Dr. Karan Singh
Text of letter dated June 2, 2008 from Dr Karan Singh, chairman, Auroville Foundation to Mr Mark Thompson, Director General, BBC, Broadcasting House, London regarding the TV clip on ‘Auroville' broadcast on May 21, 2008 as a part of ‘Newsnight' program on BBC 2.
Dear Mr Thompson,
I write to you about a TV clip on Auroville, which was produced by one Rachel Wright for BBC and was broadcast as a part of ‘NewsNight' programme on BBC 2 on May 21, 2008 and on BBC World on May 24, 2008 . The international cultural township of Auroville in south India is administered by the Auroville Foundation, an autonomous body set up under the Auroville Foundation Act, 1988, which is accountable to Parliament of India through India 's Ministry of Human Resource Development. I am presently the Chairman of the Foundation's Governing Board constituted by the Government. I am enclosing, for your information, my brief biographical sketch
I was gravely disturbed and distressed to see that the broadcast portrays Auroville as a place inhabited by an anarchic sect where paedophilia is rampant there. By broadcasting a report containing unsubstantiated allegations of a heinous nature without cross-checking them either with the Auroville Foundation or Aurovilians, BBC has damaged its long-standing credibility as a media wedded to truth. I have been Chairman of the Governing Board once earlier. During my earlier and the present tenure as Chairman, I have frequently visited Auroville and have been closely involved in its activities and in constant touch with a wide cross-section of Aurovilians. Further, the Foundation's Secretary, a senior serving civil servant, has his headquarters within Auroville. If paedophilia were as widespread as alleged in your report, it could not have escaped our attention.
I gather that the Working Committee of Auroville Foundation's Residents' Assembly, a statutory body, is lodging a formal complaint with the BBC Trust. Therefore, without going into a detailed rebuttal, I will restrict my observations to certain salient points.
Auroville's founding is firmly anchored in the philosophy of human unity propounded by one of the outstanding spiritual thinkers of last century, Sri Aurobindo, and was given concrete shape 40 years back by his spiritual companion, the late Mirra Alfassa, who is universally venerated as ‘The Mother”. Besides the Government of India, UNESCO unanimously welcomed and endorsed the founding of Auroville as a crucible of the experiment in human unity. On the occasion of the 40 th anniversary of its founding earlier this year, UNESCO reiterated its support to the Auroville Experiment through another unanimous resolution of its Executive Board. I am enclosing certain documents that will give you some idea of Auroville, its aims and objectives.
I am unhappy that your report on Auroville does not mention Sri Aurobindo at all and dismisses the Mother as “a French woman”, and creates an impression that is exactly opposite of what we are striving to achieve through Auroville. The report keeps on harping on the instances of paedophilia alleged by certain individuals whose credentials your reporter does not establish nor does she challenge the credibility of their statements. You will appreciate that the first task of a seasoned journalist, when faced with odious allegations, is to cross check them with appropriate sources before putting them out as gospel truth as she has done. I am told that Rachel Wright was a guest of Auroville community while she was filming there. It is all the more reprehensible on her part as a conscientious journalist of a responsible organisation like BBC to have blithely abused the generosity of her hosts by keeping them totally in dark and surreptitiously advancing her own agenda of maligning an institution that is considered unique in the world. When confronted later as to why she did not cross check the allegations with her hosts, she is reported to have said that she was advised against it and also felt ‘vulnerable' because of the information, a defence that is specious and unacceptable. When confronted with gross inaccuracies in the report, as a last ditch attempt, BBC has made an effort to insert a bit of praise about Auroville. But it is obviously so inconsistent with the entire trend of the report as to serve no purpose at all.
The Auroville cultural township has a population of around 1,900 adults and children drawn from 40 different countries including the UK . In a community with such a diversity of cultural backgrounds and a minimal of overseeing authority, the possibility of occasional deviant behaviour by one or two individuals cannot be ruled out. But those in Auroville's leadership position within the community and the Auroville Foundation's Governing Board are always alert about such unethical acts and have not failed to take prompt and effective action. Paedophilia is a crime under Indian Penal Code. If it were as rampant as portrayed in your report, the local Police would have surely taken recourse to action under the law.
Instead of promoting the cause of human unity that Auroville represents and the world is in dire need of, I regret to say that the BBC has done great harm to Auroville's reputation. A suitable apology from you on behalf of the BBC is the least that we would expect.
With kind regards,
Yours sincerely,
Signed/ Karan Singh
