Defamation Campaign by Former Students of the Ashram School – by Sridharan

A disinformation campaign by the Ashram Trust is generally followed by a defamation campaign by its henchmen. So it happened in Dr. Radhikaranjan’s case; the wrong information about him was followed by a character assassination executed by former students of the Ashram School in the SAICE forum. But first a word on this forum, which is supposed to form the opinion of the Ashram community.

Being unwelcome outsiders, we have been studying carefully the comments on what seems be only a social networking site with practically no intellectual content. On following it closely, one gets the impression of a street-show – remember the monkey-man performing on the streets, thrashing himself and the miserable little monkey with a whip, forcing it to do somersaults in front of an audience which throws a few pennies at them. You get the same kind of impression of awe and pity on the SAICE forum. The larger forum witnesses the star-performers in silent awe while Aurofilio Schiavino, Arindam Das, Auroskand Vepari, Ashit Mitra and an occasional lady join the performance. The show generally begins with Filio furiously wielding the whip on Sraddhalu Ranade, Govind Nishar, Dr. R.Y. Deshpande, Dr. Alok Pande or Srikant Jivarajini, making the most insulting remarks on them. These “intelligent” remarks are seconded by more “intelligent” comments, until the conversation reaches a vitriolic climax. The audience then disperses and the star entertainers call it a day with the great satisfaction of having won the battle on the Internet. Surely they have, when nobody even knows about it and people are hardly aware of what they have said except the Ashram “supramental” elite!! Let these Ashram ex-students speak out in the open and let them find out for themselves where they stand on the social or intellectual scale. Let them come out in full public view and dare to face people from outside the Ashram. Right now, the SAICE forum is like a closed room where Kindergarten children raise a big ruckus over who is not on the side of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust, because according to these star-performers, everyone faithful to Sri Aurobindo and the Mother has to be faithful to “Sri” Manoj Das Gupta!

Here are a few samples of the latest exchange of emails between the loud-mouths of this forum. The topic of discussion is Dr. Radhikaranjan Das who has recently dared to speak out against the Trust. The SAICE members have to therefore personally attack and insult him, rake up past grievances and settle old scores. Is this the way of treating a teacher who taught them Sanskrit without expecting anything in return from them? The following is a sample from Aurofilio Schiavino’s emails:

Hi All,

I just realized that it would be best to have these exchanges in Radhika’s presence. I don’t think that he is a member of this group. Does anyone have his e-mail id? Can anyone invite him to join this group in case he wishes to respond?

Cheers!

Filio

Mark the evil glee with which Filio writes. He would like to mentally torture Dr. Radhikaranjan in front of everybody in the forum – does this not remind you of the monkey man? But I must warn the readers beforehand that Aurofilio Schiavino towers above the other members of this forum by the sheer noise that he creates, the incredible breath he has to overpower his enemy by shouting insults and the perverse delight he exhibits when the “enemy” does not have the physical stamina to answer his endless gibes. So beware of this “streetfighter” on the Internet highways! You are more likely to be mauled physically than be intellectually rebutted!

Another sample from Filio:

And what about Radhika’s short temper? He gives “gattas” on the head that are so hard that the kid’s head hurts for three days! I wonder what Sraddhalu the Guru would do and suggest if he had a son who got whacked on the head by Radhika? (Filio)

“Gattas”, for the knowledge of the reader, is a Bengali word for knocks on the head inflicted as punishment to mischievous students by their teachers or elders. Now when did this gattas incident happen? Did it happen to Aurofilio himself or his kid or is it hearsay? And what relevance has it to the present event? None, but Filio would gruffly argue, “Of course it has relevance, because Radhika is a bad guy, because he is not only against Peter Heehs but also against Manoj Das Gupta! Anybody who is their enemy is also my enemy!” This is the way the bully talks. We have to accept this irrefutable argument because otherwise you face the risk of being bashed up!

Next comes Arindam Das in the order of who makes himself a mightier public nuisance − a haughty Bengali brat, who I hear has a permanent scowl on his face to show his utter disgust of all those who disagree with him. Here is a sample from his email:

Radhikarya was/is a story teller/writer. This little detail should be enough for people to understand how seriously he can be taken. No one would have actually bothered about him had he not decided to open his mouth in public. Pity that the combined power of fertile imagination, pendulum and tarot card couldn't help him when it came to anticipating not-so-pleasant stories tumbling out of his own cupboard the moment he decided to go public with his gibber. (Arindam Das)

Again it is a direct personal attack. The purpose, as he himself says, is to recall unpleasant stories on Dr. Radhikaranjan, not to discuss intelligently the present impasse in the Ashram.

Ashit Mitra is also very active nowadays with his sudden interest in Ashram politics, which is probably due to some favours meted out to him by the Disgrace Office:

I was very amused to see Radhika's histrionics, one unsubstantiated charge after another ad nauseum. (Ashit Mitra)

Alo Pal seems to be a newcomer in this exercise of defamation. She writes as if Dr Radhikaranjan was indulging in some unhealthy occult practices and preparing the proverbial witches’ brew which would have turned children into frogs. I wonder what is so horrifying about a game of Tarot cards once in a while to liven up the interest of the children! This is what she writes:

I am certainly a little relieved that he [Dr Radhikaranjan] does not teach in the school anymore. Ideally I had envisaged a scenario when he'd strictly be instructed not to pull [Tarot] cards in class nor talk of such practices. (Alo Pal)

As we can see from the above quotes, none of them intelligently refute Dr Radhikaranjan’s article or discuss soberly the present issue. But there is a reason why they speak and act in this manner. We have found from reliable sources that the above-mentioned members of this hate-club ingratiate themselves with the Trustees for personal gain. One of the most obvious and undeniable gain is the admission of their children into the Ashram School which provides free education. (The same kind of secular education in a regular School will cost several lakhs of rupees, not to mention the atmosphere of the Ashram which is not available anywhere else.) These former students have not dedicated their lives to the Ashram, but certainly want their children to benefit from the hard work and sacrifice of the teachers of the Ashram School.

Now that the status of the ex-students is put in proper perspective, it is not hard for the general public to understand their virulent ciriticism of whoever stands up against the Ashram Trust. After all, it is a question regarding the future of their children, their growth and education, not to mention of so many other benefits that they themselves can avail of the Ashram. Having said this, I am sure that not all the former students are of the above-mentioned sort, to whom however I make a final appeal for good sense to prevail over them: when you don’t agree with someone, it is not at all necessary to make harsh personal comments, because there is always scope to disagree in a decent manner!

Sridharan