Dharna and writ threat against Satha Sai Central Trust

Latest News: As earlier reported, ex-Minister of the Telugu Desam Party, Nagireddy, challenged the secretive and unaccountable Sathya Sai Central Trust to release all details of the illness and death of Sathya Sai Baba. (The original Telugu text was posted at http://thatstelugu.oneindia.in/grapevine/2011/nagi-reddy-accuses-sri-sathya-sai-trust-210511-aid0070.html – a translation is found here). He has continued in the face of their silence, as the Times of India reports (see inset scan). Now the Trust promises details by June 16th. One must ask, why so long? One suspects that the Trust members are conniving on how best to conceal their role, avoid transparency and present a unified front against all those who want openness and accountability.

Ex.minister Nagireddy is apparently a devotee of Sathya Sai Baba, having stated that the Sathya Sai Central Trust members are responsible for the death of Sai Baba. of subjecting him to mental torture and not feeding him properly. He was told by some trust members that during his hospitalization on March 28th, a tearful Baba had begged devotees to save him. He said he would go to court and launch a dharna at Prashanthi if the Trust did not provide him details about Sai Baba’s hospital admission register, case sheet, and details of treatment administered to him. (Wikipedia defines a dharna (Hindi: धरना), as a fast undertaken at the door of an offender, especially a debtor, in India as a means of obtaining compliance with a demand for justice, such as payment of a debt. In India there are designated places for conducting Dharna, and a permission is required for it. Often, those practicing dharna break the permission leading to clashes with law enforcement. Dharna generally refers to fixing one’s mind on an object. It refers to whole-heartedly pledging toward an outcome or to inculcating a directed attitude. Dharna is consciously and diligently holding a point of view with the intent of achieving a goal.)