A team of 150 police officers, headed by an Additional Superintendent of Police from Coimbatore, conducted a search at the Isha Foundation’s ashram in Thondamuthur on Tuesday. This search took place one day after the Madras High Court requested a report on all criminal cases filed against the foundation.
As per the media report, the police search operation includes three Deputy Superintendents of Police (DSPs). A senior officer stated that the focus of the operation is to carefully check the inmates and search the rooms at the foundation.
In response to the development, the Isha Yoga Centre said what was happening was only an inquiry. “As per the court order, the police, including the SP, have come to the Isha Yoga Center for a general inquiry. They are inquiring with residents and volunteers, understanding the lifestyle, understanding how they come in and stay, etc,” it said in a statement.
The court ordered the Coimbatore Rural Police to investigate and submit a report while hearing a habeas corpus petition filed by Dr. S. Kamaraj, a retired professor. He claimed that his two daughters, Geetha Kamaraj (42) and Latha Kamaraj (39), were being held against their will at the foundation in Coimbatore. He alleged that the organization was brainwashing people, turning them into monks, and limiting their contact with their families.
The court raised concerns about the apparent contradictions in the life of Jaggi Vasudev, the founder of Isha Foundation. Justices S. M. Subramaniam and V. Sivagnanam questioned why Sadhguru, as he is known among his followers, who married off his own daughter and helped her settle down, was encouraging other young women to shave their heads, renounce worldly life, and live as hermits at his yoga centers.
When Kamaraj’s petition claimed that his two daughters were being held against their will at the organization’s yoga center in the foothills of Velliangiri, Coimbatore, both women, who were present in court, stated that they were staying at the center voluntarily and denied any form of coercion or detention.
Kamaraj’s petition detailed the professional accomplishments of his daughters before they joined the foundation. His elder daughter, a postgraduate in mechatronics from a prestigious university in the UK, had been earning a substantial salary before divorcing her husband in 2008, the petition states.
Following the divorce, she began attending yoga classes at the foundation.
The petition states that the younger daughter, a software engineer, soon joined her sister and ultimately decided to stay at the center permanently. It also claims that the foundation provided food and medications to the sisters that dulled their cognitive abilities, causing them to cut off all connections with their family.
“Now, the grievances of the petitioner is that the foundation is abusing certain persons, by brainwashing and converting them as monks and not even allowing the parents and relatives to meet the inmate monks. The situation inside the institution is also widely criticised by the petitioner in the present petition,” states the court order.
The petition also spoke about a POCSO case against a doctor working at the foundation. “The petitioner in person would submit that even recently a criminal case under POCSO has been registered against a doctor, who is working in the very same institution. The allegation against the said person was that he molested 12 girls studying in the Adivasi Government School,” the order states.
Although Kamaraj’s daughters insisted that their stay at Isha was voluntary, Justices Subramaniam and Sivagnanam were not entirely convinced. “We want to know why a person who had given his daughter in marriage and made her settle well in life is encouraging the daughters of others to tonsure their heads and live the life of a hermitess.
“That is the doubt,” remarked Justice Sivagnanam during the proceedings. K Rajendra Kumar, the counsel for Isha Foundation, stated that adults have the right to make their own life choices, including the decision to follow a spiritual path. He argued that the court’s investigation into these personal decisions was unwarranted, as the women were clearly acting of their own free will.
Justice Subramaniam however said, “You will not understand because you are appearing for a particular party. But this court is neither for nor against anybody. We only want to do justice to the litigants before us.”
The judges also spoke about the apparent hostility between the daughters and their parents. Justice Subramaniam told the daughters, “You claim to be on the path of spirituality. Don’t you think that neglecting your parents is a sin? ‘Love all and hate none’ is the principle of devotion but we could see so much hatred in you for your parents. You are not even addressing them respectfully.”
The petitioner’s counsel, M. Purushothaman, argued that there have been previous criminal cases filed against the Isha Foundation, indicating a pattern of misconduct and legal violations.
Despite the daughters’ statements and the defense presented by the Isha Foundation, the court decided to take further action. It directed Additional Public Prosecutor E. Raj Thilak to provide a detailed status report by October 4, which should include all pending criminal cases against the foundation.
The Isha Foundation, meanwhile, said that they “do not ask people to get married or take up monkhood; these are individual choices”. It said the Isha Yoga Center hosts many individuals, and only a few have chosen monkhood.
Addressing the habeas corpus petition, the foundation noted that the petitioner sought the monks to be presented before the court, which they did, affirming that their stay at the centre is voluntary.
“The petitioner, along with others, previously attempted to trespass on our premises under the false pretext of being a fact-finding committee investigating the crematorium constructed by the Isha Foundation. They later filed a criminal complaint against the people at the Isha Yoga Center. In response, the Hon’ble High Court of Madras granted a stay on the submission of the final police report. Other than this, there are no criminal cases against the foundation,” the statement from the foundation reads.
(Source: Indian Express)