The International Advisory Council meets the community

On 16th February, the Unity Pavilion was full. There was huge interest because it was the first time in the last seven years that residents had met in an open meeting with an International Advisory Council (IAC). This was also the first collective interaction with the current IAC since its appointment in October 2021, and little was known about their stance regarding the present crisis enfolding Auroville. 

Four members of the present IAC attended: Dena Merriam, H.P.Rama, Gabi Gellissen and Michel Danino. After they had briefly introduced themselves and spoken of their connection with the Ashram and/or Auroville, the floor was thrown open for residents to express themselves and to ask questions. 

Many residents spoke of their deep distress regarding the situation which has unfolded over the past 18 months. They spoke movingly of their attachment to Auroville and to India – “this is where our soul is, this is our home” – but non-nationals felt that the present practice of the Foundation Office withholding visa recommendations, or only making them for a limited period, for certain individuals, was creating a pervasive sense of fear and insecurity. (This was dramatically underlined by the news that a young resident had just been issued with a Leave India notice). This uncertainty was further intensified, it was said, by residents’ employment in important community jobs being terminated without due process, by the takeover of Outreach Media and the internal communication platform, and residents being threatened with eviction from homes deemed to be on the alignment of roads or parks in the Master Plan. 

Residents asked the IAC members how they perceived their role, and how they had responded so far to these events. For it was pointed out that, according to the Auroville Foundation Act, the IAC had the responsibility to advise the Governing Board, and in giving advice they should endeavour to ensure that the ideals for which Auroville has been established are encouraged, and that the residents “are allowed freedom to grow and develop activities and institutions for the fulfilment of the aspirations and programmes envisaged in the said Charter of Auroville”. 

Michel from the IAC responded that “freedom is the key word today”, and “my feeling is that this freedom is being infringed upon”. Gabi agreed. “Change needs to come from within and my experience so far is that change is being thrust on the community, which is contradictory to any spiritual aspiration.”

Noting that we are all one family, H.P. Rama also agreed that change has to come from within as “you are the best judge of what needs to happen”. He warned that “outside advisors will not help you, but may put fuel on the fire.”

Michel reported that the Chairman of the Governing Board had said that freedom is not ‘license’ and that there had to be a ‘code of conduct’ to regulate this freedom. When Michel had asked if the community could participate in drawing up such a code, and who would decide if somebody was living up to Mother’s ideals, he had received no reply.

In fact, it transpired that Michel and Gabi had written a number of times to the Chairman expressing their concerns about what was happening in Auroville without receiving a response. 

But why was the Governing Board not responding to these concerns? 

Gabi said that there “seems to be a negativity which exists which can’t be seen beyond”, and that there is a “spiritual superiority that is judging people”. In this context, Michel noted that the Chairman had asked two questions. Is Auroville meant to take sanatana dharma (see note below) to a higher level and create gnostic beings? And is Sri Aurobindo part of sanatana dharma or not? “But we never hear of Mother,” said Michel, “and it concerns me that the founder of Auroville is kept out of all discussions.”

He also said that the Secretary had told them that, according to the Foundation Act, the Governing Board is the sole authority. When he reminded her that it is necessary that the Governing Board takes decisions in consultation with the Residents Assembly, “This is usually where the dialogue aborts. The methods employed in Darkali and the Youth Centre were not in consonance with the spirit of Auroville. There were solutions suggested, but (the authorities) continued with their predetermined idea. So how to engage with this Governing Board? There is no proper consultation process happening between the Governing Board, the Residents Assembly and the IAC.”

But a community member pointed out that the failure of the IAC to speak with a united voice may also have been a factor in limiting their influence. The only common communication from the IAC had come on 11th Dec 2021. “You may not agree with all our requests, but at least some basics of not harassing people or threatening their lives is something the five of you could have agreed on”. Another resident agreed. “I’m very surprised that human rights violations are there all the time and there has not been one collective statement from you to denounce that”.

Dena explained they were five different people in the IAC with different styles. She had expressed herself on many issues to the Secretary and the Chairman “but I know what can be done and what can’t be done. There are things that won’t change. Accept the reality on the ground. Move on beyond the Crown Road. There are bigger issues like how this place is going to be governed.” She also pointed out that in this situation she is not a decision-maker. “Nothing says that the Governing Board has to listen to us. I can only advise.” 

Gabi, however, thought the IAC could do more. “I think there is always a job description and our responsibility as IAC members is to keep that in the forefront. I do think it’s possible for four people with very different views to come together and to agree some basic principles from which we respond as a collective. Unfortunately, this has never happened.”

At this point, a resident suggested that as the residents – and the IAC – seem to be facing an impasse with the Governing Board, the IAC could come together to make an appeal to the Prime Minister’s Office, pointing out that something is “amiss with the City of Dawn. They are taking the experiment away and we are becoming an institutionalized event.” Michel agreed to draft a simple note expressing the anxieties and strong feelings of the residents, which he would submit to all IAC members and see if they would agree to issue this as a common statement. 

Dena confirmed that she was “not giving up on your situation” and had spoken a number of times to the Chairman and Secretary regarding issues like the visa situation. But she agreed that the need to improve communication was paramount. “One of the main services we (in the IAC) can provide is to be a communication bridge because there is no communication at present…I don’t think the Governing Board realize the goodwill that is here, and you don’t realise their aspiration.” 

A long-term Aurovilian welcomed this offer, inviting them to become “midwives, to build the bridge, to crack open the wall we are facing and take these words from the community (to the Governing Board)... Take the words of the community to their closed ears and eyes…Please try to influence, to stop this wanton destruction”.

Another Aurovilian asked the IAC members to communicate two points in particular to the Governing Board. One is that while some Aurovilians are suggesting different ways to do things from the authorities, these Aurovilians are not anti-government. Secondly, to respectfully ask the authorities to withdraw the police case against six residents, as they are based on false information. 

Dena urged residents not to give up on the process, and that a small group of residents should meet with the Secretary and Chairman to voice their concerns because “I think we are in a different stage now than six months ago”. “If you believe in dialogue, you have to dialogue…I can’t judge which side is right. I say, guys, talk to each other.” 

A resident responded that we know that when there is a problem, our role is to find a more inclusive solution which will satisfy everyone. “But what has happened is a takeover. People are threatened regularly. How can we find solutions together when the takeover continues because we are feeling the pressure?”

In fact, as another Aurovilian pointed out, there have been numerous attempts at dialogue, “But either it has been denied or it has fallen on deaf ears…If we want dialogue to happen the goodwill should be from all sides. And everybody should listen to each other, and the three bodies of the Foundation work together in a spirit of mutual respect and mutuality. I hope that today will be a turning point for people to start listening to each other and collaborating.”

H.P Rama concluded the meeting by saying, “We have listened to you and will do what is best to influence the decisions. Let ten to fifteen people log all your concerns and present them to us and we will have an audience with the Foundation. I appreciate your patience and goodwill because Auroville is based upon goodwill, and it also stands for unity and harmony. I think we in the IAC also have to follow that.” 

What is this religion which we call Sanatana, eternal? It is the Hindu religion only because the Hindu nation has kept it, because in this peninsula it grew up in the seclusion of the sea and the Himalayas, because in this sacred and ancient land it was given as a charge to the Aryan race to preserve through the ages. But it is not circumscribed by the confines of a single country, it does not belong peculiarly and for ever to a bounded part of the world. That which we call the Hindu religion is really the eternal religion, because it is the universal religion which embraces all others. 

This Sanatana Dharma has many scriptures, Veda, Vedanta, Gita, Upanishad, Darshana, Purana, Tantra, nor could it reject the Bible or the Koran; but its real, most authoritative scripture is in the heart in which the Eternal has His dwelling. It is in our inner spiritual experiences that we shall find the proof and source of the world’s Scriptures, the law of knowledge, love and conduct, the basis and inspiration of Karmayoga….

(from Sri Aurobindo’s Uttarpara speech. 30th May 1909)