Police raid Sadhguru's Isha Foundation premises after Madras HC rap

A team of 150 police officers, including three DSPs, and led by an Additional Superintendent of Police rank officer from Coimbatore, conducted a massive search operation at the Isha Foundation’s ashram in Thondamuthur on Tuesday.

The police searched rooms and grilled inmates at the ashram.

This raid came a day after the Madras HC asked the Coimbatore rural police to conduct an enquiry and file a status report on all criminal cases registered against the foundation located at Velliangiri foothills, which was founded by a guru, Jaggi Vasudev or Sadhguru.

The Isha Yoga Centre, however, dismissed it as just an 'inquiry'.

In a statement the foundation said due to a court order, the police, including the SP, came to the Isha Yoga Center for a general inquiry. “They are inquiring with residents and volunteers, understanding the lifestyle, understanding how they come in and stay, etc,” the court had added.

Habeas corpus petition

The court passed this order after hearing a habeas corpus petition filed by Dr S Kamaraj, a retired professor, who claimed that his two daughters, Geetha Kamaraj (42) and Latha Kamaraj (39), were being held captive at the foundation in Coimbatore. In his petition he accused the organisation of ‘brainwashing’ individuals, converting them into monks, and restricting their contact with their families.

Justices S M Subramaniam and V Sivagnanam questioned how while Sadhguru’s own daughter was married and well-settled, he was encouraging other young women to shave their heads, renounce worldly life, and live as hermits at his yoga centres.

Dr Kamaraj’s daughters, who are staying at the organisation’s yoga centre in the foothills of Velliangiri, Coimbatore, who were present in court, said they were staying at the centre of their own volition. They clarified that they denied any form of compulsion or detention.

However, Dr Kamaraj said in his complaint that his elder daughter, a post-graduate in mechatronics from a prestigious UK university, had been earning a substantial salary before divorcing her husband in 2008. After the divorce, she began attending yoga classes at the foundation.

The petition stated that the younger daughter, a software engineer, followed her sister and eventually decided to stay at the centre permanently. According to Dr Kamaraj, the foundation administered food and medicines to his daughters that dulled their cognitive faculties, leading them to sever all ties with their family.

Although Kamaraj’s daughters insisted that their stay at Isha was voluntary, Justices Subramaniam and Sivagnanam were not entirely convinced. “We want to know why a person who had given his daughter in marriage and made her settle well in life is encouraging the daughters of others to tonsure their heads and live the life of a hermitess. That is the doubt,” Justice Sivagnanam remarked during the proceedings.

Further, Justice Subramaniam asked the daughters that they claimed to be on the path of spirituality. "Don’t you think that neglecting your parents is a sin? ‘Love all and hate none’ is the principle of devotion but we could see so much hatred in you for your parents. You are not even addressing them respectfully," he said.

The court further directed Additional Public Prosecutor E Raj Thilak to submit a comprehensive status report by October 4.

The inquiry

Meanwhile, the Coimbatore district superintendent of police K Karthikeyan and district social welfare officer R Ambika landed at the foundation on Tuesday to hold an enquiry over the allegations of women "brainwashed" to reside there.

A strong contingent of police, with a strength of about 150 personnel, descended upon the Isha Foundation, as a precaution, during the enquiry.

"The officials held an enquiry with the persons at the foundation," a senior police official said.

Unnecessary controversies: Isha Foundation

Reacting to the search operation, Isha Foundation denied they advocated monkhood or asked people to get married, as these were individual choices.

"Isha Foundation was founded by Sadhguru to impart yoga and spirituality to people. We believe that adult individual human beings have the freedom and the wisdom to choose their path," the foundation said in a statement here.

It was home to thousands who were not monks and a few who have taken Brahmacharya or monkhood. Despite this, the petitioner wanted the monks to be produced before the court and the monks have presented themselves before the court.

"They have clearly stated that they are staying in Isha Yoga Center on their own volition. Now that the matter is seized by the court, we hope truth will prevail and there is an end to all unnecessary controversies," the statement read. They “do not ask people to get married or take up monkhood; these are individual choices”, it added.

It claimed that the petitioner and others tried to trespass into the premises under a false pretext of being a fact-finding committee to enquire about the crematorium being constructed by the foundation and they had filed a criminal complaint against the foundation.

The high court had granted a stay on submission of the final report by the police.

"Apart from this, there is no other criminal case against the Foundation. Whoever indulges in spreading false information against the foundation will be strictly dealt with as per the law of the land," it said.

(With inputs from agencies)