Disciples seek Minister Ramdas Athawale’s intervention to stop the sale of any part of the Pune ashram
New Delhi: Disciples of mystic late Acharya Rajneesh, also known as Osho, and members of a public trust called Osho Friends Foundation today submitted an appeal to the Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment, Ramdas Athawale, seeking an “urgent Inquiry Commission” to audit all trusts of Osho Ashram in Pune and Mumbai. They urged the Minister to take steps to stop “the sale of Ashram property worth over Rs. 1000 crores”. They claimed Minister Athawale today assured them that he will take action to institute a probe.
Swami Prem Geet (Yogesh Thakkar) from Osho Friends Foundation alleged, “We hold credible evidence that the present trustees of the public charitable trust have siphoned off properties and funds valuing rupees 1800 crores into their private companies in and outside of India.” He along with Swami Anadi Rawal, a long-time disciple of Osho, also filed objections to the sale in the Office of the Charity Commissioner of Maharashtra in Mumbai. He had led the delegation to the Minister. He said, “We are seeking to protect the legacy of Osho for all the generations to come. Our appeal is made against the backdrop of Osho Ashram assets being siphoned out of India by the current trustees. Further accusations of money laundering and a forged Will has also been registered against them. We urge the minister to set up a full-fledged Commission of Inquiry into the operations and finances of all trusts of the Osho Ashram in Pune and Mumbai.”
The delegation contended that Osho’s legacy was being systematically damaged and funds transferred overseas. The letter presented to the Minister alleged that the intellectual properties and also valuable articles of Osho had been smuggled out of India by the present trustees. Proceeds from Osho’s books, discourses, websites along with cash collected at the Ashram without receipts were being siphoned into private companies of the trustees. The letter further says that a court case against the management cites Rs. 1800 crore as missing or transferred to private entities.
Hema Baweja, one of the spokespersons of Osho Friends Foundation said, “Hon’ble Minister Athawale has accepted our appeal and we are optimistic that his intervention will bring justice to the Osho Community and the society at large. A thorough investigation by a central agency needs to be initiated by the Govt of India. The disciples of Osho want to stop the sale of Pune Osho ashram and also stop the diversion of ashram resources abroad.”
Osho Ashram in Pune now known as the Osho International Resort was the home of the late Acharya from 1974 till his death in 1990. “It is the vital landmark of his iconic movement. He is the revered Guru to millions all over the world and the Pune ashram is where his Samadhi is located,” his disciples stated.
During the ‘70’s ’80s and ‘90s the place was a prime spiritual destination for not only Indians but also for his disciples from across the globe.
The number of people visiting the Pune ashram dwindled at the turn of the century, and the disciples contended that the Pune ashram trustees had “grossly mismanaged the finances and distorted the teachings of Osho”. They alleged that the trustees had edited the words spoken by Osho. “The trustees have deliberately discouraged people from coming to the ashram by exorbitant entry charges and petty rules with the objective to sell the highly valued property of the ashram,” they charged.
A disciple, Ma Dharma Jyoti, said, “Osho is the Dhyan Rishi of India who attracted millions from all parts of the globe. It is said that there may be a country without an Indian embassy but none without an Osho disciple.” She was among the first group of 16 persons who took initiation from Osho referred to as neo-sannyas. She said that Osho had played a vital role in transforming the lives of lakhs of devotees.
Swami Keerti informed that there were 9000 hours of audio discourses and 2000 hours of video discourses available in Hindi and English. Osho’s words were transcribed into 650 books translated into 75 languages around the world. He claimed on average 700 books are published each year somewhere on the planet, which meant publishing two books per day.
– global bihari bureau
