Godmen's gerrymandering

Calcutta online wrote about Satya Sai Baba's "political quagmire, along with corruption and degeneracy" even before the millennium! It is as true today as it was then, as the Telangana case helps to make people aware.

http: //www, netgurulndia, com/news/Mar99/14Mar99, html
Calcutta Online - News Paper Sunday, March 14, 1999, Vol III, 334 issue
The first web based daily from Calcutta, India.. Published at 11:30 pm IST*
Editorial
Godmen's gerrymandering
As the adage goes, politicians are most vulnerable to power. Whenever they find their positions and privileges at stake, they become vertiginous, reeling under a sense of morbid apprehension to lose their much-vaunted ground. It is under such circumstances a section of guru, as popularly known as godmen, have stepped In the country's political scenario. Since the pre-Deluge period, guru ism has remained a key instrument in shaping the country's history. Kabir, Chaitanya. Guru Nanak and Ramdas were few figures whose rhetoric of idealism and principles of life had led and guided the nation to a better civilisation. Even in the ancient forms of matrimonial society, life was closely-knit and rolled In to a nuclear form. Gurus at that time were respected and revered as friend, guide and philosopher representing a standard meaning of life. However, the Chandraswamis and Sai Babas of modem day stand for an entirely different breed of godly beings, whose reputations basically border on political quagmire, along with corruption and degeneracy. Of course, there is no harm in keeping faith on people who are considered to be blessed with "divine power". Faith generates inspiration and inspiration begets positive outlook on life. But this kind of observation appears to be an escape to euphoria when faith remains blindfold and a puppet in the hands of politically-motivated gurus. And that has exactly been the 'case' with modem alliance between gurus and politicians. Take for example the incident of the controversial St. Kitts scam. That Chandraswami, a self-professed man with divine power, had played an instrumental role, with a Prime Minister's alleged acquiescence -- an incident for which he had even kissed the rod - is a pitiable reminder of the fact that their so-called claim to having Providential power is at worst a hoax, and at best, a ploy to hog the limelight. Seen from this perspective, such godmen’s proximily to the highest rung of political ladder is a serious concern to national security. There are even enough evidences of such persons' alleged involvement into international arms dealings and other types of shady deals. Prime Minister Atal Behan Vajpayee's recent meeting with Satya Sai Baba may have been occasioned out of pure individual faith. And the Opposition's remark that the BJP leader had met him seeking his "heavenly" advices to get out of the political uncertainties plaguing his government at present, could be brushed aside as pure joke. But when such meetings tend to break in matters of people's interests, misgivings crop up in people's mind about actual motives of all these swarthy affairs. The ailment from which the BJP-led government has been suffering since its rise to the power is nothing but lack of good coordination among its coalition allies. Once the likes of Ms Jayalalitha's inclination to brinkmanship game or Ms Mamata Banerjee's hullabaloo over implementing her Bengal package are realistically pondered over, Vajpayee will almost be certain to spend peacefful nights. And to know such simple logic, one needs not to go a "godman" in a bid seek a panacea.

Italian para-normal researcher on Sathya Sai Baba

SAI BABA AND TELEVISION

by Marco Cagnotti Caflish from Scienza & Paranormale, year IV, n.l
On the evening of Tuesday 3th December 1991 the National Italian language Swiss Television Channel broadcast a documentary entirely devoted to Sai Baba as part of the Thesis, Issues and Witnesses programme.

The portrayal of this Indian Marabout was completely biased, taking for granted the truth of his alleged "miracles".

Sai Baba had been seen producing "vibhuti", a kind of ash that it is said he is able to create out of thin air ( even by proxy when his photographs are used !) Sai Baba also materialised other objects such as valuable rings encrusted with diamonds.

After this a Dane woman suffering from cancer witnessed her miraculous healing after being admitted to Sai Baba's presence in India. In addition S. Bhagavantam, a known Indian physicist, also declared these "miracles" as real and unexplainable by science. S. H. Sandweiss a teacher of psychiatry in San Diego University witnessed the healing of one of his (her?) patient's thanks to Sai Baba and various other people have also spoken on behalf of Sai Baba.

In my opinion, the most outrageous thing has been the ensuing discussion that followed the documentary. The panel included, besides a journalist and a moderator, P. Roche de Coppens, a sociologist and religious expert, Don Mario Mazzoleni a clergyman and theologian and (...wait for it) Paola Giovetti, introduced to the audience as a "well-known parapsychology researcher".

I must admit to being a great admirer of Paola Giovetti. I am a faithful reader of her column in the Italian magazine "Astra" since it gives me great satisfaction to see Signora Giovetti constantly reaffirming my favourite Italian saying "Bad things can always get worse" and I always try not to miss her TV appearances.

The discussion opened with Signora Giovetti quoting a number of other materialisations performed by trance induced mediums. She drew attention to the case of the Italian medium Roberto Setti that had allegedly materialised for her a finely crafted shrine containing a shred of the mantle of the Virgin Mary. Giovetti's explanation of this sort of phenomenon had been a rigmarole on the possibility of de-materialising objects using the mind, transforming the matter that constitute these objects into energy (even Einstein stated that matter-energy transformation is possible didn't he?) and then materialising again the same things wherever we like. Evidently Giovetti doesn't seem to have the slightest idea of the magnitude of energy that would be obtained by the complete transformation of only few grams of matter.

Later we heard the opinion of the sociologist and religious expert who gave the impression to be more a Sai Baba's follower than a balanced and disenchanted scholar. The last to speak was Don Mario Mazzoleni, who left me feeling terribly bewildered: I wonder how he is able to reconcile being a Roman Catholic priest with what he says about Sai Baba. To the question "Who is Sai Baba?" Don Mazzoleni answered "I could state that Sai Baba is God, but before we need to know who God is" How are we supposed to know better, if he is the theologian? Don Mazzoleni issued another statement worth stressing: "Science bows down to Sai Baba presence—science bows down on its knees".

' With the greatest respect I would say to Don Mazzoleni that in Sai Baba's presence he could fall to his knees, if he likes but that science doesn't kneel to anybody. Science limits itself to observation of facts and to building some theoretical models that suit them. It is necessary, though, that these facts are real and that the phenomena have really been observed. Is that the case with Sai Baba? Quite the opposite. Should we be impressed by an Indian Marabout that materialises heaps of dust from an um? If that is the case should we not also admit a miracle when the Italian conjurer Silvan draws rabbits and pigeons out of his hat. Even the testimonies of the well-known scientists have not true weight. We know very well how regularly honest researchers have attested in good faith the authenticity of certain unexplainable phenomenon made by first rate swindlers. Because of their inexperience and unability in discovering tricks, those scientists had later to retract their assertions when those tricksters were caught out by a conjuring expert.

I don't want to bore the reader further with the detail of all the other nonsense I had to listen to during the discussion. I would like to end with a consideration: there is a lot of fuss about the minimal spread of scientific popular culture. An understandable but comprehensive popularisation is badly needed and the mass media, particularly television, should take charge of it. I dread to imagine what the opinion of the average TV viewer would be, after a programme that in a matter of fact way takes for granted that is possible to materialise things out of thin air.

«Intellectual honesty should at least present, beside the (so called) experts of one side, somebody representing science (the real one) as well as a skeptical and rational standpoint as well. In fact at the end of the discussion, to the question: "Who is Sai Baba in your opinion?" Paola Giovetti answered "I think that he is what he says he is, a divine incarnation...". Sai Baba's words. We can trust them, can't we Signora. Giovetti?

N.B: At the IV Euroskeptics Conference held in St. Vincent on the 17th-19th July 1992 a report was given by B. Premanand a Indian that devoted years pursuing Indian marabous and disclosing the clever tricks used by most of them to deceive their followers . Particularly he feigned for months to be a Sai Baba's disciple till he understood all the skilled conjurer's methods. Recently he was beaten up by some fanatics and has being recovering after a period of time in hospital. Premanand at St Vincent showed how to handle fire, eat glass, pierce your arm with needles, stop the heart beating and produce apparently enormous amounts of "vibhuti" (the holy ash that Sai Baba get from perfumed starch and sometimes dried cow dung... !). Now even your affectionate area manager is able to stop his heartbeat.

SATHYA SAI BABA AND THE GOLD CONTROL ACT - by B. Premanand

Referring to the extraordinary ruling by the Supreme Court of India on Sathya Sai Baba's alleged 'materialisation' of gold, the petitioner and editor of Indian Skeptic, B. Premamand, states:

In light of the extraordinary powers claimed by psychics all over the world one wonders how these powers are viewed by the judiciary. Can psychics who claim to produce exceptions to the laws of nature get away with claiming exemption from the laws of society? Unfortunately, this sometimes seems to work.

A case in question involves the Indian godman, Satya Sai Baba, who claims the power to materialise any desired object out of thin air. Sai Baba's way of -accomplishing this feat is indistinguishable from the way any competent conjurer would do the same. Although he only materialises "holy' ash for his poorer followers he has a long history of producing gold objects for the wealthy and influential members of his flock. This book lists 89 such objects for the years 1968 to 1978 alone.

Now according to Indian law only licensed dealers are allowed to take part in the production of gold and Sai Baba doesn't have such a license. This fact was brought to the attention of the Regional Office of Gold Control as well as to the High Court of Andrah Pradesh.

Judge Anjaneyulu, however, ruled that the law doesn't apply to Sathya Sai Baba because he materialises his gold from thin air. The only objection that the petitioner could make against this strange decision was to appeal to the voice of reason: "Defence based on spiritual powers is not recognised in law. If such a defence is permitted, there is not a single offence the commission of which could be met with the penalties and punishments, for the reason that on a plea of spiritual power being raised by the accused there is no way to prove or disprove the existence or non-existence of the pleaded supernormal power." Unfortunately these words went unheeded. Judge Anjaneyulu is known to be Sai Baba's devotee!

This book, which recounts this battle in the courts, shows that in the end there can be no justice without reason.

See: B. Premanand, Satya Sai Baba and the Gold Control Act. Published by INDIAN CSICOP, Podanur 1986 Price: US$ 3.00 (includes Air Mail)
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