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In the light of this
shocking information that Jagdeo is at large in
Africa. I am posting copies of my recent
correspondance with Deepak in India. Abi, this news
makes me feel sick.
e-mail dated 18th March 2001
Hi Deepak,
The reason I have contacted you is about
something that has been bothering me for some time,
and it’s not a pleasant subject, namely, the
Jagdeo issue.
I’m sure you are fully familiar with the
allegations against him going back many years, but
I have only recently read all the information about
this on the ex-premie website, including the
accounts of his victims, in particular Susan and
Abi, and there is no doubt in my mind that they are
true. There is also no doubt in my mind that
Maharaji has known about it for some time.
I am hoping you can fill in some gaps for me and
also perhaps reassure me. You see, I witnessed a
couple of incidents while staying in the IOC that
now worry me greatly. In particular, I remember the
youngest of the housekeeping staff; she only looked
about 13 or 14, crying her eyes out because she
didn’t want to go to Mahatma ji’s room to
perform some ‘service’ for him. The older
women were teasing her and I got the impression
that she would not say why. Anyway, I couldn’t
make head nor tail of it, and it was not my
business so I just left it. Although I do remember
how thoroughly miserable she was the whole time I
was there.
I’m sure you can understand what concerns
me now. I saw how he lived, and how he was treated.
Basically he was waited on hand and foot, and he
was in a position of respect with all the authority
and power of a Mahatma. He could easily have used
this position, as he had in the past with Susan,
Abi, and many others, to continue to satisfy his
perverted sexual desires with the young
housekeeping staff and maybe other younger children
elsewhere in the ashram.
So, as you can imagine, I have many questions,
like: -
Did you or anyone else in authority in the
ashram know of these allegations?
When did you find out? And what did you do about
it?
Did you question him about it? And what did he
say?
Did Maharaji question him about it?
Did Maharaji talk to you about it? And what did he
say?
I understand Jagdeo has left the ashram, is that
because of the allegations?
When did he go? And where has he gone?
Have any measures been taken to ensure he cannot
continue this behaviour?
Have any enquiries been carried out among the
ashram staff to see if he was indulging in
paedophile behaviour while living in the
ashram?
I’m sorry to put it bluntly like that but
those are the obvious questions that would come to
anyone’s mind. They certainly come to my mind
and I find that I am quite haunted by them. I was a
victim of sexual abuse as a child and I know the
lasting damage it can do. I spent a lot of time
talking with Jagdeo (at meal-times especially!) and
I am quite shocked by all this. Which is why I am
appealing to you in person to answer my
questions.
In the bigger picture, the general impression I
get from the ex-premies is that Maharaji should
have and could have acted on this issue years ago,
and that by failing to take action he has probably
enabled Jagdeo to continue to abuse young girls and
boys all over the world, including in India, for
many years.
There is no doubt in my mind that this single issue
is responsible for a lot of people losing faith in
Maharaji, becoming disillusioned and leaving. It is
not going to go away until it has been properly
addressed by the appropriate people. In this case,
I think it’s down to Maharaji himself, and to
Elan Vital to take the initiative.
I realise this is heavy duty stuff to suddenly
bring up out of the blue, but I do hope you can
take some time to answer. If you would prefer to
talk on the phone please give me a call and I will
call you back at my expense. I seem to have lost
your home phone number, but if you send it with a
convenient time for me to call, I’ll call you
there. My phone number is *********
With many fond memories of my time in the ashram,
including fighting off the red stripe gang!
All best wishes,
Karen
e-mail dated 2nd April 2001
Dear Deepak,
Thanks for phoning me on Friday; I really
appreciate you taking the time to talk to me. It
was a bad line for me, I could hear my own voice
echoing all the time and you were rather faint so I
was shouting, sorry about that! So anyway, just to
re-cap on our conversation.
As I understand it, the first you heard of the
allegations against Jagdeo was when they came out
on the ex-premie website, you said maybe 1999, and
that you then took the evidence to Jagdeo, and
along with one or two others you interviewed him
about it. He was very upset and totally denied it.
You told him to go away and think about it for some
time, and then you interviewed him again? (I
wasn’t clear about this) and he still denied
it, but that eventually he came to you in tears and
said that with this hanging over his head, he could
not stay in the ashram, and he left. As far as you
know, he went back to his family, but that you do
not know for sure where he is now.
I understand that you spoke with Maharaji about
this, and that he told you that prior to 1999 he
had not heard about it, and that, knowing how
strict M has been in the past with any Mahatma who
stepped out of line, that you believe he could not
possibly have known about it or he would certainly
have taken action. Also you said that because he
has such a sharp memory, he could not have
forgotten about it.
You think it is most likely that the people
Susan spoke to had failed to pass it on to M, and
that, in fact you had spoken to Randy Prouty about
it and he had said that he had not clearly
understood what Susan had told him. When I
mentioned that Susan had then told Judy Osborne
about it and what she had reported back to Susan,
i.e. that M had heard about it and was glad it was
not a new incident, you had no information on
that.
You explained to me that people are always
asking you to pass messages on to M and that it
puts you in an awkward position, so you tell them
to write to him. I said it was a shame that neither
Susan nor Abi had ever heard from him about this.
In fact, although I have heard M say that he
personally reads every letter that is sent to him,
I consider this somewhat unlikely and have
certainly heard of other instances where genuine
grievances have remained unacknowledged.
The one thing that I feel we did not properly
address in the phone call was my concern about the
incident that I witnessed involving the young
housekeeping girl and my worries that Jagdeo may
have been abusing her and others. You expressed
your certainty that nothing like that could go on
in the ashram, that you have very strict rules etc.
But you did not say whether you had conducted any
investigation to check on this.
I have talked to ******about this, and of course
she knows the housekeeping staff much better than
me. The incident I witnessed was before she
arrived. She does not rule out that my suspicions
may be justified, but she has not read the
allegations against Jagdeo and only has a vague
idea of what they are. She does offer another
explanation of why a young girl would be crying and
not want to go to Mahatma ji’s room. From her
observation, (mine too) all the housekeeping staff
were terrified and oppressed by him. He was a very
demanding man, he had them all running around for
him day and night. He was so fussy and particular,
everything had to be done perfectly, and he wore
them out. So she is not surprised that one of them
was crying because she did not want to go to his
room. This in itself presents a picture of an
abusive authority figure who exploited his position
of power for his own benefit. However, she also
feels that the staff should be questioned about it,
but that it would need to be done very sensitively,
and by a qualified person and probably a woman. It
would be no good you asking them Deepak, because
they are all in awe of you, and would not speak
freely.
Deepak, I urge you to do everything you can to
find out the truth about this. I believe very
strongly that he was guilty of some terrible acts
of sexual abuse on young children in the West.
Because of my own past experience, I have read up
on the subject and I know that paedophiles do not
change their habits without treatment, and even
then, they often don’t. I also have personal
experience of a convicted sex offender and am
familiar with the ability to totally deny it, and
lie about it, and cry about it.
I would still like some reassurance that Jagdeo
is no longer in a position to commit any more
paedophile acts. I don’t know what the law is
in India about this, or how much protection there
is for children. I suspect it may well be less than
in this country. Perhaps you could give me some
information on this? I do know that many people are
also anxious to know whether any measures have been
taken to safeguard children in the community where
he is now living. Can you do anything about this?
Or find out?
I know you were shocked and upset by my original
letter, and I realise you will find this one
equally upsetting. I know how much you love and
respect Maharaji and how sincere you are, I can
hear it loud and clear in your voice. I also feel
very sincere about trying to uncover the truth
about Jagdeo, and to do what I can, even at this
late date, to see some justice done and to help
Susan, Abi and his other victims, at the very
least, to get some acknowledgement for what they
have suffered. I personally think this really needs
to come from Maharaji himself.
Could you confirm that I have accurately
recorded the relevant points of our conversation? I
would really like to be able to tell Susan and Abi
about the current situation, and any more
information you have would also be very
welcome.
Once again, thanks for phoning me, I am really
pleased that you are open to a free discussion on
this very difficult subject.
With my very best wishes
Karen
e-mail dated 11th April 2001
Dear Deepak,
I e-mailed you on 2nd April 2001, with my comments
and notes after our phone conversation of
Friday 30th March.
In my e-mail I asked you to confirm the relevant
points of our conversation.
I realise this puts you in a difficult position,
but in my opinion, the TRUTH
is by far the most important factor here.
I realise you may be away, travelling, in Amaroo,
or whatever! But, I also know this is not an excuse
for not receiving e- mail, not in this day and
age!
So...if you don't respond in another 24 hours,
(i.e. by Friday 13th April 2001) I will assume your
silence means that you don't want to address this
matter further. In which case, I will free to copy
and distribute my previous e-mails to anyone I
wish.
As you may have gathered, I feel very strongly
about this particular issue, I feel it has been
handled very badly, and all with a view to saving
face for Maharaji, with little consideration for
the real circumstances, and absolutely no humane
care and concern for the actual and genuine
suffering of Jagdeo's victims.
In the circumstances, I have no alternative but to
take this rather adversarial line with you, someone
who, I like and admire, and whom I would like to
think of as a friend.
Sorry Deepak,
With very best wishes
Karen
karen@ringrose.org.uk
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