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The UK representative of a fugitive Hindu guru attended a lavish Diwali party in the House of Lords earlier this year, after being invited by two senior Conservatives. the observer have learned
Atmadaya, the British representative of the controversial guru known as Nityananda, was invited to the event by MP Bob Blackman and Peer Rami Ranger. Nityananda’s organization also released a full-page advertisement in an accompanying booklet that was given to attendees.
Given that Nithyananda fled India in 2019 while facing multiple charges of kidnapping children and raping a follower, some attendees were upset by the profile given to the organization. It has since claimed to establish its own sovereign island state known as the “Republic of Kailasa”.
Poonam Joshi, a freelance journalist who has investigated the organization and also attended the event, said the observer: “Shocked to see Britain’s Hindu Forum [which helped organise the event] It was deemed appropriate to invite the representatives of a person accused of such heinous crimes to Parliament.
“It lends legitimacy to an organization that craves it due to the actions of a fake ‘godman’ at its helm, who remains a fugitive from Indian justice.”
Nityananda built a large following in India, where he operated more than a dozen temples and ashrams. He made extravagant claims about his supernatural abilities, including being able to delay the sunrise, see through walls, cure blind children and make cows talk.
But former followers have also made serious allegations of sexual abuse and coercive behavior.
A former disciple of his said the observer She was forced to have sex with Nityananda, and threatened with forced labor if followers did not comply with her wishes.
She said: “We knew that if we didn’t do as he wished we would be shunned by the entire community, or worse, forced into hard labor in the hot desert outside Bangalore.”
Nithyananda was accused of raping a devotee in 2010. But when his case finally came up for hearing eight years later, he failed to appear. A year later, police in the Indian state of Gujarat raided one of his ashrams and arrested two people, alleging that children had been kidnapped and locked up there.
The former disciple said she was also told by the children that they were beaten in the institution’s homes.
Nithyananda has denied the allegations leveled against him. Nithyananda’s UK-based lawyer Richard Rogers said the observer: “Available evidence suggests that the (alleged) criminal charges against the applicant in India are part of a wider campaign of religious persecution targeting the applicant, rooted in religious intolerance and based (in whole or in large part) on false evidence.”
Rogers would not comment on the specific allegations made by Landry. But he added: “Allegations of alleged misconduct that I have looked into (in any depth) have turned out to be based on evidence that is unreliable at best, and in some cases clearly manipulated or misrepresented.”
This is not the first time that Blackman, whose constituency includes a large Hindu community, has drawn ire for people he has invited to Parliament. He was criticized for inviting Hindu nationalist Tapan Ghosh, who defended the genocide of Muslims in Burma in 2017, to a parliamentary program called “Intolerant Tolerance”.
Blackman did not respond to requests for comment.
Asked about Atmadaya’s presence at the Diwali event, Lord Ranger said he had no knowledge of Nityananda or his organization. “I don’t know Kailas or this guy,” he said. “If I had known, I would never have attended an event where such unsavory characters were promoted.”
The Hindu Forum of Britain however supported the invitation. Group president Tripti Patel said: “We do not discriminate; Each entity has its own following. Social media/internet hype and unofficial allegations against a UK-registered charity cannot stop any two organizations from working together.
Atmadaya released a statement in which she said the allegations against Nithyananda were “false and part of a campaign of religious repression by anti-Hindu extremist elements of the government in India”.
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