Special Report to the United Nations Office of the  

High Commissioner for Human Rights 
September 18, 2018 

Persecution of Adi Shaivite Minority Tradition in India

 
 

Introduction 
The human rights situation in India has worsened over the past few decades.1 Local,
indigenous spiritual traditions and communities are being systematically eliminated by
militant extremist movements. Against this backdrop, many of the leaders and
members of Hindu minority communities have been persecuted, incarcerated, and
murdered.2

1
https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/01/18/india-unchecked-attacks-religious-minorities 
2
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/nov/12/india-hindu-taliban-narendra-modi 
 

 
 
 

One such indigenous, spiritual tradition so targeted for extermination by the extremist
elements is the Hindu Adi Shaivite Minority Tradition (“ASMT”) in South India. The
extremist elements view the 30 million strong ASMT spiritual community as an
existential threat to their existing ideologies because the Hindu Adi Shaivite Minority
Tradition and cultural practice explicitly rejects extremism of all types and emphasizes
openness and inclusivity.

In particular, the extremist elements are opposed to ASMT’s progressive stance when it
comes to the rights of women, and the rights of members of the LGBTQ and
transgendered communities. The spiritual head of ASMT has publically declared
himself to be of indeterminate gender and composed of more than 11 gender identity
components. In this regard, ASMT represents one of the most progressive ideologies in
the world as it freely ordains women into ​sanyaas (the monastic order), recognizes 11
genders, and performs specific temple rituals for gay marriage, all from the depth of the
more than 5,000 year old indigenous spiritual tradition.

 
2 
 
 

The story of the persecution of indigenous Hindu spiritual traditions such as ASMT is
not an isolated happening. It is the saga of the persecution of linguistic and religious
minority groups, of dark-skinned humans, of indigenous spiritual traditions, and of ethnic
tribes that have existed in India for millenia.3

3
https://www.amnesty.org/en/countries/asia-and-the-pacific/india/report-india/ 
 
3 
 
 

Currently, this persecution operates in India through a process of internal colonization

directed by various coordinated and opportunistic extremist political elements. These
disparate elements often oppose each other in the political space but have found
common cause when it comes to the indigenous spiritual tradition of ASMT:

1) Extremist Hindutva Political Movement​: The extremist Hindutva political

movement is comprised of the ​Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), ​Rashtriya
Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), ​Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), and ​Bajrang Dal
(BD).4 The Central Intelligence Agency has identified these organizations as
“militant, religious outfits”5 and these organizations seek to monopolize the space
of Hinduism in order to bring all indigenous Hindu religions, communities, and
spiritual traditions under their exclusive political control.6 The communities that
cannot be so controlled and digested such as ASMT are then systematically and
violently eradicated.7 ASMT has been subject to genocidal attacks by extremist
Hindutva elements through a carefully orchestrated campaign in India. This
campaign started with hate speech and character assassination on party
controlled mainstream media and social media, then proceeded to ideological
attacks on ASMT’s religious sacred sentiments and the women in its leadership,
and then moved rapidly to physical assault, arson, rape, attempted murder, and
mob lynchings.8

2) Extremist Marxist/Atheist Political Movement​: The South Indian Marxist political

movement is primarily comprised of ​Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and the
All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK). These parties are
notoriously corrupt9, employ mafia tactics and control almost all cable news and
print media in Tamil Nadu either directly or indirectly.10 Tamil Nadu’s extremist
Marxist political parties, particularly the DMK, have a long history of persecuting
and denigrating indigenous spiritual communities such as ASMT. In one

4
https://www.hudson.org/research/4575-hinduism-and-terror 
5
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/vhp-a-militant-religious-outfit-rss-nationalist-cia-factbook/
articleshow/64594295.cms 
6
https://hinduismnow.org/blog/2018/07/22/rss-hindutva-is-dangerous-to-hindu-minorities-not-just-c
hristians-and-muslims/ 
7
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/vhp-a-militant-religious-outfit-rss-nationalist-cia-factbook/
articleshow/64594295.cms 
8
https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/india-social-media-bjp-trolls-attack-swaraj-by-shash
i-tharoor-2018-07 
9
DMK Minister A. Raja was at the heart of the the 2G Scandal, India’s largest corruption case 
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/nov/16/india-corruption-government 
10
https://www.thequint.com/explainers/explainer-government-has-always-controlled-tamil-nadu-tv-n
ews-heres-why 
 
4 
 
 
example of religious intimidation, extremist Marxist political elements paraded
through Tamil Nadu slapping images of the Hindu deity, Lord Rama, with used
shoes and slippers -- a deeply offensive act meant to humiliate Hindus.11

3) Kannada-Only Linguistic Terrorists​: The Indian states of Karnataka and Tamil

Nadu have been engaged in a bitter dispute over water-sharing rights for
decades, leading to an intense animus directed at Tamilian people within
Karnataka.12 Moreover, the residents of Karnataka deeply resent the large
number of immigrants in their state who do not speak Kannada, the local
language of the region, and have rallied around it in a show of ethnic and
linguistic pride. In a nation that is home to speakers of 22 major languages and
over 700 dialects, Indian communities draw immense pride from their linguistic
traditions. The majority of ASMT adherents that live in Karnataka are Tamil
speakers who do not speak Kannada, the official language of Karnataka.13 This
has resulted in illegal arrests and many acts of violence by Kannada-only
militants towards linguistic minorities, such as Tamil speakers. The Karnataka
state government has also made it very difficult for non-Kannada speakers to
avail themselves of basic government services, including filing police reports.14
Militant Kannada-only organizations such as the ​Karnataka Rakshana Vedike
(KRV) have specifically targeted Tamilians and Tamil-speaking organizations
such as ASMT for violent retribution.15

4) Extremist Communist Political Movement​: The South Indian Communist political

movement is comprised primarily of the ​Communist Party of India (CPI) and the
Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam (PDK). Though ideologically very similar to South
India’s Marxist elements, the communist movement is a distinctly separate
political entity. It is also deeply hostile towards indigenous spiritual traditions
such as ASMT, and has targeted ASMT and other minority groups with acts of
violence and denigration. ​In one recent example, the PDK sought to inflame
communal tensions when they celebrated a Hindu holiday by putting the sacred
yagnopavita thread worn by observant Hindus on pigs and parading them around

11
https://satyavijayi.com/lord-ram-insulted-slippers-tamil-nadu-periyar-groups/ 
12
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/a-brief-history-of-the-cauvery-disp
ute/harking-back-to-british-india-era/slideshow/63698677.cms 
13
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bengaluru/Manipuri-man-attacked-for-not-speaking-in-Ka
nnada/articleshow/44830517.cms 
14
https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/no-respite-for-kannada-linguistic-minorities/articl
e17363037.ece 
15
https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/bangalore/KRV-leader-held-for-role-in-protests/article1542
3918.ece 
 
5 
 
 
in public.16 ​Karl Marx took a dim view of Indian civilization and considered it
worthy of conquest by European colonial elements. He celebrated the British
Empire’s subjugation and dominion of India: ​“T ​ he British were the first
conquerors superior…they destroyed [Hindu civilization] by breaking up the
native communities, by uprooting the native industry, and by levelling all that was
great and elevated in the native society...England has to fulfill a double mission in
India: one destructive, the other regenerating the annihilation of old Asiatic
society, and the laying the material foundations of Western society in Asia.”17
Ironically, India’s ostensibly anti-colonial communist political parties eagerly
embraced this colonial line of thought and took up the work of destroying all
remnants of the indigenous native traditions not already razed by British
colonialism.18

5) Fundamentalist Islamist Expansionist Political Movement​: India’s erstwhile

fundamentalist Islamist rulers often viewed Hindus as ​kafir,​ or infidels, by virtue
of their difference in faith and engaged in widespread temple destruction, book
burning, forced conversions, and innumerable acts of mass slaughter and rape.19
Though they may no longer advocate overt acts of violence, fundamentalist
Islamist organizations in India continue to view ASMT and other indigenous
spiritual and tribal traditions as inferior, denigrate them, and target them for
violence and forced conversion. Such extremist Islamist elements have instigated
repeated hate speech attacks on ASMT and ASMT’s spiritual leader through
social media in order to incite mob violence.20

6) Fundamentalist Christian Missionary Political Movement​: One of the primary

objectives of the British colonial system was to ‘civilize’ and ‘Christianize’ their
Indian and African subjects, who were viewed as unclean savages or
idol-worshipping pagans.21 This bigoted, imperialist perspective continues to
pervade many Christian evangelical and fundamentalist organizations in India
today who routinely target indigenous spiritual traditions with bigotry, abuse, hate
speech and the systemic dissemination of false and misleading information to the

16
https://swarajyamag.com/culture/sacred-thread-on-pigs-because-in-tamil-nadu-cultural-illiteracy-is
-social-reform 
17
https://marxists.catbull.com/archive/marx/works/1853/07/22.htm 
18
https://swarajyamag.com/culture/1000-year-old-temple-demolished-in-tamil-nadu- 
19
Race and Slavery in the Middle East: An Historical Enquiry, by Bernard Lewis 
The Cambridge History of Islam, Volume 2, Part 1, edited by P. M. Holt, Peter Malcolm Holt, Ann K. S. 
Lambton, Bernard Lewis 
20
https://onlinetntj.com, youtu.be/u7pfhw8Nz9E, www.facebook.com/indianthowheedjamaath 
21
http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/92495/9/09_chapter%201.pdf 
http://www.globalblackhistory.com/2012/10/role-of-missionaries-in-colonization-of-africans.html 
 
6 
 
 
public about indigenous Hindu culture and spiritual traditions in order to incite
hate and violence against them.22 This has resulted in targeted acts of coercive
activities, rape, legal intimidation, verbal abuse, and other acts of denigration
towards ASMT and other indigenous spiritual traditions. As Philip Goldberg,
interfaith minister and author of American Veda, explains: ​“Not all of them, mind
you. Not the intrepid souls who work selflessly to help the poor, the afflicted, and
the illiterate, in the spirit of their savior’s exhortation to serve “the least of these.”
Such missionaries have been welcome in India for centuries...What is causing
consternation and anger is a new breed of zealots, heavily financed by American
fundamentalists, who seem driven to pile up numbers like door-to-door salesmen
racking up commissions. Determined, fervent, and creative in pursuit of souls to
save, they sound more like the snake-oil hucksters of legend than servants of
Christ.”23

Background 
Adi Shaivism: A History of Openness and Inclusiveness 

Hinduism comprises many indigenous spiritual traditions coexisting peacefully for

millenia. There is no one sacred text of Hinduism, no one ​guru​, no one concept of the
divine. Hinduism has continued to exist for more than 10,000 years as the oldest living
civilization on the planet because it is a framework for expressing religiosity and
spirituality. The ​Sanatana Hindu Dharma makes a clear statement in that “it empowers
every individual to start their own spiritual tradition and practice,” custom made to suit
that individual in alignment with the original source scriptures of ​Sanatana Dharma​,
known as the ​Veda-Agamas.​

The basis for the open architecture framework of Hinduism lies in its mature recognition
that the core truths of the self, universe, and divine empower every individual to have
the freedom to customize their own personalized God, personalized lifestyle, and
personalized spiritual practice. The ​Avatar as ​guru or teacher descends time and again
from the universal cosmic consciousness to provide beings with conscious
breakthroughs for their spiritual enlightenment. It is from within this framework that the
lifestyle and teachings of the Hindu Adi Shaivite Minority Tradition or ASMT evolved. In

22
https://kenbaker.wordpress.com/2009/01/06/christian-mission-and-victorian-imperialism/ 
Missionary Writing and Empire, 1800-1860, by Anna Johnston  
Missions and Empire, edited by Norman Etherington 
23
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/philip-goldberg/missionaries-in-india_b_4470448.html 
 
7 
 
 
ASMT, ​Sadashiva is the embodiment of non-duality: cosmic oneness, or ​Advaita​, whose
universal consciousness manifests as the universe and all the myriad beings within the
universe. ​Sadashiva taught the fundamental principles of ASMT through the source
scriptures known as the ​Veda-Agamas.​

These principles constitute the integrity of the ASMT community: nonviolence,

vegetarianism, worship of nature and living beings, organic lifestyle, temple-based
living, yoga, and yogic sciences. The ​Veda-Agamas as revealed by ​Sadashiva provide
clear instructions on how beings may realize the ultimate awareness of the cosmic
oneness or ​Advaita through yogic sciences. Every being can manifest ​shaktis or
powers from the space and state of oneness to create the reality that they desire.

The traditional seat of ASMT is the city of Madurai, which is in the present state of Tamil
Nadu, India. Prior to colonial rule, the South Indian Adi Shaiva nation with Madurai as
its capital was one of the most culturally, spiritually, and scientifically advanced and
wealthiest civilizations of the time going back several thousand years to earlier than 200
B.C.E.

 
8 
 
 
The Adi Shaiva nation was ruled primarily by
three dynasties of rulers – the Cholas, Cheras,
and Pandyas. At their peak around 1000 C.E.,
they ruled all of what is currently Southern India,
including Sri Lanka in the South, the Maldives
and Lakshadweep to the west, and then
extending east all along the coast of the Bay of
Bengal across Southern Burma, Malaysia,
Singapore, Indonesia, and parts of Cambodia.
The Khmer Kingdom in Cambodia was
established with the help of Rajendra Chola, one
of the Chola Kings. Artisans from the Chola
Kingdom built the largest Hindu temple in the
world at Angkor Wat in Cambodia under the auspices of Suryavarman II. The Chola
kings also built magnificent temples throughout India like the Brihadeeshwara temple in
​ hich is a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Tanjore for ​Sadashiva, w

In the Adi Shaiva community, often the kingdom’s spiritual head was its political,
economical, and cultural head. The political rule (​Arasatchi​) was not separated from the
economic rule (​Porulaatchi)​ , and neither of these were separated from the core
principles of ASMT. The Pandyas considered the ​Kamika Agama of ASMT (scriptures

 
9 
 
 
on the science of living an enlightened life) written by ​Sadashiva (the original author of
yoga) as the core spiritual guide for the people and the kingdom.

Thus, the political understanding of the people and the nation could only be made with
someone who was a master of the ​Kamika Agama,​ and who understood its principles
deeply. The spiritual leader of the nation or community was known as the ​Madurai
Aadheenam Guru Maha Sannidhaanam​, who has always been considered as the
incarnation of ​Sadashiva​ in ASMT.

Current Spiritual leader of ASMT 

 
His Divine Holiness, the 293rd ​Guru Maha Sannidhaanam Paramahamsa Nithyananda,​
is the 293rd successor of ​Sadashiva on this earth, and as such is the spiritual leader of
ASMT and its 30 million followers. As an ​Avatar of ​Sadashiva​, he exists in the same
 
10 
 
 
space and state of ​Sadashiva and reveals the ​Veda-Agamas from the original space
that created the ​Veda-Agamas of ASMT. He is able to reveal the deep cosmic truths
from the source scriptures and make them relevant to every current situation, even as
the world changes.

 
11 
 
 

 
12 
 
 

ASMT spiritual leader being coronated as the 293rd pontiff of Madurai Adheenam

 
Official legal notice from Madurai Adheenam to the Commissioner of the Hindu Religious &
Charitable Endowments Department declaring the ASMT spiritual head Paramahamsa
Nithyananda as the 293rd Guru Maha Sannidhanam, supreme spiritual head of the ASMT spiritual
lineage, based in the ancient South Indian city of Madurai.

 
13 
 
 

Invitation from leaders of Mahanirvani Akhada, India’s oldest spiritual apex body dating back
more than 5,000 years and based in the ancient North Indian city of Haridwar, coronating the
ASMT spiritual head Paramahamsa Nithyananda as the Mahamandaleshwar, or supreme pontiff, of
Mahanirvani Akhada

293rd Guru Maha Sannidhaanam

Paramahamsa Nithyananda meeting
with HH Dalai Lama, Sri Sri Ravi
Shankar, Indian President Abdul
Kalam, Baba Ramdev, and other
spiritual leaders 

 
 

 
14 
 
 

Modern Roots of Hatred and Persecution 

Indeed, because the Hindu Adi Shaivite Minority Tradition, its community, and its
spiritual leader have become successful in spreading their spiritual Hindu message of
openness and inclusiveness against the forces of Hindutva hatred and exclusivity, they
have become the victims of relentless attacks by the multi-armed apparatus of state
power wielded by the BJP and RSS. In contrast to ASMT, the Hindutva extremist
militant organizations want a “one ideology” Hinduism under their exclusive domain.
What they cannot digest into themselves, they systematically delegitimize and
exterminate. The extremist Hindu militant forces are in the process of committing ethnic
cleansing on indigenous minority spiritual traditions and communities to ensure that only
“one ideology” of Hinduism remains, which they can control and manipulate.

Vast sums of public money were spent by the extremist elements to attack and
persecute the adherents of ASMT and their spiritual leader, the the 293rd ​Guru Maha
Sannidhaanam​. In just one example, in 2012, a 600 person strong battalion of
paramilitary forces headed by the state government of Karnataka was used in a single
attack (costing taxpayers approximately $4 million) on the ​Bengaluru Aadheenam (i.e.,
temple-monastery). ​Similar attacks have been staged over the last decade on hundreds
of ASMT Hindu temples and monasteries by the state government and state police,
aided by the corrupt, state-controlled media24, all ultimately controlled and directed by
Hindutva militant forces such as the BJP, RSS, VHP, and BD.

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/committee-to-protect-journalists/indian-journalism-under-i_b_45
24

56499.html 
 
15 
 
 

 
16 
 
 

The state-controlled nexus of corrupt elements within the media25, police26, and judiciary
27
have all aided and actively participated in atrocities against ASMT temples and
monasteries, many of which have been violently attacked and destroyed. Members of
the ASMT community, including female monks, children, and innocent worshipers have
been subject to rape, torture, murder, arbitrary detention, and imprisonment by the
Hindutva militant forces over the past ten years.

Their rights to freely practice their religion, to freely travel and conduct religious
assembly, and to life itself have been illegally and immorally curtailed, and in many
cases denied altogether.

25
https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1274036/media-collusion-politicians-busi
ness-weakens-indian, 
https://daily.social/7-popular-indian-news-channels-that-are-owned-by-politicians/ 
26
​https://thewire.in/government/police-ips-criminality-mumbai-underworld 
27
https://www.livemint.com/r/LiveMint/Period1/oldpdf/8f771b83-547a-4758-ba01-0c2c57b70065.pdf 
https://globalanticorruptionblog.com/2016/02/12/the-indian-judiciary-on-trial-tackling-corruption-in-
indias-courts/ 
 
17 
 
 

 
18 
 
 

Many members of the ASMT community, including the community’s spiritual leader,
have been forced to flee from India or risk death, imprisonment, restrictions on the free
practice of their religion, destruction of their properties, confiscation of their lands, and
other forms of ethnic cleansing.

 
19 
 
 

Current Issues 
Persecution for Support of Gender Equality and LGBTQ Rights 
India has a dismal record with regards to the treatment of women, gays, lesbians, and
transgender people, all of whom suffer social ostracization, legal persecution, and honor
killings for their gender and sexuality.28 The rise of Hindutva militant organizations like
the BJP, RSS, VHP, and BD fuels a culture of violence in India that has exacerbated the
situation for minorities in the country.29 Until very recently, Indian law criminalized
sexuality under a 157 year-old law put in place by the British Empire in an effort to
regulate and control their Indian subjects. Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code
“prohibits carnal intercourse against the order of nature.​”30 This vague and archaic law
provided legitimacy for the police to arrest, blackmail, sexually abuse, and “out” any
individual they consider to be guilty of “unnatural sex” or homosexual activity.31
Evidence is routinely fabricated or suppressed as directed by the extremist elements in
order to incite mob violence against the target minority as well as prosecute the target
on false criminal charges. The Adi Shaivite Minority Tradition freely ordains women into
the ​sanyaas monastic order, recognizes 11 genders, and prescribes temple rituals to
celebrate gay marriage, all rooted in the depth of the ​Veda-Agama source scriptures of
ASMT.

28
https://foreignpolicy.com/2011/07/29/lesbian-newlyweds-flee-honor-killing-threats-in-india/ 
29
https://minorityrights.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/MRG_Rep_India_Jun17-2.pdf 
30
https://indiankanoon.org/doc/1836974/ 
31
https://cdn2.sph.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2013/07/8-Narrain.pdf 
 
20 
 
 

This runs contrary to the heteronormative32 view of majoritarian Hindutva institutions and
has put ASMT at odds with extremist Hindutva elements like the BJP, RSS, VHP, and
BD parties33 as well as fundamentalist evangelical Christian movements.

Because the spiritual head of ASMT has declared himself to be of indeterminate gender,
the ASMT spiritual head has been charged under Section 377 for “unnatural sex” 34 and
gay sex.35 Though the Indian Supreme Court has recently vacated the prohibition on
gay sex, ASMT’s leader continues to face spurious “unnatural sex” related charges
rooted neither in law nor morality.

Targeted Rape and Attacks on ASMT Female ​Sanyaasis 

India has become an increasingly dangerous place for women.36 Against this backdrop,
the ASMT spiritual has publicly declared his support for the rights of transgendered
people and for members of the LGBTQ communities. As mentioned above, ASMT and
its spiritual head, the 293rd ​Guru Maha Sannidhaanam Paramahamsa Nithyananda​,
officially recognize more than 11 gender identity components and prescribe specific
temple rituals to celebrate and solemnize gay marriage. Moreover, the Adi Shaivite
Minority Tradition further differs from majoritarian Hindutva institutions in that it freely
ordains women into the monastic order rather than restricting such privileges to men
only.37

As a result, vulnerable ASMT female ​sanyaasis (monks) who have taken vows of
non-violence and chastity have suffered a multitude of organized attacks by both state
and Hindutva extremist elements over the past decade, including physical beatings,
molestation, harassment, sexual assault, and rape. A few illustrative examples of more
than several hundred of these attacks are detailed below:

32
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/homosexuality-is-a-genetic-disorder-subramanian-swam
y/articleshow/65707670.cms 
33
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/26/magazine/the-billionaire-yogi-behind-modis-rise.html 
34
http://www.rediff.com/news/report/nithyananda-aides-charged-with-rape-unnatural-sex/20101129
.htm 
35
https://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-nithyananda-seeks-cbi-probe-into-cid-s-gay-sex-charge-she
et-1671582 
36
https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/25/health/india-dangerous-country-women-survey-intl/index.html 
37
https://www.pri.org/stories/2016-02-09/women-are-demanding-right-worship-indias-temples 
 
21 
 
 

“Ma Nithya Preetananda Swami, a

female monastic member, a Sanyaasi of
ASMT, was busy serving people who
were attending a local temple festival.
After the devotees left, an agitator
belonging to RSS and BD brazenly broke
into the premises and came straight for
the defenseless female monk. He started
verbally abusing her and insulting her
spiritual leader. She was alone and
defenseless and there were only two
elderly ladies nearby. She tried to escape
and lock herself in a room, but the
attacker beat her, sexually assaulted her
and destroyed the sacred religious relics
she worships as a spiritual practice. The
attacker went on to desecrate the ASMT
temple by damaging religious deities and
property.”

 
22 
 
 

In another attack perpetrated by state police, an ASMT temple-monastery was

desecrated and ASMT female monks beaten, sexually assaulted, and arrested:

Legal and Media Persecution to Legitimize Mob Violence and Rape 

In addition to the false ​Section 377 charges of “unnatural” and homosexual sex, the
ASMT spiritual leader and the ASMT spiritual community have been subject to over 150
false legal actions over the past 10 years. Extremist elements in India often abuse the
legal system to harass, intimidate, and silence the voices of minority communities, and

 
23 
 
 
have so targeted the ASMT community. These extremist elements simultaneously
fabricate and suppress evidence through their control of the police and judiciary, and
have their controlled political media disseminate false and disparaging narratives about
the targets to turn public sentiment in favor of such attacks.

In 2010, State police and the extremist elements controlled by the BJP and RSS
conspired to illegally arrest the ASMT spiritual leader with false charges of indecency at
the Bengaluru Police station in Karnataka state. The police, aided by DMK extremist
elements, then escalated the indecency charges into a false charge of “unnatural” sex.
The ASMT spiritual leader was then illegally transported by force to a police station in a
different city and state, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, some 370 kilometers away, where the
false charge then further morphed into a false charge of coercive sex.

This was done through the influence of the Sun Network, which is controlled by the
ruling political party in Tamil Nadu, both of which are owned and managed by DMK
extremist elements. This is the very same network that was instrumental in the
character assassination of the ASMT leadership and its female ​sanyaasis through the
continuous airing of false sex tapes. In reality, there was no crime, no victim, and no
witnesses other than the manufactured allegation of “unnatural” or homosexual sex. In
fact, the police advertised for victims in the national and local press, on social media
and local TV stations, owned and controlled by the very same extremist elements
persecuting ASMT.38 The headline of a leading mainstream Indian newspaper brazenly
reads “Paisa feko, tamasha deko” - translating as “Throw money, watch the drama.”

https://www.forbes.com/sites/ronakdesai/2018/03/07/india-continues-to-be-one-of-the-most-corru
38

pt-countries-in-the-world/ 
 
24 
 
 

In a gross miscarriage of justice, the police arrested the ASMT leader on rumors and
hearsay in the hopes that victims would come forward to justify his imprisonment (none
were forthcoming). This new false charge, which was rubber stamped by the corrupt
Tamil Nadu judiciary controlled by the DMK, was then illegally transferred to Bengaluru,
Karnataka, a state controlled by the BJP at the time. Even though there was no victim
and no evidence, the Bengaluru police unlawfully arrested the ASMT spiritual head on
these new trumped up charges and then unlawfully imprisoned and tortured him for a
period of 52 days.39 In reality, the ASMT spiritual head was specifically targeted by the
extremist Hindutva elements because of his multi-gendered identity and publicly
declared progressive stance on gender equality and women’s rights.

The illegal arrest, torture, and lack of justice contrasts starkly with the recent case of
Bishop Franco Mulakkal40 who, months after a Kerala nun accused him of raping her,
has not been charged or arrested despite substantial evidence and a victim who has
come forward to testify.41 The nun belongs to the Catholic congregation of Missionaries
of Jesus in Jalandhar and filed a police complaint against Bishop Franco Mulakkal in

39
https://ijcst.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/ijcst/article/download/37944/34411 
40
https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/nuns-sister-joins-hunger-strike/article24968982.e
ce 
41
https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/hc-rejects-plea-to-arrest-jalandhar-bishop/article
24682199.ece 
 
25 
 
 
June alleging that he raped her at least 13 times since 2014 at a convent in
Kuravilangad.

The nun and other sisters of her order have had to resort to a hunger strike42 in order to
draw state and police attention to this gross injustice. Despite state-wide and
international protests43 alleging police inaction and political protection, the catholic
Bishop remains free44, while the humble spiritual leader of ASMT was falsely arrested
and illegally detained and tortured without any evidence or a victim. This reveals both
selective persecution and prosecution by the corrupt, politically owned45 and controlled
police, judiciary, and media networks.

In 2010, the Sun TV network (a Fox affiliate paid media station in Tamil Nadu controlled
by the DMK and known for gossip shows and political muckraking) aired a doctored
video allegedly depicting ASMT’s spiritual leader in a compromising position with a
female devotee. From the moment the false and morphed video aired, both ASMT’s
leader and the female devotee, a popular South Indian leading film actress, denied ever
being in such a position. In fact, when the actress, Ranjitha46, confronted Sun TV
denying that she was involved in any way and demanded the right to share her side of
the story, the executives at Sun TV admitted that they knew the video was morphed
even when they published it.

42
http://www.newindianexpress.com/states/kerala/2018/sep/08/jalandhar-bishop-rape-case-nuns-sge-dem
o-in-kerala-against-police-inaction-1869295.html 
43
https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/jalandhar-rape-case-dgp-ig-trying-to-protect-bishop-allege-k
erala-nuns-1336106-2018-09-09/ 
44
https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/how-powerful-franco-mulakkal-politicians-make-little-nois
e-about-rape-accused-88494/ 
45
http://hillpost.in/2013/08/top-7-indian-channels-that-are-owned-by-politicians/95166/ 
46
http://www.nithyananda.org/news/television-channel-ordered-repeatedly-apologise-ranjitha-its-ch
annel 
 
26 
 
 

Later, during his trial, Hansraj Saxena, then COO of Sun TV47, admitted the video was
fake.48 He49 has since gone to prison50 for extortion51, and Sun TV was forced to air an
apology. However, the damage had already been done and provided cover for mobs
organized by the BJP, RSS, and DMK to violently assault, rape, and destroy ASMT
female ​sanyaasis​ and properties.

This delegitimization, which was manufactured by the extremist elements, has resulted
in inestimable damage to ASMT, its followers, and spiritual leader. To this day, most
Indians continue to believe the video was real since it was aired on every local channel

47
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Fresh-case-of-cheating-filed-against-Sun-Pictures-COO-H
ansraj-Saxena/articleshow/9138868.cms 
48
https://hinduismnow.org/blog/2016/02/17/nithyananda-video-is-a-fake-sun-tv-coo-hansraj-saxena-
confesses/ 
49
https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/one-more-complaint-filed-against-hansraj-saxena/
article2232838.ece 
50
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/nithyananda-files-criminal-compla
int-against-sun-tv-coo-hansraj-saxena/articleshow/9211757.cms 
51
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/indias-sun-pictures-coo-hansraj-207953 
 
27 
 
 
24/7 for repeated news cycles, whereas the retraction was a mere compulsory footnote
that received little airtime.

Saxena was sued in the United States and submitted a declaration confessing to the standard
practice by DMK and the SUN TV network of airing fake news in order to attack and extort political
opponents.

 
28 
 
 

The publication of the false video was coordinated by the extremist elements to feed a
media frenzy: newspapers and television stations across South India attacked ASMT,
the female ​sanyaasis,​ and the ASMT spiritual leader in an orchestrated hysteria to
destroy ASMT and its spiritual leader’s public image and instigate politically controlled
mob hatred, violence, and legally sanctioned rape against the female ASMT ​sanyaasis
in particular.52 Numerous assassination attempts of ​ASMT’s leadership composed
mainly of female ​sanyaasis were also undertaken by the BJP and RSS under cover of
this mob violence. ​BJP and DMK politicians, including the BJP chief minister of
Karnataka state, along with their controlled media networks repeatedly called the ASMT
adheenam (a traditional Hindu temple-monastery complex) a prostitution ring, alleging
that all of ASMT female monastic disciples were international prostitutes. This was
meant to provide legitimacy to the violent mobs that were unleashed to systematically
rape and assault the female ​sanyaasis residing there. The goal was to assassinate the
character of the monastic females, ridicule their sexual identity, and rape and assault
them into submission. The female monks were verbally and physically attacked and
raped, while going about their monastic duties.

52
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/25/world/asia/india-vigilante-mob-violence.html 
 
29 
 
 

In addition, on March 9th 2013, a prominent Hindutva extremist, Vagish Prasad, issued
a death threat to the ASMT spiritual leader while brandishing a machete on live TV on
Suvarna News. This, along with other similar violent call to arms, incited dangerous
mob violence against ASMT, its monastic members and its spiritual leader. Suvarna
News, which is backed by RSS/ BJP member of parliament and local politician, Rajeev
Chandrashekhar,53 in particular has incessantly provoked and encouraged mob violence
against ASMT, its female monastic members, and properties.

 
53

https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/its-raining-tv-channels-backed-by-politicians-in-karnataka-288
190-2015-08-14 
 
30 
 
 

Multiple Assassination Attempts 

The spiritual head of the Hindu Adi Shaivite Minority Tradition, the 293rd ​Guru Maha
Sannidhaanam Paramahamsa Nithyananda,​ has endured over one hundred attempts
on his life over the past decade perpetrated by extremist Hindutva elements. Over the
past six months alone in 2018, there have been at least three direct assassination
attempts on the ASMT spiritual leader’s life. In the first attempt, his food was poisoned
by assassins posing as well-wishers. In the second attempt, his car was ambushed,
and ASMT followers were lynched and stoned by mobs orchestrated by the BJP, RSS,
and BD. Most recently in June 2018, three machete-wielding masked intruders entered
his private quarters in the main ASMT ashram in India and attempted to murder him.
He narrowly escaped by locking himself in his bathroom while other ASMT community
members rushed to defend him.

In all three instances, the local police never bothered to take up a complaint or
investigate the matter. Widely known for their corruption, the police, media, judiciary,
and other state actors controlled by the BJP, VHP, RSS, and BD have been among
ASMT’s greatest persecutors. In 2010, 2012, and 2014, the spiritual leader of ASMT
was illegally and repeatedly remanded into police custody, where he was starved,
tortured with ice water and sleep deprivation, denied basic medical needs, and denied
the ability to practice his religion. He was repeatedly threatened with murder by
“encounter” unless he confessed to false charges, a common practice in India.54 India is
well known for so-called “encounter killings”55 where police kill suspects in custody
under the pretext of self-defense. In his 2004 book ​In Spite of the Gods: The Strange
Rise of Modern India, E​ dward Luce explores the encounter phenomenon and describes
meeting one police officer in Mumbai who claimed to have been involved in “about 50”
encounters, and another officer who had been involved in 80 such killings.

Legally Sanctioned Medical Torture 

In connection with “unnatural sex” charges under Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code
brought by the BJP and RSS controlled state judiciary and police, the ASMT spiritual
leader was subjected to extremely invasive medical testing that was tantamount to
torture56 and sexual assault.
54
https://www.hrw.org/report/2016/12/19/bound-brotherhood/indias-failure-end-killings-police-cust
ody 
55
http://www.atimes.com/fake-encounters-rise-india/ 
56
https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/cover-story/story/19770531-gruesome-methods-of-torture-e
mployed-by-indian-police-forces-come-to-light-823741-2014-08-14 
 
31 
 
 

India employs a barbaric practice in cases of alleged sex charges known as a “potency
test” to determine whether the accused is physically capable of performing a sexual act.
57
Indian courts force the accused to undergo medical procedures where they are
forcibly masturbated by third parties, forced to endure penile injections and rectal
probing, and other invasive examinations. This manner of so called “medical testing” is
in itself a form of sexual assault and torture. Though this medical testing is
characterized by authorities as a mere exam by a urologist, it is in practice an invasive
and painful torture used to humiliate, degrade, and incapacitate political opponents.

The ASMT spiritual leader endured 48 hours of invasive torture, including multiple penile
injections, forced manual masturbation by third parties, and verbal abuse throughout the
whole court mandated procedure. He was forced to watch pornography and to endure
repeated physical probing of his genitalia and rectum by female staff. This was done
forcibly and repeatedly to cause maximum pain and also to violate his monastic and
spiritual vows of celibacy.

This torture was conducted in an area of the government hospital open to general staff,
media, and the public in an effort to violate his privacy, and humiliate and degrade him
and the ASMT community.

ASMT Spiritual Leader being forcibly detained after 48 hours of medical torture

57
Potency test of rape accused in India – rationale, problems and suggestions in light of the criminal 
law, ttps://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2090536X16300715 
 
32 
 
 

The police medical staff then pressured him into life threatening lethal injections to
ostensibly force erectile function. In fact, these injections contained unknown quantities
of unidentified compounds, which subsequently induced cardiac arrest. Many hours of
this torture rendered the ASMT spiritual leader near death, crippled, and wheelchair
bound for several weeks.

This type of legally sanctioned medical torture was yet another attempt to assassinate
the spiritual leader while in police custody through medically induced cardiac arrest.
Nearly 600 people have died in police custody in India in the period 2010-2015 yet not
one police officer was convicted during this period.58

58
​https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/27/opinion/dying-in-police-custody-in-india.html 
https://www.hrw.org/news/2016/12/19/india-killings-police-custody-go-unpunished 
 
33 
 
 

Mob Violence, Temple Destruction, and Cultural Desecration

There is a growing culture in India of violent mob lynching by hire.59 These attacks are
typically organized by the ring leaders of extremist political elements, such as local
RSS, BD, or DMK leaders. Party thugs are rallied through group messaging apps such
as WhatsApp to mobilize and orchestrate attacks on the ASMT spiritual leader, the
ASMT ​sanyaas​ monastic order, temples, and ashrams.

At the same time, extremist South Indian Marxist elements such as the DMK, AIDMK,
and PDK have also targeted temples and monastic lands in Tamil Nadu, including
ASMT ashrams and temples, where such cultural heritage structures are routinely
desecrated and looted for their priceless relics. Sacred deities are stolen and smuggled
out of India, temple lands are illegally occupied, and temple sculptures are destroyed
and disfigured by the very government body in charge of the management and control
of temples and their respective endowments. In fact the Madras High Court
acknowledged the dismal state of Hindu temples in Tamil Nadu when it stated:

59
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/as-mob-lynchings-fueled-by-whatsapp-sweep-
india-authorities-struggle-to-combat-fake-news/2018/07/02/683a1578-7bba-11e8-ac4e-421ef716592
3_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.52dc7890397a 
 
34 
 
 

“Many temples constructed at least 1,500 years ago or much before the temples
recognized by UNESCO are in ruins. Even the daily rituals are not performed. Some
temples remain closed throughout the day with no one to even light the lamps.”60

Out of thousands of ASMT temples, only 245 remain. The rest were systematically
destroyed, looted and shut down in a campaign of ethnic cleansing by state authorities
controlled and directed by the BJP, RSS, and DMK. ​State police have also repeatedly
desecrated ASMT temples and made it a customary practice to conduct raids where
sacred relics, books, sculptures, and artwork are destroyed and in some cases have
burned temple premises completely.

Hundreds of such attacks have been perpetrated by the BJP, RSS, and DMK extremist
elements against the ASMT community, their temples and spiritual leader, and the
ASMT monastic order. The main victims of these attacks were defenseless monks,
women, and children.

https://swarajyamag.com/magazine/we-are-losing-our-cultural-wealth-very-fast-thanks-to-gross-mi
60

smanagement-of-temples 
 
35 
 
 

 
36 
 
 

 
37 
 
 

 
38 
 
 

In another example, on March 3, 2010, 6am, when the ASMT spiritual leader was
leaving the Salem, Tamil Nadu ASMT temple complex for the Bengaluru temple, a hired
mob organized by extremist elements rapidly approached wielding weapons, petrol
bombs, guns, iron rods, and shouting hate slogans. They began attacking the car
shouting “it’s him, it’s him, KILL HIM.”

The incensed mob broke into the Salem temple-ashram complex and in a wild rage
attacked ​sanyaasis (monastic women and children) doing their morning ​puja (prayers).
The mob dragged the female ​sanyaasis into the street, and manhandled and beat them.
As female ​sanyaasis are not permitted any physical contact with males, not only were
they physically abused and stripped of their dignity, their religious chastity vows were
purposefully violated.

The sacred “​Pavazha Kundra”​ is a small stone that is in the sacred ​Arunachala Hill, a
site of utmost spiritual significance to ASMT and other Hindu spiritual traditions. It was
at this sacred site that the ASMT spiritual leader experienced enlightenment at the
tender age of twelve.

 
39 
 
 

 
40 
 
 

Extremist communist party elements along with extremist DMK elements desecrated
this sacred pilgrimage site that is worshiped daily by thousands of devotees, by writing
profanities and throwing slippers on the deity.

The extremist DMK elements instigators then brutally beat and sexually abused the
ASMT ​sanyaasis​ who were worshipping at this sacred site.

 
 
41 
 
 

Legal and Media Harassment of ASMT Schools

ASMT International ​Gurukul is a progressive, yet ancient, whole brain vedic education
system that creates enlightened leaders.61 The primary values of this educational model
are Integrity, Authenticity, and Responsibility.

ASMT spiritual leader conducting sessions with students in a traditional Hindu gurukul

Because the ASMT spiritual leader has openly identified with multiple gender identities
and advocates for women's rights, the ASMT ​Gurukul has been subject to intermittent
harassment by extremist fundamentalist Christian missionary forces in the form of
Samaya TV. Samaya TV is a fundamentalist Christian backed media platform that
incessantly aired false, defamatory, and abusive content about the ​Gurukul and ASMT’s
spiritual leader. The extremist Christian elements, through one Father Thomas Edward,
director of a fundamentalist Christian NGO called “Smile Foundation India”, legally
attacked the ASMT ​Gurukul in Bengaluru, Karnataka and falsely represented the
Gurukul​ students as poor, kidnapped orphans with a view to closing down the ​Gurukul.​

https://hinduismnow.org/blog/2017/01/16/nithyananda-gurukul-mindblowing-mystic-school-south
61

ern-india/ 
 
42 
 
 

In fact, the children are international students with successful, well-educated parents in
developed countries. The ​Gurukul​, which provides free education for all was
temporarily shut down by the state police​, until the parents of the ASMT ​Gurukul
students were forced to fly to India to prove their parentage through the judicial system
and fight to keep the ​Gurukul open. Other ASMT ​Gurukuls that educated and housed
tribal and Dalit children, the preferred target demographic for evangelical extremist
elements,62 were also similarly harassed and legally attacked.

Linguistic Persecution of ASMT Minority Tamil Speakers

The Tamil Nadu-Karnataka Cauvery water dispute regarding the rights to potable water
has escalated and transmuted into linguistic terror and persecution of Tamil minorities in
Karnataka by Kannada-only extremist elements such as the Karnataka Rakshana
Vedika and Karnataka Navaniram Sena.63

62
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2017/05/30/indian-christians-arrested-for-allegedly-seeking-conver
sion-hindu-youth.html 
63
 
https://m.timesofindia.com/india/war-deepens-the-fight-now-for-potable-water/articleshow/629408
72.cms 
 
43 
 
 

The Kannada Development Authority violently enforces the implementation of Kannada

as the official language (and only language) in all civic utility forms and even police
complaints in Karnataka, in all their departments, administrative machinery and civic
agencies.64 Tamil, the main language spoken by the ASMT community is a minority
language and subject to linguistic persecution in Karnataka where the main ASMT
ashram temple complex is located.65 Non-Kannada speakers have been attacked for
speaking in other languages.66 This has resulted in frequent violent persecution67 of
ASMT and its spiritual leader on linguistic grounds.

While under illegal police detention, the spiritual leader was hastily lead away to a “black
site” torture facility under the guise of protective custody. The Deputy Superintendent of
Police took out a legal document in the Kannada script (not legible to the spiritual leader
whose main language is Tamil) and tried to coerce him to sign, stating it was a consent
to move him for his safely. The ASMT spiritual leader refused to sign and asked for his
attorney. This request was denied and the local Bidadi, Karnataka police inspector
provided false comfort that the document was indeed required for the ASMT spiritual
leader’s safety and coerced the spiritual leader at gunpoint to sign a legally binding

64
https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/no-respite-for-kannada-linguistic-minorities/articl
e17363037.ece 
65
​http://www.differencebetween.net/language/differences-between-kannada-and-tamil/ 
66
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bengaluru/Manipuri-man-attacked-for-not-speaking-in-Ka
nnada/articleshow/44830517.cms 
67
https://www.dailyo.in/politics/bengaluru-language-kannada-racial-attacks-magadi-kempe-gowda/st
ory/1/2590.html 
 
44 
 
 
document of which he had no understanding due to his lack of knowledge of the
Kannada written language. Other such incidences occurred during ASMT press
conferences where members of the Karnataka Navaniram Sena, a Kannada-only
militant group, arrived posing as journalists, and instead shouted abuse and demanded
that only the Kannada language should be spoken, with full knowledge that real-time
Kannada translation was already being provided. From this contrived demand, the
situation rapidly escalated to verbal and physical assault, rape, violent death threats,
and attempted murder.

 
45 
 
 

Conclusion 
The United Nations has long recognized the unique importance of the world’s
indigenous, minority communities:

“Indigenous peoples have sought recognition of their identities, way of life and their
right to traditional lands, territories and natural resources for years, yet throughout
history, their rights have always been violated. Indigenous peoples today are arguably
among the most disadvantaged and vulnerable groups of people in the world. The
international community now recognizes that special measures are required to protect
their rights and maintain their distinct cultures and way of life.”68

The Adi Shaivite Minority Tradition is an utterly unique progressive, indigenous

Hindu spiritual community dedicated to openness and inclusiveness as its core
principles. The saga of the ASMT community’s persecution, delegitimization, and
attempted eradication is a story that was not allowed to be told. Until now.

The persecutors comprise a vast, coordinated nexus of extremist political elements

directed by the BJP and RSS and their enablers in the state-controlled police, media,
and judiciary.

With the rise of extremist Hindutva elements to the highest echelons of Indian
government, it is incumbent upon the international community to take action and
acknowledge the persecution of India’s embattled indigenous Hindu spiritual traditions
and Hindu religious minorities. Otherwise, we risk silently assenting to the genocid​e o​ f
the Adi Shaivite Minority Tradition and losing them, their culture, and knowledge forever.  

68
https://www.un.org/development/desa/indigenouspeoples/about-us.html 
 
46