Professor Paul Satya Ruhela, Sai Baba devotee in denial

The Indian professor Paul Satya Ruhela is considered - by his publishers - to be an "eminent Sociologist of Education", which is a claim that may go down in traditional India but not in any educationally advanced and socially enlightened country. One proof of this is that Ruhela endorsed Sathya Sai Baba as an educationalist, which he most certainly was not, being entirely out of touch with both sociology and pedagogy as well as educational developments virtually since the early 20th century. Sai Baba taught an absolutist doctrine based on ancient Indian guru traditions and in his colleges he enforced a most draconian regime on students and teachers, as has been explained by former students such as the most incisively stated testimony of Kartick Vaddadi which is on-line here. Vaddadi's article is a far superior comment on the Sai Baba teaching, regime and educational institutions (incl. his 'deemed university') than anything produced by Ruhela or his colleagues.

Ruhela's books contain no reservations of judgement regarding Sai Baba and his world-beating claims, all being slanted towards Sai Baba's ideas. His writings exhibit sloppy language and simple errors, as well as a complete dearth of facts of any scientific or statistical kind. He threw neutrality overboard in his paeans of praise of the Baba's antiquated, retrograde and authoritarian model for upbringing, schooling and education- What was worse, he did his utmost to explain away indisputable facts about the murders in Sai Baba's bedroom (which were as ordered by Sai Baba himself see evidence). He was a foremost apologist for Sai Baba on every issue where this sexual abuser and massive deceiver was demonstrated as having been rife and abominable. Ruhela's behaviour - deep denial and cover-up - is the rule for nearly all those Sai Baba endorsers in socially high places - Prime Ministers, Presidents, top judges and many more who could not face the loss of prestige and discredit of having worshipped a pedophile and major liar and deceiver before he was widely exposed from 1999 onwards.

The findings of professionals and academics across the world and the issues of human rights, social freedoms and justice were blotted out with traditional Hindu moralism and penny proverbs, unworkable advice to youth and the total banning of the discussion of sexuality (for reasons well-known to the many who testified openly that they were abused sexually by Sai Baba). Ruhela joined the chorus of blind devotees of Sai Baba who shout from the rooftops their belief that Sai Baba was God, as if they really were in any position to know this… for to know God with certainty one would have to be omniscient oneself… which is an impossibility in any case. Ruhela was a sponsor and promoter of the fake 'mother of Sai Baba', a Mrs. Nareng who called herself Sai Ma, which shows how totally he lacked any proper judgement, even of the official Sai Baba journal's renunciation of that impostor. Sai Baba repeatedly and most firmly denied he had any mediums or spokespersons whatever). See here

In 2003 I received a request from Ruhela to give him the copyright to publish my sociological analysis of the Sathya Sai Organisation in a book he was preparing together with a Professor V.S. Verma, along with some of Brian Steel's researches. I replied tentatively because his mail suggested to me that he may at last have realised the fraudulence and criminality of Sai Baba himself, but events proved that this was not at all the case. Though he was disillusioned with all kinds of activities in the institutions and organisations over which Sai Baba had control, he considered none of this to reflect back on the guru himself!  He had concealed this fact in his embarassingly gushing e-mail to me. I had already read some of his voluminous writings about Sai Baba and realised that his level of academic achievement was far below that required of any university lecturer in the West, let alone a Ph.D. In the event, he did not deem to reply to my questions about his use of my materials. His reticence was doubtless not least due to his biassed believer agenda and my firm declaration concerning Sai Baba and my editorial requirements and commitments he must have made. Brian Steel's reply to him was likewise ignored by him. See his e-mail and my reply (at the foot of this page)

See his e-mail and my reply:-

satya ruhela <spruhela@yahoo.com>
To: rpriddy@online.no, brianst@zx.net
Permission to reproduce your copyright research on SB in book by Prof.S.S.Verma
Prof. S.P.Ruhela
House No. 26, Sector 37,
(Sociologist of Education) 126,
Sector 37, Faridabad –121003(INDIA)
E Mail spruhela@yahoo.com Tel: 011-0129- 2275844

Dear Professor Priddy,
I had read your book Dreams….relating to SB some years back. I have recently read all your research materials on the truth of SB which are indeed very impressive and revealing. My erstwhile colleague and friend Professor P.S. Verma (present name: Acharya Purshottamanand, 38-A, Gangotri Enclave,Pocket C, Alkhananda, New Delhi –110017; Tel. 26465228) ,who is a spiritual seeker, is collecting correct informations relating to SB and wishes to publish in India a book under the title(tentative title at present) “ IN THE NAME OF SRI SATHYA SAI BABA”.He wishes to include/ reproduce your copyrighted materials on Sai Baba which is available on the uinternet with your permission.
Kindly send your permission as such on my e mail soon and oblige. Both he and I will be grateful. Your truthful sociological findings ought to be known to the people at large in India and abroad.
Prof .Brian Steel is my friend for some years. He had come to New Delhi some years back and stayed in my house in Delhi. He met Prof. P.S.Verma also at that time.I published his SB bibliography in my book “THE
SAI TRINITY”. It is only from his e –mail that I could know about your website and get to know about very intensive and authentic sociological research on SB and his organization. As desired by my friend, today I am requesting Prof.Brian Steel also for giving his permission to my friend Prof.P.S.Verma (Acharya Puershottamanand) reproduce his research materials and critical writings on SB in his propiosed book which is likely to be
published by him in the next 2-3 months.
Although Prof.Verma and I have been Sri Sathya Sai devotees for about 28 years, we like your eminent self and Professor Brian Steel ,also have now become frustrated and disillusioned with all that goes on in the name of SB and like you Prof. Verma and I also like to contribute the facts known to us about SB, his organizations and his favourities and all those who exploit people in his name. You might have read my book “SRI SATHYA SAI BABA AND THE PRESS” (1996) in which so many things even unknown to a keen researcher on SB like you were mentioned. You must see that book is you did not see it earlier. It is available from: M.D.Publications, 11 DaryaGanj, New Delhi- 110002. It costs Rs. 120 plus postage. My friend and I will be most eagerly awaiting your kind permission to publish your research findings/materials in his proposed book. If you have any other materials which you think should also be published in the proposed book in India about SB etc, please send them to us at this postal address: Acharya Purshotamand c/o Prof.S.P.Ruhela, 126, Sector 37,. FARIDABAD –121003 (INDIA) as soon as possible.
Thanking you,Yours sincerely,
S.P.Ruhela
Copy to Prof.Brian Steel with the request that he may kindly permit Prof. P.S.Verma(Achatryatamand) to reproduce his copyright materials on the internet in his forthcoming book “IN THE NAME OF SRI SATHYA SAI
AVATAR”(tentative title).We shall be grateful for the same. S.P.Ruhels

My reply was as follows:-

Robert Priddy <rpriddy@online.no>
To: satya ruhela <spruhela@yahoo.com>
Re: Permission to reproduce your copyright research on SB in book by Prof.S.S.Verma

Dear Prof. Ruhela,

Firstly let me say that I am pleased to hear that you and your colleague have been able to penetrate the many cover-ups, sanitised propaganda and battery of often very subtle and encompassing rationalisations with which SB has surrounded himself... not to mention undercover armed commandos and powerful political manipulators. This is not easy thing to do without learning inside secrets and I believe it depends to a large extent upon whether one happens to meet people whose word and experiences one cannot doubt. It took me nearly 20 years before I penetrated to some of the buried facts, criminal acts and disgusting secrets, as you will know. I should be interested to know the extent of your and Dr. Verma's disaffection. I now regard SB to be a Ravana-like person, not a Rama figure by far. He has come to misuse his many powers more and more and has also been deceiving us all... very much and for far too long. He seems to be losing - or have lost - his powers, for his many fakings of materialisations is certain now, and I now have scientific proof that the large 'green diamond' given to me is only a synthetic sapphire worth very little! This news is to be made public by me next month.

Since I only know of you through some of your publications, it is too premature for me to make a decision about granting copyright to the colleague you recommend, Prof. Verma. At the least, I should like some time, not least so that you and he can acquaint me with the main tenets and standpoints of any book he wishes to write and/or compile on SB or his various connections and works. What matters most to me is not remuneration, but greatest possible correctness and accuracy in anything by me (or ascribed to me...) and that it contain sufficient material to show clearly the negative aspects of the SSO, including the involvement in this of SB. My work and Steel's alone would fill a very thick book, so I would like to know what your colleague thought to select and how he would present it and in what context? Would he want to make many comments on my views, or also criticism?

Not least, if we reach any agreement, I should need to be able to go through the proofs before final printing for typos and other errors that creep in... which I have registered was a problem in some of your own former publications. I too published the first edition of my pro-book in India (Bangalore) and the results from the publishers were hopeless!

This is not the only consideration, for I am currently involved in planning a critical book, but not actually using the materials I have presented on the SSO.

Please note too that I do not use any prefixes to my name... or letters after it.

Sincerely, Robert Priddy

Raw source e-mail from Ruhela data:-

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