Eamon Hardy of BBC’s This World produced and directed a remarkable documentary that includes interviews with an old friend of ours, the late Basava Premanand, India’s guru-buster extraordinaire. [Previously.]
The subject of the film is Satya Sai Baba, a guru with disciples across the globe, including some right here in Berkeley. Claiming to be an incarnation of the godhead, the baba [saint] collects millions in donations from his followers whilst allegedly diddling their sons.
So it’s not just Republican-boosting Bible Belt Christian megachurch preachers and the occasional bathroom-haunting, toe-tapping senator who walk on the wild side if the subjects of the documentary are to believed. But unlike his American counterparts, Sai Baba has impenetrable protection from the Indian government. Premanand, who was our house guest back for several days a couple of decades ago, said the Indian government covets the millions of dollars brought into the country by his American followers.
And even one well-known American follower follower who said he believed the child abuse allegations says it doesn’t matter. Nor would murder.
Premanand knew about murder attempts, since he’d be the target of several as he traveled the country, studying the wonder-working gurus and duplicating each of their marvels by utterly earthly means. He remained, throughout his life, Sai Baba’s implacable nemesis.
Sir,
I challenge you to use objective standards of legal proof to prove Sai Baba is a pedophile. Your article is certainly NOT objective and both the accusers in the BBC documentary were ADULTS, NOT children! Alaya Rahm was 18 years old when he claims he was sexually abused. Not only that but he also claimed Sai Baba’s genitalia supernaturally morphed from male to female when he did an earlier interview under a pseudonym, Sam Young. It is no wonder none of the accusers have EVER tried to file charges.
I challenge you to find even ONE child who claims to have been abused and PROVE it is so.
Actually, Young said it first happened when he was 16. There are other accusations here, and I heard first-hand back in the early 1970s.
I suggest that you look at the pages on Alaya Rahm at saisathyasaicom. You obviously have not done your journalistic reseacrh as Rahm tried to file a lawsuit in California but dismissed it after a witness who was a lawyer testified in a depostition that he accompanied Rahm to the ashram when he was 16 and no such incident happened. And why then did Rahm go back to the ashram after that for two years and give positive public speeches which are on audiotape? And there is absolutely no doubt he claimed Sai Baba’s genitalia supernaturally morphed from male to female as it is on an anti-Sai website in an article written by exdevotee Alexandra Nagel who interviewed him under the pseudonym Sam Young. I laugh when skeptics like you claim to be so skeptical but then believe anything negative they hear and even expect everyone else to believe it.
Once again I challenge you to find ONE child on that list and use objective standards of proof to prove his claims. I’ve done over 7 years of research and you will not find a credible accuser. The only other accuser named Neptune who was allegedly a child and was raised in a hippy commune in Goa also claimed in his testimonial that Sai baba’s genitalia supernaturally morphed from male to female. The other problem is there is no proof he even wrote that document. Do you as a skeptic believe accusers who claim Sai Baba’s genitalia morphed from female to female?
For believers who presume that Sai Baba is an avatar, suggestibility is a given. If you believe a guy is a god who materializes Rolexes [complete with factory serial numbers (James Coburn had one)], you can be convinced of almost anything. And genital concealment is something most boys have played at [closing one's legs and tucking the hardware between them and out of sight]. The site I referred you to is one of many. And there is virtually no chance of an honest court proceeding in India. I will agree there is no absolute proof, but there have been many allegations, just as there were many allegations against Catholic priests before officials stopped covering up in this country and in Ireland. I discussed Sai Baba at great length with Premanand, and there were many other youths who said they had been molested, but were terrified both of the Indian legal system and of being kicked out of their homes by their parents, who remained ardent believers.
This isn’t about whether Sai Baba is an Avatar which is not for you to judge since you are not Hindu. There are hundreds of books written about the miracles surrounding Sai Baba and many of those have several witnesses who experienced them at the same time. If the criminal accusations cannot stand up on their own and have to be tried on the internet as you are doing then we are ALL in trouble. What you are doing is very irresponsible (especially when you claim to be a journalist) because you do not know what you are talking about. You are speaking in generalities and making very dangerous assumptions because you just believe anything negative you read on the internet which bolsters your so-called “skeptical” viewpoint.
The issue is, WHY have none of the accusers filed charges as they are supposed to? Not ONE of them or their parents has even attempted to walk into a police station and file a complaint in India. I can tell you from my over 7 years of research it is because they are liars who thought they were going to make some money and cash in like the victims of the Catholic scandal.
Once again, I challenge you to find just ONE child who you think is telling the truth and prove it. Your very libelous article is actionable.
I know of no “miracles” ever performed by Sai Baba in scientifically controlled conditions. I find research by anyone who believes that someone can materialize a golden god’s penis in their mouth [for a lingam is a symbolic penis] is suspect on every other claim about the alleged materializer. You’re a believer; I am not. I did, however, live for three years in a Hindu commune, so I know a considerable amount about Hinduism [and also ghosted four well-reviewed books on the subject.] I also had the great honor to know B. Premanand, who devoted considerable time to studying Sai Baba. And I think if you warch the BBC documentary you’llk see why no one in their right mind would file a complaint with Indian police.