Many believe that Sathya Sai Baba, with a devotee following estimated to be in excess of 30 million people, is an ‘Avatar’ i.e. God in human form. He has devotees all around the world from about 165 countries. There are numerous charities serving people and run by his trust.

Presidents, Prime Ministers, MP’s line up to get blessings from him. At the same time there are enough people who are skeptic about him, his ‘miracles’ and he claiming to be avatar of lord Shiva. Over the time many sexual allegations were also raised against him. “The Secret Swami” is a documentary by BBC on allegations against Sathya Sai Baba and his miracles.

Watch “The Secret Swami” documentary on Sathya Sai Baba.

Criticism:

“a skeptic and amateur magician, and I believe the guru to be a cheater” –Basava Premanand

“It is a shame for India that well-founded accusations and numerous reputed witnesses against Sai Baba are ignored without any investigation. Do saffron clothes make an offender untouchable for the law? Do we have to tolerate that political protectionism raises its head so boldly, mocking India’s democracy?” –IndianRationalists

The DECCAN CHRONICLE On 23 November, 1992 published on its front page pictures from a video recording of Sathya Sai Baba’s ‘creation’ of a gold necklace, in the presence of the Prime Minister of India, Mr. P.V. Narasimha Rao. The video tape of the event appeared to show unambiguously Sathya Sai Baba being passed a necklace clandestinely by his personal assistant Radhakrishna Menon, which later Sathya Sai Baba ‘materializes’ after a wave of his hand.

Responses to Criticism:

“wild, reckless and concocted allegations made by certain vested interests”, “baseless and malicious” –A.B. Vajpayee, P.N. Bhagawati, Ranganath Mishra, Najma Heptulla

“Secret Swami BBC documentary was very misleading and was based on only two westerners who had their own monetary agendas.”, “Western journalists were bashing Baba collectively.” –Navin Patel

“modern video technology can be used to produce evidence of almost any kind of faking or for that matter of miracle working” –Devotees

So guys, what do you think on these allegations? Despite all these, is it beneficial to India as a country if PM’s & Presidents line up to worship him? Please be sensitive about the issue and use comments section.

Video Source: Nighi Videos, WikiPedia, IndianRationalists