Godman and champion trickster, the man who calls himself Sathya Sai Baba (SSB), turns 80 today. Already MSM like Deccan Herald is writing glowing tributes to the man who has courted controversies all his life as a holy man. From using sleight of hand to showbiz, he has done everything in between to make a huge following all throughout the world and particularly in South India. Politicians used his clout to their maximum advantage that SSB actively encouraged. Though he managed to do benevolent work for the public in a few parts of the country like bringing water in many villages and opening of charity hospitals for the poor, his sins far outweigh them. Not only had he used a common organ grinder’s ‘magic’ tricks to show (and convince) people that he had divine powers; serious criminal allegations had been made against him.




Who can forget the mysterious gunning down of four young boys in his Ashram in Andhra Pradesh who allegedly went to kill him with a knife? Then Murali Manohar Joshi, former HRD Minister who openly snubbed a BBC journalist for questioning why his government was not doing enough to investigate the allegations of one of SSB’s devotees from the US that he was sexually abused over a period of time. Mr. Joshi simply said that ‘he was a minister of high stature and when he says that SSB is innocent; SSB must be taken as an innocent man’.



There are many reports of sexual exploitation of young men by SSB. None of them were being raised in MSM as it should have been. Naturally, with the lack of public pressure, successive governments who needed SSB for their political gains swept everything against him under the carpet and made sure that the carpet is nailed forever.



SSB is not going to live forever. It would be a big tragedy for the people who were harmed by the man is not brought to justice when he is still capable of facing the law. The public has the right to know the truth about a figure who has influenced the lives of millions of men worldwide. MSM did a pretty abysmal job and is expected to do so in the future. Governments wouldn’t intervene to investigate as long as they are benefiting from the man especially when there is no public outcry. BBC broadcasted a documentary a about a year back on the dark side of SSB. But that was the only instance when MSM brought out this issue in the open.



It is a total shame, not only for the MSM, but successive governments as well who failed to come up over their petty political gains and initiate a sincere and impartial inquiry into a wide range of issues about the man like allegations of murder, generation of funds for his cult and other financial dealings, charges of pedophilia, using sleight of hand to proclaim himself as god etc, etc.



We shall wait and see.



Also don’t fail to read : SAI BABA OF INDIA PEDOPHILE SUBANGEL PROPHET , THE DOWNFALL OF A GURU SAI BABA, FactNet, THE ‘SECRET SWAMI’