Pseudoscience event row: CPM seeks 'spiritual' speaker Mahavishnu's arrest under POCSO

CHENNAI: CPM state secretary K Balakrishnan on Friday demanded the arrest of Mahavishnu, a self-proclaimed spiritual speaker, under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) Act.

The man has courted controversy with his remarks on karma and rebirth, such as “being born in poverty and born with illness and disabilities is the outcome of one’s wrongdoing in his/her previous life" at a government school event on Teachers Day, prompting the Tamil Nadu government to take action against him. Mahavishnu had also brazenly addressed a differently-abled teacher who confronted him for his religious remarks. The issue came to light on Thursday evening after video footage of his speech went viral on social media.

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Calling for a probe into the incident, the CPM leader in a statement said, "The Chief Educational Officer and the headmaster who invited this superstitious speaker and conducted the lecture program at the expense of huge sums of money should be sacked immediately. A thorough investigation should be conducted into this incident and strict action should be taken against everyone, starting with the higher-ranking officials in education."

He also demanded that a monitoring committee with higher officials be set up to prevent such programs from taking place in the future.

Also read: Spirituality lecture in Chennai Government schools spark controversy

CPI State secretary R Mutharasan accused Mahavishnu of justifying Sanatana Dharma’s ideals by propagating superstitions and customs as ethics of life at government school events. “The teacher who objected to his speech was threatened. Mahavishnu justified female slavery while speaking at another school full of girl students. He has insulted women by saying that they are born without beauty and with disabilities. Appeals by student organisations objecting to the speaker have been ignored by the school headmaster and others,” he noted.