DISINFORMATION BY THE SATHYA SAI ORGANIZATION
by Barry Pittard and Robert Priddy with input from various contacts (Part Two)


There seems to be no end to the amount of cover-up and untruth that the International Sathya Sai Organisation stoops to. It is the whole structure of this wholly unaccountable organisation, its established practice, leadership in general and the internal rules they make which are at fault, and not most members, who have no influence whatever! Click here to see an exhaustive sociological analysis of this. Among more recent incidents are the outright lies published on one of their main web sites at http://www.sathyasai.org/news/2004/publicinfo/westminster/westminster.html (since modified to cover up deceit)

UPDATE: Since the above was written, the Sathya Sai Org., has changed the content of their page (as it was captured by us, see below) without any explanation or apology, which again demonstrates their unaccountability and subterfuge. How they could have posted such grossly false information "accidentally" - as has been claimed (without any documentation whatever) on the web site of an Australian, Alan Kazlev, is quite incomprehensible. The Sathya Sai Org. of UK allowed this wholly untrue announcement to stand for months, despite the reaction of the Westminster Cathedral authority directly to its overall leader Bhagani (see below), who has complete authority over the entire UK Organization. It is worth noting that, only after our web page was posted - and not until long afterwards - was the page silently altered.

Instead, we view at their URL a report on a Sai Organization meeting at Harrow High School with Phyllis Krystal etc. This school - incidentally - is NOT the famous Harrow Public School, but a very ordinary mixed comprehensive State school with below average to average standards over the last 4 years, according to State Inspection Reports to be found on the internet). The SSO takes care to point out that 60% who attended were not members of the organisation. That they make a point of this is in line with the SSO's constant efforts to misrepresent itself as quite acceptable to a wider community. But this %age is not at all surprising since most Sai devotees do not (wish to) sign up to its demanding requirements. So the 60% majority at this meeting would naturally have been parents and some pupils.

The Sai organisation of UK shirks its responsibility to inform the public honestly. The reference to the Cathedral below implied Catholic approval when the opposite is the case. We researched this through a contact with Westminster Cathedral, while the SSO remained as silent as the grave. If Bhagani did not know the webmaster, why did he not reply to the Cathedral and say so? Instead we are informed reliably that he still has not corresponded with it at all. The inference was that he was content for the disinformation. The Cathedral Administrator wrote to Bhagani because he is the spokesman for this cult in the UK. but he did not bother to reply, in classic cult fashion. Let us see whether Bhagani dares to 'come clean' at last!

Below is a 'screen capture' (made 09 April 05) of part of the original Sai org. web page:- The relevant part of that web page was captured on 9 April 2005 so their continued deceit can be observed - see further down. Below that, a scan of another letter shows how the Administrator of Westminster Cathedral wrote to Ashok Bhagani, leader of the Sri Sathya Sai (UK) Trust to point out that the meeting they claim took place in Westminster cathedral never did. (Moreover, promotional photos of the event would have surely been posted by the SSO if they had possessed any!) Though the letter was sent on November 29, 2004, it has never been acknowledged. The offending, untruthful SSO web page has not been removed to date. All further evidence of cultish non-accountability.
[Now that their continued dissemination of the untruth is exposed here, they would be wise to remove the offending web page, whereupon the above hot link would cease to function. That would be a step in the right direction by them, but it would not expunge their responsibility for this blatant disinformation and refusal to heed the polite request from the Westminster Cathedral authority.]

Phyllis Krystal's claimed Westminster Cathedral talk


Here is the reaction from Westminster Cathedral and the request for removal of the offending, untrue web page:-

Westminster Cathedral rebuttal of Sai Organization's claim


A predominantly missionising and donation-gathering personality cult: There are doubtless many well-intentioned and decent persons in the Sai Organisation trying to do good work, and often succeeding too. They are not individually to blame for the direction this extremely autocratic organisation has taken and, knowing that nothing they say can affect it, they mostly doubtless remain in it only because of their belief in Sai Baba and the desire to do social service and partake in something that may gain them some spiritual reward. It is just too hard for most of them to realise or admit to themselves that their beliefs are misplaced and that the overall head of the whole is a deceiver and worse.

View other postings in this series about the Sathya Sai Organisation:Part One, Part Three and Part Four

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