Thiru M. Chakrapani, Hon'ble Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA), Tamil Nadu, representing Vanur Constituency visited the Secretary’s Office today 3rd March 2024. He gave a petition addressed to the Secretary, who was out of station, to staff members of her office. (See the link to the original petition and my translation of the same below this report).
He told the staff members that Auroville is part of his constituency and that foreigners from many countries have come here for spirituality, meditation, and peace. He said, "We should not give trouble to them. We are not involving ourselves in Auroville to avoid mixing politics here. It is to respect their choice of this city to live in peace. It is the white people and Tamils who joined together, and started this and it is developing. So far we politicians have not been involving ourselves here. The Madam IAS and IPS officers have been appointed here in the past two years but since then, Visas are not given to white people. We heard also that they are in the mood to send out our Tamil people from here somehow. You are exchanging lands given to Auroville by people from this region with the real estate people. You are not exchanging the lands with farmers or those doing agriculture."
On a staff member's suggestion that the Hon'ble MLA meet Mr. Seetharaman [Officer on Special Duty] who can take a call on the issue tomorrow when he comes to the office, the Member said he would attend a second meeting after receiving the Secretary’s answers to his petition. A staff member returned a copy of the petition signed as acknowledgment and assured him of a reply within two or three days.
Click the link below for the Hon'ble MLA's Petition (Tamil) to Seceretary, Auroville Foundation:
There is a ‘translation’ of the Hon’ble MLA's petition circulating through WhatsApp. There are so many differences from the original Tamil petition that it can be called fake. Those who want to read an authentic/ accurate English translation of the original may read my translation given below:
To: Dt: 3-4-2024
Smt Jayanti Ravi IAS,
Secretary,
Auroville Foundation, Auroville
๐๐ฎ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ญ: Petition to condemn a few who have come newly and by their wrong actions are causing the destruction of Auroville, founded by Sri Aurobindo and the Mother for World Human Unity and developed by the sacrifices of many people for the past 50 years , their collusion with corruption and seeking the revival of Auroville.
I am the MLA of Vanur Constituency wherein people from 25 villages are economically sustained by Auroville. The existence of Auroville International City in Vanur Constituency is a matter of pride for all of us. Tamil people with the firm support of foreigners have joined together and built a city for World Human Unity impossible even in dreams. It is prominent centre for environmental and other technologies. It has developed so much because of the work of Tamil Aurovilians, the cooperation of people from the surrounding villages, and the sacrifices of foreigners.
๐๐ฎ๐ซ๐จ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ๐’๐ฌ ๐๐๐ฏ๐๐ฅ๐จ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐๐ง๐ญ:
They have developed Auroville as a research and development city for human unity, protection of the environment, environmentally friendly construction material, quality education in simple ways, sports development, new technologies, exemplary management and protection of waterbodies, natural farming, models of groundwater recharging, training and production of handicrafts for women, growing of tropical evergreen forests, protection of endangered herbal plants and their gardening for home remedies, solid and liquid waste management exemplary to the nation, alternative & solar energy systems etc.
From such an Auroville, complaints of undesirable actions keep coming. Therefore, I inform you of my condemnation of your following actions.
1. Removal of Tamil people from Auroville working groups, and even if one or two are appointed for the sake of tradition, keeping them as dummies and appointing instead north Indians favoured by you are not good actions.
2. Giving trouble in various ways to those Tamil people not favoured by you or who do not agree with your illegal and unbecoming actions. Compelling them to vacate their houses is a misuse of authority.
3. On seeing you driving out foreigners who have sacrificed their lives for 50 years for Auroville and raise their voice against the exclusion of people from the surrounding villages, and [want] the protection of the environment, by denying them Visa, and your illegal and corrupt activities, it is clear with what intention you have come here.
4. Blocking the activities of the Tamil Heritage Center, ignoring of Tamil language, and imposition of Hindi and Sanskrit languages and culture are condemnable.
5. You have dismissed without notice from jobs people from the surrounding villages who have been working for twenty, thirty, or forty years in Auroville’s offices, forestry, farms, and small industries. Many families are severely affected as no compensation has been given to those who have worked for so many years.
๐๐๐ฅ๐ฉ๐ซ๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐๐๐ฌ ๐ข๐ง ๐ฅ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐๐๐ฅ๐ฌ
Ignoring people from the surrounding areas who sold their lands at low rates for the founding and development of Auroville from the beginning, not directly purchasing from or exchanging the lands with the people who want to sell them, and giving away generously highly valued lands in exchange with people having hardly any relation with Auroville, are malpractices. I have been receiving complaints that officers undertaking land exchange-related work (Revenue) Smt Meenakshi OSD, Land Board’s Krishnamoorthy, Rajavelu, and a few other workers have been taking bribes amounting to crores of rupees. Are these things happening with or without your knowledge? Or, are you in collusion with them?
๐๐ ๐ข๐ญ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง
It is not possible to tolerate the destruction of Auroville developed by the work of many for 50 years by the selfishness of a few. All the above stated should be corrected and Auroville should again return to the previous state and develop for which I am ready to cooperate fully as the MLA of the constituency and a resident of a surrounding village. This is to inform you that if such malpractices, abuse of power, harassment of Tamil Auroville residents, actions against foreigners, and denial of Visas for them continue again, big agitations will be organized by uniting and gathering the general public.
Thus,
-Sd-
M.Chakrapani,
M.A.,. M.L.A,
Vanur Constituency,
Viluppuram,
Tamil Nadu.
Copy to:
Smt. K. Swarnambika, I.P.S,
Deputy Secretary,
Auroville Foundation