The British Press on the BBC’s ‘The Secret Swami’ film
Posted by robertpriddy on April 12, 2008
The British newspapers and media were completely unanimous in praising the BBC’s one-hour documentary about Sathya Sai Baba entitled ‘The Secret Swami’ (a fitting title too). The following are brief excerpts which highlight the issue, with some amusing asides:-
Millions have fallen for the twaddle peddled by the Indian guru who is more than content to be recognised as a living god. (The Herald (UK)
Frankly, in my view, anyone who seriously claims they are God is either a charlatan or a cheating South American footballer. And anyone who magics up gold rings and necklaces out of thin air is much more likely to be Paul Daniels than the Almighty.
So it is hard to imagine why people are so keen to fall at the feet of Sai Baba, an unlikely-looking guru who is scarcely five feet tall and sports a hairstyle which might have been created by sticking his toe in an electric socket. (Evening Standard UK)
If it is true that each age gets the god it deserves, and, furthermore, if Sai Baba, a self-declared living god, is really the one this age deserves, then we are clearly in worse shape than we thought. For all the manifest sincerity of their quest for spiritual enlightenment, in fact partly because of this sincerity and the openness that renders them utterly gullible, there is something faintly comical about westerners arriving in India and accepting spiritual guidance from the first dark-skinned person who declares him or herself to be divinely inspired. Were it not for the horrendous crimes of which he stands accused, Sai Baba would be a perfect example of this laughable phenomenon. (Financial Times UK)
This charismatic `Teflon god’ is worshipped by Indian prime ministers and peasants. …former devotees suggest the `Godman’ is all too human. One recalls: `I remember him saying, if you don’t do what I say, your life will be filled with pain and suffering.’ Strange words from a guru of peace and love. (Daily Mail UK)
His magic tricks are hailed as miracles by the crowds who flock to see him and now the 78-year-old pervert one of the most revered figures in Indian religion…. If his acolytes happen to be impressionable young boys, all he asks is that they drop their pants, allow him to rub oil in their genitals while kissing them hard on the mouth. (Daily Mirror UK)
India’s biggest spiritual guru, Sai Baba, looks like a cross between Liz Taylor on her way to rehab and a superannuated member of an acid rock band. And if you think that’s being rude, you should hear what Sai Baba allegedly gets up to with some of his younger male disciples. (The Independent UK)
Sai Baba, an Indian mystic with 30 million followers worldwide, claims to be a living god. It is now alleged that he has been involved in the systematic sexual abuse of his disciples for years. According to a former follower: “The being which I called Sai Baba – the living god that I had taken into my heart – had been truly abusing my son for so long. I felt completely betrayed.” (The Times, UK)
‘Do as I say or your life will be full of pain and suffering’. No, not Big Brother to the housemates, Sven in the dressing room at 4.45pm on Thursday or even the delightful pig farmer, Jimmy Doherty (of BBC2’s equally delightful Jimmy’s Farm) to his ‘gay’ boar, Blaze, but, allegedly, the not-so-sage advice of the Indian avatar, Sai Baba, to one of his (good-looking, teenage, American) male followers after an inappropriately intimate one-on-one.
… Predictably, his followers and, more alarmingly, the Indian government, brush off such allegations angrily – so untouchable is Sai Baba that the gunning-down of four intruders in his rooms was swept under the carpet. (The Observer UK)
Young men who claimed to have been sexually abused by Sai Baba related hair-raising stories of “private interviews” in which the not-so-holy man pulled his skirt over his head and invited them to get down and dirty. Hilariously, one Hindu scholar reminded us that this is a practice sanctioned by neither scripture nor tradition. “Worship of the linga does not include doing the blow-job.” (The Guardian UK)
The Secret Swami might have veered towards the amusing – in an “Oh my God, how gullible can you be?” kind of way – had it not been for the repeated allegations of sex abuse. Sai Baba, the swami in question, had started off looking like some old bloke with an ego as big as his bank account. There he sat, in his opulent ashram at Puttaparthi, near Bangalore, dressed in blinding canary-yellow and sporting a head of what looked like jet-black pubic hair – a mane of Leo Sayer proportions; as if he had poked his tongue into a light socket. Count your blessings – he didn’t sing. (The Scotsman UK)
Baba, with funding from Isaac Tigrett, the hippy-entrepreneur who founded the Hard Rock Café, built a 500-room hospital that provides free heart and kidney surgery. Assistant producer David Saville sums up the ethical conundrum thus: “The question is, do you let him get away with it for the greater good?’
As for Tigrett, some of his candid responses disarm, while others chill to the core. When asked whether he’d still admire Baba even if the charges of paedophilia were proven beyond doubt, he laughs before calmly explaining, `He could go out and murder someone tomorrow – it’s not going to stop my evolution…Absolutely, I believe there is truth to the rumours.’ (Time Out UK)
You can also choose to download it packed in zip file (22 MB), click here.
The BBC’s ‘The Secret Swami’ – A Revision
http://barrypittard.wordpress.com/2007/04/04/the-bbcs-the-secret-swami-a-revision/
Exposure of Sathya Sai Baba. Media Source List
http://barrypittard.wordpress.com/2007/10/23/exposure-of-sathya-sai-baba-media-source-list/
The Secret Swami. BBC Docu. Review. Condensed
http://barrypittard.wordpress.com/2007/10/16/the-secret-swami-bbc-docu-review-condensed/
Sathya Sai Baba Deceptions Exposed 
Liberhan Commission Report, India: Names Some Long-time Close Associates of Sathya Sai Baba « Call For Media and Government Investigation said
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