Sadhguru’s Isha Foundation on charges of ‘forcing women to become hermits’: ‘We don’t ask people to get married or…’

Spiritual leader Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev's Isha Foundation released a statement on Wednesday saying that the organisation doesn't ask people to get married or take up monkhood as these are individual choices.

The statement has come nearly a day after Madras High Court's strong comments to the spiritual leader in a case filed by S Kamaraj, a retired professor from Coimbatore, alleging his two well-educated daughters being brainwashed by the spiritual leader.

Kamaraj alleged that his daughters had been “brainwashed” into permanently staying at Isha Yoga Centre. He has also accused that the organisation doesn't let him communicate with them.

“Isha Foundation was founded by Sadhguru to impart yoga and spirituality to people. We believe that adult individual human beings have the freedom and the wisdom to choose their path. We do not ask people to get married or take up monkhood as these are individual choices," said Isha Yoga Center in a public statement.

The spiritual organisation also claimed that the monks were presented before the court and they have “clearly stated that they are staying in Isha Yoga Center out of their own volition.”

"Isha Yoga Center is home to thousands who are not monks and a few who have taken Brahmacharya or Monkhood. Despite this, the Petitioner wanted the monks to be produced before the Court and the monks have presented themselves before the court. They have clearly stated that they are staying in Isha Yoga Center out of their own volition. Now that the matter is seized by the court, we hope truth will prevail and there is an end to all the unnecessary controversies created,” the statement added.

Police inquiry at Isha Foundation

The Coimbatore district superintendent of police launched an inquiry against Isha Foundation after the Madras High Court sought a report from the Tamil Nadu government on all criminal cases registered against spiritual guru Jaggi Vasudev, reported PTI on Tuesday.

As part of the inquiry, a contingent of 150 police personnel descended upon the Isha Foundation on Tuesday. Earlier, Madras High Court had questioned why spiritual leader Jaggi Vasudev is encouraging young women to renounce worldly lives to live like hermits, especially when his own daughter his married.

"We want to know why a person who had given his daughter in marriage and made her settle well in life is encouraging the daughters of others to tonsure their heads and live the life of a hermitess," said Justice Sivagnanam, while hearing the habeas corpus petition filed by S Kamaraj, a retired professor from Coimbatore.