SOCIETY
Gautam Roy on "Talking, Healing Tree"
First, it was milk-guzzling Ganesha, then came herbal fuel. Now it's a talking, healing tree. As the legend goes, Lord Mahua Baba has incarnated in a mahua tree in a 20- acre orchard near BK-II block of Shalimar Bagh.
Since then, over a lakh of worshippers have thronged the orchard, which till recently only had local children filching berries and guavas.
This has become a problem for the police which believes it to be a tick to capture DDA land by building a concrete shrine around the tree. The worship cycle started on October 17, when four old women came to Mr. Singh, asking him if there was a mahua tree in the orchard. Coming to know of one, they rushed to the spot, cleaned it up and within half-an-hour the place was turned into a shrine, replete with marigold garlands and incense stuck into the bark.
Next, they began to act possessed and ran towards the sabzi mandi yelling that there was a divine power in the tree. Word spread and the worshippers steadily increased. Initially, the talking tree was said to be dispensing solutions for problems. Then it came to be known as an exorciser of bad spirits, and lately it has acquired healing powers too. For the devotees there's magic in the roots.Thus, the blind have recovered their sight, the mute their voice, the impoverished their money and the infirm their health.
(Source: The Pioneer, 27 October, 1996)
S.N.M. Abdi on Tax Concession to Sai Baba in W. Bengal
The Left Front Government has granted sales tax exemption to the tune of Rs. 60 lakhs to an organization run by Sathya Sai Baba.
Informed sources revealed that Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust's unsigned petition for exemption of Central sales tax leviable on purchases made in West Bengal, for a drinking water supply project in Andhra Pradesh, was placed before chief minister Jyoti Basu in October by Padma Khastagir, leader of the Congress opposition in the Calcutta Municipal Corporation and a former judge of Calcutta High Court.
She is a self-confessed Sai Baba acolyte for 25 years, frequently visiting the godman's ashram. Her four- storey house in Southend Park here is named Sai-Sudha after the controversial godman.
On November 8, the chief minister agreed to the finance department's recommendation to treat the Trust as a charitable organization for granting sales tax exemption under Section 8(5) of the Central Sales Tax Act, which empowers the state government to "reduce sales tax to zero rate".
(Source: The Indian Skeptic, October, 1996) Laloo Seeking Divine Grace!
(On 30 October, 1996) when the dissidents were plotting his fall, Mr. Yadav was closeted with about half a dozen sadhus at his official residence.
The Laloo-loyalists are convinced that the Chief Minister needed to appease the stars to come out of the mess he is in. His accident on Dussehra day, the chopper's failure to take off from his home-town Gopalganj, where he had gone to offer puja to "Thawe Mai" on "asthami" day, are being looked upon as signs of bad omen.
Mr. Yadav's wife Rabri Devi also drove to the local Hanuman temple early on 31 October morning to offer. prayers. This was the second time, in last one-and-a-half years, that Ms. Rabri Devi has visited the Hanuman temple. Contrary to his public stand, Mr. Laloo Yadav has all along had an abiding faith in "pandits" and "mantras". Prior to the Assembly polls last years "baglamukhi jap" was done at the Vindhyachal Devi temple in Uttar Pradesh.
After his success in the polls, Mr. Yadav along with then State unit president Ramai Ram had flown to Vindhyachal for "puranahooti" (end of the yagna). The Chief Minister had then reportedly distributed largess to the local pandas (priests) and the head panda is said have received Rs.75,000 as "dakshina" (fee). On assuming office as JD president in January, Mr. Yadav had gone to Varanasi to pay thanks to Lord Viswanath. Seeing sadhus and tantriks milling around the CM's residence, a JD worker wondered "Is he the same Laloo Yadav who at one time had nothing but disdain for 'puja-path".
(Source: The Planter, 1 November, 1996)
Neel Gai Equals Gai
A major controversy has erupted in Alwar district over Forest Minister Raghuveer Singh Kaushal's announcement that the Blue Bull (Neel Gai of the deer species) can be killed with the permission of the Forest Range Officer. The announcement has angered groups espousing the cause of non-violence and vegetarianism.
The controversy snowballed lat month when the Forest Minister informed villagers at a function that they could kill the animal with the permission of the Range Officer. The minister reassured them that the animal did not belong to the cow species and they did not have to take the permission of the Deputy Conservator, Forest (under the amended law).
However, this announcement was greeted with skepticism by some social organizations like the Arya Samaj. Akhil Bhartiya Digambar Jain Maha Samiti, Manav Uthan Seva Samiti and Shakahari Samiti have represented to the chief minister demanding the stoppage of killings.
(Source: The Pioneer, 28 October, 1996)
