Nityananda, HDAS and GFCH

On March 3, 2010, the writer wrote to persons connected to the HDAS to seek confirmation regarding the sex scandal exposed by Sun TV, which involved Swami Nityananda, a founder member of the Global Foundation for Civilisational Harmony, a body closely intertwined with Swami Dayananda Saraswati (see previous articles).

The writer wished to know what action the Global Foundation and HDAS intended to take in the light of Nityananda’s indiscretions. The writer expressed concern that more prurient videos of the said swami and other venerables may be available in America, for which we would have to be prepared.

Seizing the opportunity to reiterate the writer’s concerns over the easy infiltration and control of Hindu ashrams by Westerners, the writer observed, “The white man does not hand over his women to black Hindu sadhus without an ulterior motive, and this is particularly true of the Jews, who adhere to their faith and culture with utmost tenacity. Only Hindu sadhus are content to wallow in sex and money when they are corrupted – all monotheist clergy and laity are fiercely committed to the political agenda of world dominion and never let it out of their sight.”

Asserting that globetrotting swamis are the bane of our country and need to be curbed with a firm hand, the writer said Hindu hierarchy must allot them a secondary status, and they must no longer presume to speak for Hindu Samaj or Hindu Dharma at the global level. Any secretly signed ‘binding’ declarations are unequivocally rejected by Indian Hindus.

Finally, the writer said that given the unsavoury activities of Nityananda, promoted for proximity to Swami Dayananda Saraswati, and the complete failure of Swami Dayananda as HDAS convener to defend Hindu dharma from evangelical assault in the course of his globe-trotting or to defend the Kanchi Acharyas from criminal vilification as part of a global conspiracy against Hindu Dharma, they must walk into the sunset together. The writer demanded that Swami Dayananda immediately step down as convener, HDAS.

Abuse and Response

A flood of abuse followed from anonymous writers and some persons from America. Few persons of social standing came forward with intellectual arguments in defence of Swami Dayananda. The writer is not going to delve into the scurrilous allegations levelled, but points out with sadness that despite polite but pointed exchanges with Swami Jyotirmayananda who played an active role in spreading the libel, the admirers and colleagues of Swami Dayananda kept their fight dirty, most likely because they had no moral ground on which to stand, as we shall see later.

On March 4, 2010, the writer wrote to Swami Jyotirmayananda regarding the dharmic aspects of the Hindu struggle (reproduced below):

Respected Swami Jyotirmayananda ji

Pranam

It is a hoary Hindu tradition that the Mahabharata war was fought for Dharma, though the material reward was a kingdom. That war, staved off for many years by the puissant diplomacy of Sri Krishna, eventually saw two powerful armies meet on the plains of Kurukshetra. Stalwarts of the level of Bhishma Pitamah, Dronacharya and Karna on one side, Abhimanyu and Ghatotkacha on the other, were sacrificed before one side emerged victor.

Today’s Kurukshetra encompasses the entire landmass of India, and her hoary Dharma, culture and civilisational ethos, which are under the combined and calibrated assault of the Corporate-Judaeo-Christian world, with the slavish Muslim world serving as suicidal mercenaries, with no share in the ultimate loot, only a slice of heaven.

The stakes are not only so much higher, but the war is that much nastier, as there is no kinship or dharmic commonality that can impose restraint. There is no Sri Krishna, and Hindus are clueless how to face the enemy. Sadly, learned Swamis who should be in the forefront of galvanizing the public to recognise the enemy and gather on the battlefield, are reluctant to do their dharmic duty. They seem to have accepted a Faustian deal to allow the enemy a free run of the land in return for the safety of their rich ashrams (abroad as well), though how long such a promise would be respected is anyone’s guess.

I say this with sadness because you have stepped forward on the Swami Nityananda scandal in an unsatisfactory manner, without even declaring your side. You have [1] forwarded a foolish threat by ------- to launch a defamation case against me and another lady, when there is no defamation in anything I posted to a few PRIVATE INDIVIDUALS, nor does the said gentleman have any locus standi in the matter! [2] You have put up some posts on the issue on your own blog, which can only be called unhelpful, in my personal opinion.

Swamiji, please allow me to briefly enumerate the crux of the issues being raised repeatedly by Smt Radha Rajan and myself, in our respective ways:-

-        Hindus of Hindustan have specific rights and interests vis-à-vis this native bhumi of Hindu dharma, which cannot be shared by anyone else

-        Islam and Christianity view the bhumi differently from natal Hindus and seek to overturn the natal tradition, and hence the intrinsic conflict with Hindus of Hindustan

-        Two generations of Indian students were instigated by their own parents to study and work abroad, seek Western citizenship, to enjoy the fruits of life and progress denied by a socialist Nehruvian India. Had these persons remained in India, they would have been part of the Nehruvian secular crowd! [Meanwhile, the rest of us liberated the economy… and continue to live here…]

-        When the West decided to completely decimate the Muslim world and directly seize its strategic and economic assets, it decided to ‘encourage’ secular Hindus of India to start demonizing Islam. The PIOs were also secular, but they were asked to pretend to be concerned about Hindu dharma and to invent a category called Global Hindu – an oxymoron if ever there was one.

-        To establish their credentials and also acquire some self-esteem, they took up the task of seeking to correct the anti-Hindu venom in academia in the West, especially America, but proved ill-equipped for the task. Those among them with real scholarship did not want to get their hands dirty.

-        This group penetrated the Hindu Dharma Acharya Sabha along with foreigner bhaktas and tried to establish the credentials of certain swamis, to direct Hindu concerns on this bhumi in ways that could only suit the West – this alienated genuine Hindus of India.

-        Now these self-styled American Hindu academics are running scared on the issue of the California [should read Texas – editor] textbook battle, and are irate that we know this.

-        They are irate that we are not impressed with globe-trotting Swamis with whom they have a back-scratching club – and neither side can deliver anything to the West because they do not possess the bhumi.

-        They are now working overtime to take over traditional Hindu bodies any which way. There are many useful idiots available.

-        But the high noon of their brief eminence is already over and I think they realise that they have no status in America or India. White Americans will realise that alienated Hindus are soon caught out and cannot help enslave the country. This is not a culture that cherishes Jai Chands.

To return to the current issue of Swami Nityananda, whatever the circumstances in which Sun TV did the exposé on him, the channel is too distinguished to not do a thorough check before airing the video clip. It is foolish for American Hindus unknown in India and running away from the California [read Texas – editor] textbook issue to argue that Nityananda is a victim because he was opposing Christian conversions – no globe-trotting swami has seriously opposed conversions.

The crux of our critique of HDAS and Swami Dayananda is that he has opened the door for conversions in the name of inter-faith dialogue! He has consistently refused to answer questions about the representatives who went to the Vatican in 2006, and other issues, which do not need repetition here.

It is pertinent that Swami Nityananda was considered dubious in many quarters, with reports of incidents of having being roughed up by the public for misbehaviour. Swami Dayananda ji has promoted such ‘spiritual novices’ in august bodies like the HDAS and GFCH, and is thus responsible for this sordid chapter in our lives.

I conclude with the gentle reminder, which I hope you will not resent too much, that the issues raised have been consistently evaded by those duty bound to give an explanation to Hindu society. Instead they are hiding behind the feigned indignation of unknown bhaktas, which brings them more discredit that they deserve. Swami Dayananda cannot face the public, he must immediately step down as Convener, Hindu Dharma Acharya Sabha.

Namaste and warm regards

Sandhya Jain

Editor www.vijayvaani.com

Nemesis and the Defenders of the False Faith

Faith and steadfastness were rewarded on March 31, 2010, when an admirer forwarded a confidential e-mail sent by Dr Rajiv Malhotra to some select persons. Dr Malhotra who describes himself as an “American patriot” and “non-Hindutva Hindu,” played an active role in trying to ‘corporatise’ the Hindu tradition and was part of the Hindu component of the Hindu-Jewish Summit in Delhi and Jerusalem (such is Swami Dayananda’s faith in non-Indians). 

The e-mail is reproduced below in totality, with no names concealed, as it is a first person account, and anyway it is time to come out with what measure of truth is available to us. What Malhotra describes are the negotiations in Haridwar led by Swami Dayananda in persuading Nityananda to step down from his posts and save the global Hindu network from further damage. That matters were very serious can be gauged from the presence of legal eagle Ram Jethmalani.

The writer’s interventions/explanations are in brackets:

PLEASE DO NOT CIRCULATE - CONFIDENTIAL (Dr Rajiv Malhotra)

Efforts to bring a unity between Swami Nithyananda (SN) and Swami Dayananda Saraswati (SDS) have reached a deadlock which could seriously hurt SN as well as Hinduism more generally. While I was in India I had direct access to the relevant parties to make my own assessment every day, and also I could plead for their unity. Neither of these is possible while I sit here.

The SDS camp has Gurumurthy as its main advisor, and Manohar Shinde is also on that side though not as energetic or creative as Gurumurthy. There are a few other prominent sadhus as well, many of whom I brought in and had them meet with SN.

[Manohar Shinde is an American Hindu who reputedly established Nityananda in south India and built him up in both countries with help from persons like Malhotra. If Swami Dayananda was actively involved in getting Nityananda to quit his posts – when they do not belong to the same religious lineage, indeed, Nityananda is said to be a self-styled sanyasi - and reputedly provided him shelter at Haridwar for these protracted negotiations, then obviously the Nityananda scam affects his own professional (not dharmic) interests in ways not fully apparent yet. This can only have a link with Swami ji’s foreign bhaktas and their goals; hence Swami ji’s conduct bears legitimate scrutiny].

The SN camp is in disarray with a few close inner circle men calling the shots. I continue to get reports from some of them who seem open minded. But the main problem seems to be a man named Aiya and his wife, who started the initial fund raising to establish the ashram. He is the chief executive of the ashram and the boss in SN's absence. He has been most incompetent in my assessment. (The contracts for tantra with certain women were signed by Aiya and not by SN personally.) Aiya has also become very unpopular amongst young ashramites now, due to his lack of leadership and courage.

[If contracts for tantra were signed by someone other than Nityananda, this is even worse. This was not dharma of any variety – a sanyasi was having sex with multiple partners in an ashram, and contracts were signed to this effect by his manager; this makes the establishment nothing but a sex parlour. The said manager has only to replace Nityananda with someone else and continue the same business! This is utterly scandalous. Indian authorities must investigate these contracts and shut down these fake ashrams; Hindus will not protect such debasement on the pretext of saving Dharma. The dharma needs to be cleansed of this scum.

Meanwhile, the Bar Councils may investigate if lawyers are supposed to draw up such obscene contracts, and how they are validated!].

The starting position of SDS when I approached him was that SN is guilty as charged, a crook and fraud who should be exposed. (They have had differences over the nature of teachings for several years and SN had asked me last year to mediate.) There have also been other persons claiming potentially criminal charges, such as some parents of girls who live in the ashram - some with signed agreements for tantra of the kind I have seen with Ranjitha (the actress). But I was able to influence these parties on the basis that this would devastate Hinduism. Gurumurthy joined me on this premise as well and has been extremely active every day.

[What is the locus standi of these persons to be dealing with such a sensitive and criminal matter at all; how dare they protect a sleazy sanyasi at the cost of female victims?

And if Swami Dayananda was really having differences with Nityananda, why did he allow him into the Global Foundation for Civilisational Harmony? Why was Swami Dayananda under the control of Manohar Shinde?]

So the deal being negotiated was to reduce the heat on SN by having him step aside asap [as soon as possible], and let some senior sadhus/acharya (like SDS or others he helps to find) step in temporarily. This would appease both SDS and the angry parents, and we felt it would also give the media a symbolic victory so they might bring closure to this scandal. That’s when the “resignation” idea was floated in order to soften this landing. Resignation was SN's idea, announced in a taped interview with me which has never been aired. The language drafted, as to what should be said when SN announces that he is stepping down, went back and forth between these camps, and with lawyers.

SDS was insisting that SN should admit/confess his wrongdoing, but I was able to convince him that this could turn into legal trouble for SN. SDS also wanted a minimum 5 year period of exile for SN, which I felt was too harsh, because the loss of revenue when SN was gone would kill the organization.

[Astonishing that Rajiv Malhotra could think of revenue at a time like this! And Swami Dayananda is an accessory to all this scandal and criminality by not insisting that Nityananda is not fit for the spiritual life and must renounce the sacred saffron robe and return to civil life, where he should seek psychotherapy for his problem of sex addiction. This is the ONLY WAY Hindu dharma deals with deviant sadhus. Asking for a five year exile is like the Papacy shifting pederasts around the globe, introducing new innocent victims to criminally abusive priests.

It is also unacceptable that Swami Dayananda knew about these despicable sex contracts and did not hand Nityananda over to the police, but protected him and allowed him to make a getaway to Shimla, where he was eventually arrested on April 21].

On both counts the SDS camp softened. That’s how I left things in India. Agreement seemed very close. On the day I arrived in USA, Manohar Shinde told me that prior to his departure for USA on 24th [March], SN would be making the public announcement surrounded by his devotees in the ashram. He was going to Bangalore to be part of this event. But all this fell apart.

Here is the scene now:

Gurumurthy and Manohar Shinde are openly upset at SN for betraying dharma, and have turned against him. They want to take a tough stand, including the resignation of all the inner circle of the ashram and not just SN personally. The language of the announcement by SN has not been agreed upon. I roped in Venkatanarayanan ji (a very competent retired IAS man who is secretary of Acharya Sabha and Swami Dayananda Saraswati's right-hand man). What I felt were minor language differences are being seen by both sides as very serious unresolved issues. The deal has come unhinged at least for now.

The SN camp has suddenly got their own confidence boosted, i.e. that they will be able to beat the problem without help of other acharyas. This was partly caused by email supporters from everywhere encouraging them to fight and not cave in. But Aiya is a key influence in this, as he does not want to step down from his position of power.

On the opposite side, the campaign by Sandhya Jain and Radha Rajan made SN appear as a fraud in the eyes of many Hindu supporters. The SDS camp started having second thoughts about appearing too close to SN. In this sense, Radha and Sandhya have succeeded in splitting Hindus among themselves, the exact opposite of my attempts of bringing them closer. They see me as the man trying to create such a pan-Hindu coalition. They don’t like this for some strange reason that I don’t understand. The more I tried to help build such a coalition, the angrier Sandhya/Radha became. Before she launched her public attack against me, I got private emails from Radha scolding me for building this coalition of “bad” swamis - she regards both SN and SDS as bad Hindus.

The SN camp meanwhile has lost patience for support to arrive from SDS. They had their local lawyer take a bad step that was AGAINST the advice of Jethmalani. He filed a petition in the Karnataka High Court asking that all investigations against SN must stop. Jethmalani had warned that courts never like to be told to stop the legal due process. The high court rejected the petition immediately. This triggered the Karnataka government to escalate the investigation. Previously all the cases were being investigated by the local district police, who are easy to influence especially through BJP.

[No comment]

But the case has been transferred to a special prosecutor who is said to be above influence, and his detective force is very tough minded. Gurumurthy/Shinde feel that this spells more trouble for SN, and that they won’t be able to use much BJP clout to save SN. But today I spoke with the SN camp to get their side of the story. The top man next to SN himself told me that they are confident that the criminal case cannot produce any serious CRIMINAL charges. I don’t have the facts directly like I used to a week ago. So I can merely pass on what each side says.

There is a good chance that the attempt to build a pan-Hindu coalition won’t materialize. We lost a great opportunity to unify. Venkatji has worked very hard as private advisor to me [secretary HDAS is a private adviser to an American?] behind the scenes, and he has said all along that such a task is next to impossible but worth trying. (Actually I had proposed his name as the head administrator for an interim management until the dust settles and life can return back to normal.)

There are numerous spoilers among the Hindus who I don’t wish to name at this point. Many of them have been like vultures wanting to chip away pieces of the Nithyananda assets, and merge them into their own institutions. I received some emails proposing that I join this effort, and that if they have their way, I could get some of the assets as well. I find this disheartening and a-dharmic to say the least.

I have no clue what’s going to happen. I just wanted to give you this PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL report. Please feel free to give me your thoughts. I am unavailable to jump back in, though I can monitor the situation from USA.

Regards,

Rajiv

[The above is self-explanatory. Swami Dayananda gave non-Indians the run of the place, and allowed them to use HDAS and other bodies to create a so-called global coalition – which would be run from America for an imperial American purpose, with Indian Hindus playing the role of menials and coolies! It was a poorly crafted edifice - two women could huff and puff and blow it all down!!!]

Joker in the pack

The real Nemesis is yet to come. Even as the above e-mail reached me, Nityananda announced his resignation from all ashram posts and trusts; the writer asked if he had also resigned from the Global Foundation for Civilisational Harmony. The writer asked an office bearer how Nityananda came to be selected to be in the GFCH in the first place. The writer shared her apprehensions that Nityananda was being built up to succeed Swami Dayananda Saraswati in the Hindu Dharma Acharya Sabha, and shuddered to think what would have happened if the scandal had broken then.

[Despite denials, the contention that Nityananda was being groomed to succeed Swami Dayananda at the behest of their mutual American bhaktas is corroborated by the personal interest Swami Dayananda took in Nityananda’s resignation from posts in the latter’s own institutions – and protection of ashram properties where Americans may have invested! While the Malhotra e-mail cited above was not available to the writer at the time of expressing this apprehension, the fears stand vindicated by the said e-mail].

On April 1, 2010, the office-bearer replied that Nityananda “has resigned orally and we are awaiting a formal letter from him. Once that is done, we would be removing his name as one of our patrons. Secondly, his name was suggested by his US based devotees including Dr Manohar Shinde, who is one of our Trustees also.”

During further clarifications, the office-bearer denied Nityananda was being groomed as successor to Swami Dayananda in HDAS,

“I cannot comment on HDAS as I am only concerned with GFCH. However, as far as I know, HDAS membership is confined to Acharyas who have mutts older than 300 years. Forget Swami Nithyananda, even Swami Dayananda Saraswathi is not a member of HDAS. He is a non-Member Convener. His successor too will be nominated by the Acharyas and not by Dayananda Saraswathi. This is my information and understanding.”

But there was a Freudian slip. Obviously the gentleman had discussed the matter with someone who literally dictated the response. It was to be communicated as the office-bearers’ own reply, but for a small human error – the office-bearer deleted the masthead and much of the e-mail, but a small portion of the original message remained:

“Also write to her that HDAS is limited to acharyas who have mutts older than 300 years. Even Dayananda Saraswathi is not a member of HDAS. He is appointed as a non member convenor. His successor will be nominated by the acharyas, not by Dayananda Saraswathi. SG” [spelling mistake of convener is original]

Obviously, some non-Swamis have arrogated the powers of HDAS to themselves and speak authoritatively on behalf of the organisation. This vindicates the reservations some of us have about Swami Dayananda Saraswati and the manner in which he is conducting the affairs of the HDAS.

The defence rests with these exposés.

Tail piece

One malicious attack on us was a multi-part series on ‘two media cats.’ It instantly brought to mind the observation by the great American writer, Mark Twain:

‘A man who tries to carry a cat home by its tail will learn a lesson that cannot be learned in any other way.’

(Concluded)

The writer is Editor, www.vijayvaani.com

Endnotes

-        Some of the most vicious abuse – by a man hiding behind a pseudonym – was hosted on Dr Rajiv Malhotra’s Sulekha website:

http://nijatamizhan.sulekha.com/blog/post/2010/04/shame-on-sandhya-jain-and-radha-rajan.htm However, it was removed at some stage, possibly after the arrest of Nityananda on 21 April 2010.

-        Readers curious about all the abuse being peddled on the internet may contact Swami Jyotirmayananda, a close associate of Swami Dayananda Saraswati, at swamijyoti@gmail.com. His blog VivekaJyoti is currently devoted to this calumny and the latest post (23 April 2010) is by Dr Krishnan Ramaswamy, one of the editor’s of Rajiv Malhotra’s eminently forgettable book, Invading the Sacred. The link is

http://vivekajyoti.blogspot.com/2010/04/two-media-cats-and-their-treachery_23.html

-        Swami Jyotirmayananda was one of the Program Coordinators of the Dharma Summit convened by Swami Dayananda Saraswati at Rutgers University, New Jersey, in August 2005; and a Coordination Committee Member of the HDAS Second Convention, Mumbai, in October 2005.

-        On April 4, 2010, the writer wrote a final appeal to Swami Dayananda:

Respected Swami Dayananda ji

Pranam

I am sorry at your continued silence in the wake of filthy abuse launched by your anonymous admirers. Anyone with intelligence can see that some huge vested interest has been hurt by just a few articles written by Radha ji and myself. This vituperative attack cannot cover up the fact that what is being sought to be defended was never in the Hindu or Indian interest. We do not know the dimensions of what has been shaken, but it was clearly very big indeed and you are at the centre of it.