Oshoites amused by American 'terrorism' tag

PUNE: Right-wing Americans who recently forced Chennai-born Pepsico president Indira Nooyi to apologise for associating America with the middle finger seem to be at it again.
At least that is the view of Oshoites here who were amused with an American think tank''s listing of the "Rajneeshee cult" among 38 "known and unknown" terrorist organisations in India.
As reported by the Times of India on Thursday, the US think tank, Terrorism Research Centre (TRC) based near Washington DC has named RSS and "Osho cult" as terrorist organisations in India along with "Al Badr (Hizb-ul-Mujahideen); Al Barq (Jammu and Kashmir Freedom Force); Al Mansooran; Al Quaida" and Jamaat I Islami.
Responding to a query from TNN, Osho Commune International which now calls itself a meditation resort said that it "can only respond with amused disdain at the absurdity of being listed on the website of the private business, the Terrorism Research Center.
"If meditation in America is a terror offence then we stand guilty — in India it is our heritage," the brief statement said, adding that the people involved with Osho''s work are focused on spreading his philosophy to millions of readers in 56 languages.
Sharing this sentiment was Chaitanya Keerti, a former Osho Commune spokesperson who has dedicated his life to spreading Osho''s philosophy.
"We are not at all surprised because this is their way of condemning eastern religions. It happens every year," said Keerti stating that he clearly saw a right wing conspiracy by fundamentalists in America.
While this was the reaction of Oshoites, it is clear that the circumstances leading to Osho''s dramatic exit from the US two decades, seem to have returned to haunt his followers.
In 1985, senior members of Rajneeshpuram, "The Big Muddy Ranch" in Wasco County, Oregon, had been accused by American authorities of planning to poison a nearby city''s water supply.
That accusation against Osho''s personal secretary Ma Anand Sheela cascaded into Osho''s deportation from the US in 1985 and his 21-nation "world tour" before he returned to India.
After mesmerising Americans in 1981 with his diamond-studded watches and string of Rolls Royces, Osho became a much-hated figure in America with his attacks on the Regan administration and the Church. His followers continue to maintain that he was "slow-poisoned" during his brief incarceration in an American jail.