Sathya Sai Baba’s Deputy Head, Dr G. Venkataraman, Speaks of “Mr Idi Amin”

Idi Amin A Gentleman?

Reporting on Sathya Sai Baba’s – so-called ‘Christmas discourse’ of December, 2006, Dr G. Venkataraman, second-in-command of his worldwide organisation, refers to one of the world’s most gruesome men, the heartless African dictator, as “Mr Idi Amin”.

At this URL, Dr G. Venkataraman speaks of how thrilling was Sai Baba’s account in this ‘Christmas’ 2006 discourse of his 1968 visit to Uganda! But oh, what an inspiring figure was Idi Amin to refer to in a Christmas message! In case G. Venkataraman or anyone badly informed of Idi Amin’s evil deeds and regime, here and here are BBC reports at the time of his death in August 2003 and a list of resources.

This strange Sai Baba ‘Christmas’! discourse can be found here. In it, Sai Baba speaks as though the meeting with Idi Amin, one of the world’s worst dictators, torturers and murderers, was a moving, warm and delightful event. Sai Baba has said that, in his own lifetime, he will clean up his “own backyard” (India). Unfit and pathetically doddering (though he promised he would never after 60), he has abjectly failed to do that, just as he certainly didn’t clean up Idi Amin or Amin’s Uganda in which this monster – for all his weeping devotion to Sai Baba – slaughtered an estimated 400, 000 people.

Happy to refer to the raping, cannibalistic Idi Amin as ‘Mr’, G. Venkataraman is also happy, elsewhere, to label Sai Baba dissenters as akin to the demon in the Krishna story called Jarasanda. He adds: “it was finally left to the hefty Pandava Bhima, to tear Jarasanda to pieces, literally”. Indeed, should former devotees prefer to be left to a tearing-to-pieces by the likes of Idi Amin, who delighted in feeding enemies to crocodiles, or of G. Venkataraman with his gleeful wish-list for the fate of those who question his ‘God’.

Or Is Dr Venkataraman Stupendously Naive?

We should consider that despite his words about Sai Baba’s visit to Uganda, it may be that G. Venkataraman, when not slavishly “thrilled” by his God’s more ratty – perhaps age-induced – effusions, is incredibly naive rather than that he would approve of a wife-refrigerating, raping, mass-murdering, torturing monster who, though in a far smaller killing field, was in a number of ways akin to Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot and so on. Is Dr G. Venkataraman so ill-informed about world events that he assumes Amin really was a marvellous devotee, as would many readers of Sai Baba’s discourse? Is Venkataraman equally naive as not to know what is common knowledge among VIPs and many ashram residents – that is, the dark truth of the allegations against Sai Baba?

G. Venkataraman was also the Vice-Chancellor of Baba’s University at Puttaparthi and, given his high-profile international role, he certainly has a duty to non-defensively, properly investigate the status of the allegations, as do all leaders of responsible organizations.

Would Sorely Afflicted Students and Ex-Students Trust Ex-VC Venkataraman? He speaks of how no students have reported abuses to him. This looks very like a digression to avoid admitting what he must know about the matter, But why would they dare want to tell him, given his slavish utter loyalty to Sai Baba? Students were murdered in Sai Baba’s bedroom! But what good would it do for Venkataraman to ask his Lord and Master about such circumstances?

However, parents and students-ex students are not so quiet when it comes to sharing with religious and other institutional heads in India their horror stories of abuse at the hands of Sai Baba and others around him. Let readers enquire of senior leaders of noted religious organizations in India which, over the years, have been a compassionate haven for those with accounts of abuse by Sai Baba. Of course, yet again, this information (still protecting the identities of those attesting individuals) we are prepared to share, and have long shared, with bona fide third-party investigators.

In fact, we know that a weighty number of Sai Baba’s servitors know perfectly well of the countless credible evidences that men and women in many countries have tried to get the Sathya Sai Organization to heed. In short, to act responsibly in response to the reports that he has a long history of serial sex with underage males, and other young males, not to mention other crimes and betrayals. Such truth-telling would include admission that, for example, there was a massive cover-up by the Puttaparthi ashram authorities along with local, state and central governments of the police killings in Sai Baba’s bedroom on June 6, 1993. However, such Soviet-style, cultic lack of transparency and accountability, no matter that the allegations keep on coming year after year, have driven former devotees to go to great labors in producing documentation of their shocking revelations to the Internet, governments, Interpol, FBI, various police forces (who have their hands tied, unfortunately because India will not act), UNESCO, and the world media. Most of the Indian media has a terrible record of shame in not investigating Sai Baba and his core leaders. The shame reflects all the more badly in that leading foreign media have faced the task. See my article below: “Will India’s New Backlash Against Corruption Lash Sathya Sai Baba?”

The German Ullrich Zimmermann’s account of Sai Baba’s demands to suck his penis when Zimmerman was called into private interview was released only weeks ago. However, the interviews he gave (of which the report of fellatio is part 2) which he gave to the US television interviewer Alan Steinfeld were made in 2000 but released only weeks ago. His account is but the latest in a long series of compelling accounts that have been given of severe sexual inappropriateness, including felatio, by Sai Baba:
http://blip.tv/file/127606. (Part 2 of 3 parts). For a highly useful summary with some added links, see Robert Priddy’s page here.
Note: Some have had trouble with accessing the blip.tv. location for the interview. Here is an contingency, alternative cache at Exbaba.com:

G. Venkataraman’s “Mr Idi Amin” Report
“The moment of moments came when Swami stood up to give His divine discourse. Swami thrilled one and all with memories of His Divine tour to Africa, namely Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya. Swami related how Mr. Idi Amin was very fond of Him and used to have the darshan of Swami both in the morning and evening. During His stay, he arranged a dinner for Swami and meticulously got all instructions from Dr. Patel as to Swami’s menu and how it should be prepared. On the day of the dinner, Idi Amin’s wives stood in rows on either side and greeted Swami with veneration. Idi Amin himself introduced each of them one by one to Swami.

On the day Swami was to leave, which happened to be Guru Purnima day, Idi Amin was suffering from pangs of separation and started shedding tears pleading with Swami not to leave them.

Not only did Amin but the Africans were all in tears and fell at the feet of Swami praying:

“Bhagavan! Please spend this day with us.” Their devotion melted the heart of Swami and made Him spend Guru Purnima with them. An important miracle happened on this day. The Africans had wished to take photos with Swami.Swami told them that they might silently pray in their heart so that their requests may be fulfilled. To their joy, each of them found a photo of Swami lying beside them”.

Is Idi Amin, no doubt from some lower depth, still weeping for Sai Baba’s company?

How to Leave the Christ out of Christmas, 2000
G. Venkataraman’s 2006 report is entitled “Swami’s Divine Christmas Discourse”, yet one notes how Idi Amin manages to push aside the spirit of the Christmas celebrations. This reminds how in his Christmas discourse, December 25, 2000, Sai Baba pushed Christianity’s founder almost entirely out of the way, instead denouncing those who have criticised Sai Baba. The Times of India ran the headline: “Sai Baba Lashes Out At His Detractors”. For the ToI reporter B.S. Rao’s news report, see:
http://home.hetnet.nl/~ex-baba/
engels/shortnews/detractors.html

Why Did Sai Baba Keep Thumping The Tub?
Few can surely forget how Sai Baba kept on pounding his lectern. This outburst effectively coincided with a time of concentrated activity by organised former devotees worldwide, in leading venues such as:

India Today – rare section of the Indian media that refused to shut up about Sathya Sai Baba). Its cover story was read by millions, of the same month as the ‘divine’ outburst, December 4, 2000:
www.india-today.com/itoday/20001204/cover.shtml
The Telegraph (UK), Saturday, October 28, 2000. Leading journalist and acclaimed author Mick Brown flew to the USA to interview the Rahm family and other important witnesses:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/main.jhtml?xml=/health/
2000/10/28/tlbaba28.xml
The Ottawa Citizen, , Bob Harvey, December 19, 2000:

http://www.saiguru.net/
english/media/011219ottawa.htm
Trouw, (the Netherlands), Koert van der Velde, September 6, 2000. (See link here).
NEXUS Magazine (Australia), August-September 1999, featured three articles by: Terry Gallagher, Hans de Kraker, also Australia, for a number of years head of the Western Canteen at Puttaparthi, and Jens and Gurprit Sethi, Germany. (See link here)
Note: Jens Sethi and Hans de Kraker,among others in various countries, have provided sworn statements. I have a number of affidavits in safe-keeping at a central location obtainable by our lawyers, ready in the case of a substantive legal turning-of-the-tide. (The producer Øjvind Kyroe, with Denmark’s national broadcaster responsible for ‘Seduced’, has 10 affidavits and the BBC – ‘The Secret Swami’ – can attest to having a plethora of well-validated documentation and 80 plus hours of footage from various countries. Other major media and agencies like UNESCO and the US State Department and UK, German, French, Swedish, Danish and Australian governments and various police agencies, likewise).

Also there were many efforts – the earliest around late 1999 and early 2000 – by Sai devotees most of whom had been devotees for years. Their aim was to get leaders such as Dr John Hislop, Dr Michael Goldstein, Dr John Evans, Dr William Harvey, Robert Bozzani, Richard Bayer, and others, to exercise due diligence, duty-of-care, and proper investigation of the many allegations, particularly concerning those of sexual abuse of male minors by Sai Baba. So that there can be no mistake how long back these efforts go, I note some of these early attempts below. On the other hand, Sai Baba apologists defame and sometimes outrightly libel, one after the other, former devotees who attempt the extremely arduous job of exposing the facts. Venkataraman and other Sai Baba apologists falsely claim that we are but a small handful of those who are “disgruntled”, passed over or ignored by Sai Baba, etc. Indeed, many Sai devotees who were for so long associated with those who have left know the absolute untruth of this sort of statement. This is one reason why former devotees seek third-party investigation.

Sathya Sai Baba’s discourse on Christmas Day 2000 far from celebrated Christmas themes, such as wishing ‘peace and goodwill to all men.’ The Times of India, December 26, 2000 headlined: Sai Baba Lashes Out at His Detractors. He called his dissenters “cawing crows”, “demons”, “grievous sinners”, and thousands of “Judases.” He extensively boasted his social works (actually, they are overwhelmingly those of his devotees, many of whom do wonderful social uplift work in Sai Baba’s name). Jealousy and receipt of money motivated critics, he said. Identifying his own person as God, Sai Baba promised critics a terrible future, saying “Betrayal of God is the worst of all betrayals. It will not be atoned no matter how many births are experienced!”

Throughout the discourse, there was no hint of his practising what he has so often preached: “We should help even those who have harmed us. This is the vow of Sai. No matter if some people criticise or ridicule Me (sic), I will always look at them with kindness.” (Sanathana Sarathi, June 2002). Not that we have harmed him, for he has harmed himself by refusing to face the allegations in a mature, responsible way. Nothing suggested forgiveness, whether Christ-like or in the spirit (in essence the same) of any other tradition of humanity’s great spiritual teachers.

Not All Devotees May Concur with the “Mr Idi Amin” Usage
I am reminded of a medical doctor I fondly knew, a Sai Baba devotee, who told me of his narrow escape from Idi Amin’s executioners. A grateful patient of his was a Secretary in Idi Amin’s secret service. She saw his name on an Amin death list and it was arranged for him to escape through the forest and across the border, with his wife and family being stealthed out separately. No doubt this man and his family are but an example out of a great many Sai devotees who would gain no pleasure from seeing G. Venkataraman refer to Idi Amin as ‘Mr’.

Apologists point to how Sai Baba advised Indian Ugandans to get out of Uganda. Curiously, his Christmas 2006 effusions state nothing of this warning. Nor has this ever been properly documented. What we do know is that, despite Idi Amin’s and his entourage’s copious tears for Sai Baba, Amin later threw every single ethnic Indian out of Uganda on the shortest possible notice, depriving them of all their property and goods, even though many were born there and had lived their whole lives as Ugandans. Perhaps in his dotage – increasing reports of which have been too difficult for his managers to suppress – Sai Baba he has forgotten the dark side.

Who Is Dr G. Venkataraman?
Dr G. Venkataraman is the highest-ranking Sathya Sai Baba official who denounces former devotees who have, particularly since 1999, levelled allegations against Sai Baba. He is head of Radio Sai International (which transmits to many countries) and the Deputy Chairman of Sai Baba’s world governing body, the ‘Prashanthi Council’. In his writings at the Radio Sai website, he has (see here) defamed and denigrated good and decent former devotees, who are in excellent standing in their communities, and who come from a wide variety of ages, educational, professional and cultural backgrounds. From G. Venkataraman and fellow leaders of the Sathya Sai Organization, there is not a word, and certainly not to their congregations either, about the worthy provenance of the many responsibly-made concerns worldwide. G. Venkataraman has also written that media that has investigated Sai Baba and interviewed former devotees – like the India Today, BBC, Times of London, Daily Telegraph, The Guardian, Salon.com, The Age, and others around the world – have, in reporting critically on Sai Baba, failed to exercise standards proper to professional journalism.

Little Wonder Sai Baba’s Christmas Day 2000 Outburst and Lectern Thumping
What was happening in Sai Baba’s life at this time?

The Oregon Sai Center in 2000 (signed by around 75 members) called for an open discussion about the case of yet another boy with an account of being sexually molested by Sai Baba:
http://home.hetnet.nl/~ex-baba/engels/witnesses/ella.html

Gypsie Chapotin, of California, but often living in India, spoke out far and loud, and made known to the United States leaders and rank-and-file, speaking of her son Neptune’s extensive sexual abuse by Sai Baba. Neptune’s diaries, written at age of fifteen, describe gross sexual liberties taken on him by Sai Baba. She believed that Bob Bozzani would act with clarity and honesty, just as did Glen Meloy who she asked to write to him, but her hopes were badly dashed. Her son was, is, an exceptionally gifted individual, fluent in a number of European and Indian languages, including Sanskrit, an outstanding artist and tabla player and bhajan singer. This diary is available in .PDF format at: http://home.hetnet.nl/~ex-baba/engels/witnesses/boy.html

Shirley Pike, former president of the North Central Region of the Sathya Sai Baba Organization of the United States, a highly-qualified school psychologist who had personal interaction with a number of those alleging sexual, abuse at the hands of Sai Baba, including Neptune and Alaya Rahm, and
Angela Cuneo (a Las Angeles businesswoman) and other respected members of the Sathya Sai Organization mass-mailed hundreds of letters to members of the organization calling for proper resolution of the issues. Mrs Pike’s resignation letter is at:
http://home.hetnet.nl/~ex-baba/engels/letters/pike.html

Diana Scott (formerly known as Diana Payne when married to Terry Payne) wrote to Dr John Hislop with allegations that her son, Terry Jnr, for a time a student at Sai Baba’s college at Whitefield, had been sexually abused by him. See:

http://home.hetnet.nl/
~ex_baba/engels/articles/hislop/hislop.html

http://www.saibabaexpose.com/conways.htm

Mrs Ella Evers states: “I wrote the following letter to Dr. Michael Goldstein and nine important other officers in the United States”: http://saiguru.net/english/sai_org/05officersknow.htm

The late Glen Meloy, a retired business consultant, was an historic figure, both as a devotee of 26 years and a foundation member of the worldwide former devotee network from about April 1999. Glen, my much-loved and close associate in the attempt to bring the facts to international attention had close ties with Elsie and Walter Cowan and other seminal leaders of what became the Sathya Sai Society of America or the Sathya Sai Organization. He wrote to his long time friend, Bob Bozzani (now at the top of the US organization) which is copied at:
http://home.hetnet.nl/~ex-baba/engels/witnesses/meloy.html

Hari Sampath, who claimed to have worked with Sai Baba’s security and intelligence apparatus between 1992 and 1995, wrote a lengthy, widely-circulated exposé piece about the high command of Sai Baba’s outfit, entitled ‘How It Works’. For a time, he and Glen Meloy mutually coordinated international former devotee activities, including high-level contact with governments and various agencies and the media. He returned to his native India from the USA, where he had held a Green Card work permit to work as a software engineer. ‘How It Works’ is at:
http://home.hetnet.nl/~ex-baba/engels/witnesses/hari.html

Terry Gallagher, former head of the Sathya Sai Organization in Australia made extensive investigations, and also confronted Sai Baba. Ironically, Terry’s brother-in-law, Neville Fredericks, is now the Australian head, but Terry wishes to keep silence these days, like Stephen Carthew (q.v.) to preserve family harmony. Terry’s account is at:
http://home.hetnet.nl/~ex-baba/engels/witnesses/terry.html

Stephen Carthew, in the closing months of 1999, then a popular spiritual coordinator in South Australia (now doing a PH.D in Communications attempted to bring the issues of duty-of-care and transparency to the Australian Sathya Sai Organization. For his pains, he was summarily cast out by T.Sri Ramanathan, the then head, widely known by Sai devotees themselves to be a bullying autocrat: http://home.hetnet.nl/~ex-baba/engels/letters/carthew.html

This was against the background of Sai Baba’s world-renowned servitors’ Faye and David Bailey in their major and lengthy statement of exposure, ‘The Findings’ and major revelations within Swedish movement when top officials DID compassionately listen to a young man’s testimonies (and soon those of others):
http://www.npi-news.dk/page152.htm

Conny Larsson, who had been the head of the Swedish Sathya Sai Organization, apparently a longer-term lover of Sathya Sai Baba, and Britt Marie Andén (known and loved by many devotees from around the world as Bi-ma) and other key Swedish members supported their afflicted males youths and disclosed facts that resulted in the demise of the virtual disappearance of the Sathya Sai Organization in Sweden. As well as co-heading the Swedish organization, she developed and ran the important Gimle School. Her moving letter to Shirley Pike is at:
http://home.hetnet.nl/~ex-baba/engels/letters/anden.html

Strong investigative activities and support of those most affected also occurred in Holland, leading large numbers to leave the organization, and exodus that was beginning to happen in a number of countries.

A list of ex-office bearers compiled from a variety of sources by Robert Priddy of those who exited the Sathya Sai Organization, many at the time leading up to Sai Baba’s name-calling, lecturn thumping episode is at:
http://www.saibaba-x.org.uk/10/EX-OFFICE%20BEARERS.htm

In short, Sai Baba was receiving a real thumping in the months leading up to his highly un-Christmas-like ‘Christmas’ discourse. So he thumped! – repeatedly striking his lectern.

For Online Viewing and/or Dowloading

Resources

The Secret Swami (BBC Television) Broadband 154 MB

Seduced (DR, Danish Broadcasting, Denmark’s national television and radio broadcaster):   (80 MB, Broadband)

• Sleight Of Hand. The Sleightness of Sathya Sai Baba (Exposing film clips)
• Right Hand. Sleight Hand. Watch Sai Baba Cheat With Sacred Ash (Film clip)
• Censored Indian National Television Film of Sai Baba Cheating
• Sai Baba Cultists’ Gull Wider Communities
• BBC Cameras Catch Sai Baba Cheating With Gold Sivalingam. (Film Clip)
• Sathya Sai Baba Chief, Dr Goldstein, Explodes. “I am the consummate professional” (See Film Clips)
• The BBC’s ‘The Secret Swami’ (Sai Baba). Revealing Footage

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General

Excerpt From Public Petition

(Note: You may prefer to proceed straight to the Petition):

Public Petition For Official Investigations of Sathya Sai Baba and His Worldwide Organization

There is a Spanish version available:

PETICIÓN PÚBLICA PARA INVESTIGACIONES OFICIALES DE SATHYA SAI BABA Y SU ORGANIZACIÓN A NIVEL MUNDIAL)

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