Mar 6, 2014

Allegations against Mata Amritanandamayi’s ashram serious: Pinarayi Vijayan

Shaju Philip
Indian ExpressFebruary 22, 2014

CPI(M) state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday said the allegations against spiritual leader Mata Amritanandamayi’s ashram were serious in nature.

Amritanandamayi’s ex-aide Gail Tredwell alias Gayatri in her memoir “Holy Hell” had alleged sexual exploitation and promiscuity among senior ashram inmates. Although the content of book had become viral in social media, political parties in Kerala maintained stoic silence on the issue until Saturday.

Addressing media at Kalpetta in North Kerala on the sidelines of his state-wide political tour, Vijayan said the government should explore legal action. “the revelations were made by a person who had been at the ashram for two decades. She had disclosed her personal experiences at the ashram. It shows wrongful things are happening at the ashrams,” he said.

The CPI(M) state secretary said the government has the responsibility to look into the huge funds reaching many ashrams. It should be probed whether anti-national activities are happening at spiritual centres.

Earlier, the ashram had stated that the revelations were baseless and defied logic.