The Tamil Nadu police on Saturday arrested motivational and spiritual speaker Mahavishnu at Chennai airport amid a row over his “spiritual awakening classes” at a government school.

Mahavishnu had recently drawn widespread criticism for his speech at a school blaming “past life sins” for poverty and verbally abusing a teacher with disabilities.

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Upon landing from Australia on Saturday, he was arrested and produced before the court which remanded him to judicial custody. He was booked under sections of BNS and Rights of Persons with Disability Act, 2016, based on a complaint against him, according to ANI.

The arrest was based on the complaint filed by a member of an association for the welfare of specially-abled people.

Mahavishnu was invited to a school deliver a motivational talk at a government school in the Mylapore area. Instead, he delved into spiritual themes like the cycle of rebirth, sins and karma, and blamed children for their life struggles on Teacher’s Day.

He during the speech claimed that people are born poor or with disorders because of “what they did in their past lives” and that “you have been given things in this life based on what you did in your past lives”. Mahavishnu further blamed the British for allegedly “destroying” the Gurukulam system. This system permits education on the basis of caste and gender.

He also got into an argument with a staff member who objected to his speech, a video of which went viral.

Tamil Nadu’s chief minister reacted to the criticism and wrote on X stating that the textbooks in the state contain the best scientific ideas and that teachers are an instrumental part in bringing out the ideas in the students.

“Our high-quality textbooks contain the best scientific ideas that students need to know. The teachers themselves can bring out the best ideas needed to face future challenges with confidence and sharpen the knowledge. Actions will be taken by the School Education Department to provide the necessary innovative training, social education with appropriate departmental experts and scholars,” he wrote.

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State education minister Anbil Mahesh ensured strict action against the people responsible for conducting the classes.
Meanwhile, BJP termed the arrest of Mahavishnu’s arrest “hasty” and said the action was expected.

That is the ‘Dravida Model’. Unnecessarily the govt has created a tiger out of a cat,” BJP Tamil Nadu vice president Narayanan Tirupathi wrote on X.