Madras HC questions Sadhguru's Isha Foundation over women renouncing worldly lives
Chennai: The founder of the Isha Foundation, Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev, has come under fire from the Madras High Court for pushing young women to renounce their material lives even though he had arranged his daughter's marriage. The court questioned this while hearing a case filed by retired professor S. Kamaraj, who stated that his two highly educated daughters had been "brainwashed" into living permanently at the Isha Yoga Centre.
Judges S.M. Subramaniam and V. Sivagnanam's bench seemed uncomfortable when the two women—ages 42 and 39—appeared in court today. The two women argued, however, that they were not being kept against their will and were staying at the Isha Foundation of their own free will. The parents testified that their lives were permanently damaged because their daughters had "abandoned" them, and this was as much evidence as they had been claiming for the entire ten years of this lawsuit.
In response, the Isha Foundation made it clear that participants voluntarily join the group. "We honor personal preferences. People travel to Isha for a variety of reasons, including marriage and monastic life, but they are not forced to do either," a Foundation spokesman stated. They claim that there is only one case against the organization that is pending at the police stations right now, and that the court has halted another.
However, the court desired further investigation. It demanded a list of every case involving the Isha Foundation. The court's intimation implied, in a sense, that the investigation had been scoped up. Sivagnanam laughed, "We want to understand why somebody who arranged for his own daughter's marriage is encouraging other daughters to shave their heads and live like hermits."
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16 workers injured in major fire at chemical factory in Gujarat's Bharuch
Jhagadia (Bharuch) (PTI): At least 16 workers were injured after a massive fire broke out at a chemical factory in Gujarat's Bharuch district on Thursday afternoon, officials said.
The blaze erupted around 1 pm at Metropolitan Eximchem Pvt Ltd, located in the Jhagadia Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC) area, Deputy Superintendent of Police Ajay Meena said.
At least 16 workers suffered injuries and were admitted to nearby hospitals for treatment. No fatalities have been reported so far, he said.
Emergency response teams and local police personnel rushed to the site after being alerted about the incident. Fire tenders and ambulances are also stationed at the spot, Meena said.
Efforts to douse the fire are still underway, he added.
In addition to the fire brigade personnel from Jhagadia, two fire tenders from the disaster prevention and management centre in Ankleshwar were deployed to assist in controlling the blaze, an official added.
Visuals from the scene showed thick plumes of smoke billowing into the sky, visible from a considerable distance.
