Spiritual guru criticised for opposing statehood for Telangana region

Gulf Times/January 23, 2007

Hyderabad -- People went on a rampage here yesterday in protest against spiritual guru Satya Sai Baba who said he was against a separate Telangana state.

His followers meanwhile called a shutdown in Puttaparthi town of Anantapur district to condemn remarks on the guru.

Shouting slogans against him, dozens of students belonging to Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) barged into a Sai Baba temple near Osmania University here, pulled down huge cut-outs of the guru and burnt them.

An effigy of Sai Baba, who termed moves to bifurcate the state 'mahapapam' (great sin), was also burnt.

Addressing a function in Chennai on Sunday, Sai Baba said there was no demand for a separate Telangana state from the people of the region.

"Dividing the people or the country is not good. Bifurcating the state is mahapapam," he said.

Sai Baba, who preaches love, understanding and universal brotherhood, has thousands of followers in India and abroad including several heads of state, politicians, military officials, judges, film stars and sportsmen.

During the last few decades, he has built a vast empire worth billions of rupees transforming the small village of Puttaparthi, his birthplace, into a modern town with a state-of-the-art airport, education and health facilities.

The reaction to his comments was sharp from the protagonists of separate Telangana. TRS president K Chandrasekhara Rao asked Sai Baba to confine himself to religion. "Is Sai Baba blind to the suicides by farmers in Telangana region? Is he blind to the fact that the region was subjected to exploitation?" asked Rao, who is leading the movement for a separate state comprising 10 districts including Hyderabad.

Congress MP from Nizamabad Madhu Yaskhi Goud wondered what Sai Baba knew of the problems of Telangana.

"He is from Rayalseema region and what does he know about the problem of fluorosis (an abnormal condition caused by excessive intake of fluorine), in Nalgonda? He is funding the water projects for Rayalseema and Chennai," said Goud.

Revolutionary balladeer and Maoist sympathiser Gaddar, who is also actively participating in the movement for separate Telangana, criticised Sai Baba for opposing the demand.

Meanwhile, a shutdown was being observed in Puttaparthi town in Anantapur district to condemn the remarks of Telangana leaders against Sai Baba.

Shops and business establishment were shut and Sai Baba's disciples set afire effigies of Chandrasekhara Rao, Madhu Yashki Goud and Gaddar. The streets around Prashanti Nilayam, the abode of Baba, wore a deserted look.