer in many a headline, Daivajna K.N. Somayaji is tight-lipped about the company he keeps. He'll only tell you that he advises professionals on venture capital, portfolio management, investment banking, mergers and international trading.That he's meeting Outlook in Reliance's Delhi guesthouse, however, does give some indication of his clientele profile. And his cellphone never stops buzzing: "Time's instant today.People don't want to consult the astrologer for what's going to happen 30 years later, they want to know what will happen, what's to be done, three hours away."
Bejan Daruwalla, Ganesha's Man India's most famous astrologer says he predicted the Kargil war, the Gujarat earthquake, and the deaths of Indira Gandhi and her two sons.
Urgent customer needs that are being supplied through many delivery channels.Star-teller Bejan Daruwalla of Mumbai recently did live shows in four metros where he predicted people's future on stage, on the spot! On a less theatrical note, he says he prefers to answer questions by email these days: "Some basic information about themselves, a list of questions, a demand draft and I answer in four weeks from the date of receipt." Charges range from Rs 250 for suggesting "auspicious mahurat" to Rs 1,000 for "marital problems/couple compatibility". Daruwalla's website GaneshaSpeaks.com generates over 200 demand drafts a day. And the telephonic astrological service he runs, after having tied up with leading mobile phone operators, gets 10,000 calls daily. Among Daruwalla's big bulls' eyes over the years: predicting the Kargil war, the Gujarat earthquake, and the deaths of Indira Gandhi and her two sons.
Vivek Dhir, chemical engineer and MBA, runs a "telecom services company and provides astrological content to leading cellphone companies". His office in Delhi is packed with young T-shirted men who peer into computers while advising callers on the future. Who are these recruits? Meet one: Dr Kala, who's done his PhD on 'The Effects of Planets on Human Life' from Delhi's Lal Bahadur Shastri Sanskrit Vidyapeeth, and whose core belief while attending to callers is that "life has hidden diamonds, and as an astrologer I should guide people where to dig for them". Sure, but does it really work for those who're paying Rs 6 a minute to avail of such advice? "Well, obviously it does," says Dhir. "Sixty per cent of those who ring in are repeat callers."
Amrita Lal, Astro-TV Entrepreneur Calcutta's most famous soothsayer is so successful that he spends Rs 50 lakh a year on a TV channel of his own, dedicated to future-telling.
And if phones never stop ringing, television is abuzz with the soothsayer's sound bites. In Calcutta, five local cable channels run phone-in programmes with astro-palmists and astro-tantriks. Then, there's the future-dedicated Fortune Channel, owned by astrologer Amritalal ("correct name for child: Rs 500; special computerised horoscope: Rs 1,500"). "Roughly 65 per cent of your destiny can't be changed," he says, sitting in his air-conditioned office with a large picture of Kali behind him. "This is linked to your karma in your past life.
But the remaining 35 per cent can be changed, and a good astrologer can guide you to avoid mistakes and misfortunes."
Into another kind of cost-benefit analysis, meanwhile, Mumbai-based tarot card reader and numerologist Sunita Menon says her show "Kosmiic Chat" on Zoom channel "presents me with the unique opportunity of touching the lives of millions and generating positive vibes". Menon, a former air hostess, is a celebrity herself, and that too among celebrities. Gushes film director Karan Johar: "It gives me peace of mind to sometimes take an appointment with Sunita and sit and chat with her for hours." Usual sessions with Menon though last for an hour at Rs 1,000, and she meets four to five clients a day.
Sunita Menon, Tarot Card Reader Faithful clients include Karan Johar and Ektaa Kapoor, who latched onto "K" on Menon's advice. She charges Rs 1K for an hour-long session.
It's luck maybe that the future-telling industry finds celebrity endorsements that corporations would die for.TV producer Ektaa Kapoor pins her spectacular success down to her serial titles, all beginning with 'K'. "Sunita said it'd always bring me success, and it does. I've booked every K title I could think of. I also consult the Jumanis who check my serial titles for numerical luck." The client testimonials with the astrologer-numerologist duo, Bansilal and Sanjay Jumaani, meanwhile, read like a rah-rah list.On their advice: author Shobhaa De has "a song on my lips" after adding an A to her name; an extra A and item girl Ishaa Koppikar's "struggling days were khallaas"; and actor Tusshar Kapoor's extra S has spelt stardom "and two awards" for him.Currently, the Jumanis want Saurav Ganguly to become Gangoly, Kashmir to be spelt as Kashmeir, and apparently it'll be much better for everyone if India changes its name to Bharat.
Adding to the future-teller's legitimacy is the politician. Not that he didn't rely on soothsayers earlier-Jawaharlal Nehru is known to have consulted astrologer B.V. Raman often through his sister and Gulzari Lal Nanda-but such associations are much more in the open now.
In Bhopal, a senior IAS officer's room in the secretariat turns into an astrologer's den at times of elections and political instability. He pores over horoscopes of chief minister-aspirants and rival politicians to predict who'll emerge on top (prized also by his colleagues because they get to know who to proactively please). Regular visitors at astrologer Radhey Sham Shashtri's Lucknow workspace are BJP leaders Kesri Nath Tripathi and Lalji Tandon. "For the last decade, the sun, moon and earth have been in a typical constellation which has increased the mind's curiosity about the future" is Shastri's explanation for the current future-telling boom.
This August, an astrology seminar titled 'The Future of the Present Government' in Delhi's Le Meridien hotel saw chief guest Murli Manohar Joshi telling astrologers to "refuse advising netas who come to you in the dark of the night for advice, and call you unscientific by the day". For his part, during his tenure as HRD minister, astrologers' poster-boy Joshi had mooted the idea that Vedic astrology (jyotir vigyan) be introduced in our universities. Long legal battles later, this May the Supreme Court upheld the introduction of astrology as a subject in varsities.
Something that Gayatri Devi Vasudev, editor of the 68-year-old Bangalore-headquartered The Astrological Magazine, had long been lobbying for. Like her late father, B.V. Raman, she thinks astrology is an academic discipline, and uses terms from astronomy, astrophysics and mathematics. When practicing, she uses techniques of modern psychological counselling to convey her advice. "My father's, and now my, endeavour has been to separate astrology from mumbo-jumbo, miracles and mystery."
But the long, and interminable, debate on whether astrology is a science or not is best left to the worthies.The truth is that we in Outlook met many who had fraud written all over their faces while reading our future. Any luck they said we had was really about not having to pay them.
"An abhorrent commercialisation has set in," regrets K.N. Rao, advisor to the Institute of Astrology at Delhi's Bharatiya Vidya Bhawan, "The science of divination when practised should be no more than a psychoanalytical counselling service.But fake astrologers today create a terrible fatalism in people's minds, depress them and then shove costly talismans and gems down their throats. Whereas all standard astrological classics, like the Brihat Parashara Shastra, Maansagari, Brihat Jatak, tell you that only prayers and charity are remedies to future crisis." Such unethical practices must be legislated against, the academic fulminates, and astrologers must be trained and licensed.
More ambitious, Bangalore's S.K. Jain-one of South India's best-known astrologers-demands industry status for astrology "because it plays an important role in Indian life, right from birth". Argues he: "The government treats us like cows, to be milked whenever needed. Ours is a mainstream profession and should be treated as one." The future will tell. Meanwhile, the present is propitious for India's Future-Telling Industry.
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By Soma Wadhwa inputs by Harsh Kabra in Mumbai,Sugata Srinivasaraju in Bangalore, K.S. Shaini in Bhopal, Nikhil Mookerji in Calcutta, S. Anand in Chennai and Sutapa Mukherjee in Lucknow
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[4]
KANCHI ACHARYA ARREST: AFFIDAVITS - FULL TEXT [PDF] http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/nic/0034/affidavit.pdf
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The Hindustan Times, November 19, 2004 Delhi Edition Pg 10: Edit
HOLY SMOKE! Sudha G. Tilak
India's ad glib line, in more innocent times, was that it was a land of holy men. It seemed at odds with popular Hindu mythologies and fables that narrated stories of rishis and saints who indulged in plenty of connivance, intrigue and sex. The saints either had a dodgy past or their sainthood was often tainted by unholy acts.
In more confused and modern times came the real-life swamis and cult gurus of India. They were faith healers of timid and troubled hearts, renegade gurus who made their monies with hippy dollars and set up ashrams for sexual nirvana; or refugees turned vulgar swamis guilty of rape and murder, wily charlatans who hobnobbed with political heavyweights and saints whose Manuvadi diktats only widened the chasm between the upper-castes and marginalised classes.
The public found a placebo in these talking gurus and venerated them, ignoring or chaffing at the agnostics, rationalists, Christian apologists who constantly warned that these were men whose spiritual services demanded a heavy price, sometimes even human life. The public received comfort that even top-rung politicians sought the blessings of their gurus.
Jayendra Saraswati's arrest on November 11 is now muddled by allegations of political motivation and vendetta. This is nothing surprising, considering how politics and religion combine to poison and dictate public wisdom in India and politicians and priests make for opportune bedfellows.
A flashback would show that most post-Independent gurus enjoyed political patronage from the highest offices of India and many of their arrests and public shame have come from the same political and legal authorities swooping on their misconducts at their convenience. A report in November 1994 of a police complaint by two minor girls was enough to throw the spotlight on the ugly side of Trichy guru Premananda. He had, until then, enjoyed patronage from some senior members of the then ruling party in Tamil Nadu. Thankfully, this did not absolve him and, in a landmark judgment in 1997, he was convicted of multiple rapes and murder.
But there are divine interventions that behove benevolent judgments too. Just this October, a Delhi court acquitted godman Chandraswami in the St. Kitts forgery case and he made most of the moment to say how he had been made a political pawn by the V.P. Singh government for his proximity to Narasimha Rao and Rajiv Gandhi.
So it is for the most powerful godman of India, Satya Sai Baba, who has been venerated by prime ministers from Vajpayee to Narasimha Rao and received patronage of corporate giants like Isaac Tigrett of Hard Rock Caf�. Despite pending complaints with the CBI, negative campaign and murders of youths inside his quarters in 1993, he continues to be the guru with the most: over 20 million devotees and an estimated worth of $ 6 million.
Jayendra Saraswati also had former presidents like R. Venkataraman and Prime Ministers Narasimha Rao and Indira Gandhi call on him. (Saraswati publicly stated that widows should remain away from public spaces, but 'the Gandhi widow' was a political heavyweight after all). Obviously, he has missed something that Chandraswami and Sai Baba know better.
This unholy nexus will continue until India's spiritual electorate awaken to the shifty deeds of politicians and the dented halos of its saints.
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