Angry public burns cut-outs, banners of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 25 January 2011, 07:52 GMT]
Angered by the politics and by an extravagant ritual, ‘Yaakam,’ by a Tamil Nadu chaamiyaar (Hindu religious person) Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, at a time when genocide and floods cause desperation, the Eezham Tamil public in Ka’luvaagnchikkudi in Batticaloa on Saturday burnt his cut-out images and banners. He went back to India the following day. Last Thursday, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar honoured the ‘social service’ of the SL president’s son Namal Rajapaksa at a function in Colombo, jointly organized by his outfit to observe the 2600-year of the birth of Buddha. On Saturday, at the ‘Mahaa Rudra Yaakam’ ritual, he honoured the paramilitary politicians S. Chandrakanthan, chief minister for the East and SL deputy minister V. Muralitharan by placing shawls on them.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar runs an organisation called The Art of Living. He advocates a meditation programme for a stress-free and violence-free world and is often seen in conflict locations and in the company of politicians.

The public, which gathered in Batticaloa with hopes to get the spiritual message, was disappointed to see the chaamiyaar honouring the very elements that cause the multi-faceted genocide or play complicity to it.

They could not see any holiness in the wasteful ritual of Maha Rudra Yaakam either, when hundreds of thousands deluged in the floods are desperate for food and shelter.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar aims to make inroads for his organisation in the island, exploiting the political situation, media sources in Batticaloa said.

The public has a serious suspicion of an Indian agenda working behind the activities of the chaamiyaar, the media sources further said.

A year before the beginning of the Vanni war, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar visited Jaffna. He also wanted to visit the leadership in Vanni, but he was not welcomed.

During the war, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar organised a conference in Norway on the conflict in the island.