67-year-old Jagadish "Jaggi" Vasudev, aka Sadhguru, is an Indian guru and founder of the Isha Foundation. (image-X/SadhguruJV)
The Delhi High Court on Wednesday directed Google and social media platforms X and Meta to take down an allegedly defamatory video on Isha Foundation and its founder Jagadish “Jaggi Vasudev,” aka Sadhguru, by YouTuber Shyam Meera Singh. In response, Singh, in a statement, said that he is considering legal options stating that “the ex parte ad- interim order prima facie appears to be arbitrary and not in consonance with law.”
Titled “Sadhguru EXPOSED: What’s Happening in Jaggi Vasudev’s Ashram,” Singh uploaded the video on his YouTube channel on February 24 with allegations against the spiritual leader and his Isha Foundation exploiting minors.
The court said that the YouTuber had made the video based on “unverified material” and that its title was clickbait to attract public attention.
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The Isha Foundation claimed that the content uploaded by Singh in the video was “malicious” and “palpably false in nature,” reported Bar and Bench.
The video has garnered over 937k views, 65k likes, and 13k comments.
A “Breeding Ground For Child Abuse”?
There have been multiple reports of allegations of sexual abuse within the closed doors of Sadhguru’s ashram.
On October 17, 2024, two former employees of the Isha Foundation alleged that their son was sexually assaulted by another student for three years during his schooling at the Isha Foundation. During a press conference held in Hyderabad, they alleged that several emails to the foundation were replied to via WhatsApp calls. They claimed that it was “probably an attempt to not leave any digital trail” and added that the foundation told them that the accused boy belonged to “an elite family.”
While Satya N. Ragani, the father of the boy, was a former regional committee member for Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, Yamini Ragani, the mother, served as a former Isha Home School faculty member.
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“We initially didn’t go to the police as we gave the place a benefit of the doubt and valued Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev. However, seeing how there are reports of other sexual assault cases, children going missing, and poor management and schooling, even after charging lakhs of rupees in fees, I decided to speak about this,” the mother of the boy said.
They also alleged that a doctor associated with the foundation was charged under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. They claimed that despite registering an FIR, there was a significant delay in the investigation.
In another case, a mother of a 7-year-old girl alleged that her daughter was repeatedly raped by a physical education teacher. Her minor daughter had twice attempted suicide, alleged the mother. “They intercepted letters our children wrote weekly, allowing only one to reach us each month,” she added.
“Our children are not safe at the Isha Foundation. Time has come to expose the cult,” the woman told the media via a WhatsApp call.
In another incident, reports of a Delhi woman subjected to sexual assault during a yoga course she attended at the ashram in 2021 also surfaced.
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According to disclosures made by Tamil Nadu police to the Madras High Court, since 2016, six individuals have reportedly gone missing from the Isha Foundation’s premises in Coimbatore.
Jaggi Vasudev and the Isha Foundation are not new to controversies. Earlier, allegations were raised regarding environmental concerns to the organisation’s activities, particularly its involvement in the construction of the Isha Yoga Center in Coimbatore. There have been accusations of human rights violations and mistreatment of individuals associated with the foundation, including former employees and volunteers.
