• SATHYA SAI BABA
• U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT TRAVEL WARNING FOR INDIA - SATHYA SAI BABA

Consular Travel Warning For India

Behind-The-Scenes Scheming, Subterfuge And Deception In Regards To The Consular Travel Advisory Indirectly Pertaining To Sathya Sai Baba

Travel Warning Menu (click on a link to go to relevant section):

• MAJOR UPDATE - JULY 17TH 2007
• U.S. Department of State - Bureau of Consular Affairs
• Facts About The U.S. Department of State Bureau Of Consular Affairs And Their Consular Information Sheet For India
• An Attempt To Get The British Embassy To Issue A Travel Warning
• British Consular Office Refused To Issue A Travel Warning
• Group Thuggery Tactics Confirmed
• An Admission And A Distortion About The US Travel Advisory
• Barry Pittard's Bold Faced Lies About The Travel Advisory
• In Conclusion

MAJOR UPDATE - July 17th 2007: Indirect And Erroneous Reference To Sathya Sai Baba Removed From US State Department Website:

Through an unremitting e-bombing campaign, Anti-Sai Activists were able to con the US State Department into issuing an indirect warning against Sathya Sai Baba on their Official Department website (which never mentioned Sathya Sai Baba by name). Ex-Devotees even boasted on accomplishing the warning on their own websites.

As of July 17th 2007, the US State Department REMOVED all indirect references to Sathya Sai Baba from their Official website (Reference). Just as ex-devotees were able to con Unesco with their propaganda, they were able to do the same with the US State Department. Needless to say, Unesco later expressed regret and removed their press release from their website. The same now holds true with the US State Department.

The truth is finally prevailing and the gutter tactics and smear campaigns waged by Ex-Devotees are finally reaching the ears of high ranking individuals and relevant organizations all around the world.

U.S. Department of State - Bureau of Consular Affairs:

The U.S. Department of State (Bureau of Consular Affairs) unequivically stated the following on their official website:

“If you are the victim of a crime while overseas, in addition to reporting to local police, please contact the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate for assistance. The Embassy/Consulate staff can, for example, assist you to find appropriate medical care, contact family members or friends and explain how funds could be transferred. Although the investigation and prosecution of the crime is solely the responsibility of local authorities, consular officers can help you to understand the local criminal justice process and to find an attorney if needed. Victims of a crime in India, including loss or theft of a passport, should obtain a copy of the police report (called an ‘FIR’ or ‘First Information Report’) from local police at the time of reporting the incident. A copy of this report is helpful for insurance purposes in replacing lost valuables, and is required by the Indian Government in order to obtain an exit visa to leave India in the event of a lost or stolen passport. Local authorities generally are unable to take any meaningful action without the filing of a police report. ”

Needless to say, no alleged victim ever filed an official and first-hand complaint with the police or the Embassy in India. To Date: No alleged victim has ever been able to produce a copy of a FIR (police report) or any other documentation to support their allegations against Sai Baba. Also See:

- Alleged Court Cases Against Sathya Sai Baba?
- Alleged Victims Can No Longer File A Court Case Against Sathya Sai Baba In India

Facts About The U.S. Department of State Bureau Of Consular Affairs And Their Consular Information Sheet For India:

Since late 2002, the US Consular Information Sheet for India made an indirect reference to Sathya Sai Baba with the following comments:

"U.S. citizens should be aware that there have been unconfirmed reports of inappropriate sexual behavior by a prominent local religious leader at an ashram or religious retreat located in Andhra Pradesh. Most of the reports indicate that the subjects of these approaches have been young male devotees, including a number of U.S. citizens."

Anti-Sai Activists boasted (on their own Anti-Sai websites) that they accomplished the US State Department advisory by waging an unremitting "e-bombing" campaign in which various organizations were flooded with email complaints. To date, Sathya Sai Baba has never (ever) been charged with any crime, sexual or otherwise. Not even one alleged victim has even tried to file a first-hand complaint against Sathya Sai Baba with the police, Indian Consulate, Indian Embassy or a court of law in India.

Not only were ex-devotees behind the US Travel Advisory, they were also behind an Australian Travel Advisory, which states:

"Australians should be aware of persistent allegations of sexual misconduct made against certain prominent cults and their leaders in India and reported in the media." (Reference).

Although this advisory is entirely vague (and does not mention Sai Baba, his ashram or even the state he resides in), Anti-Sai Activists praised Barry Pittard (another ex-devotee) and had the audacity to boast:

"Thanks to the efforts Barry Pittard, who has been persistent with the Australian Government in pointing out the dangers involved in visiting the ashram of Sathya Sai Baba in Puttaparthi, in the State of Andhra Pradesh."
Ref: http://www.saiguru.net/english/news/030325tvladvaust.htm

Anti-Sai Activists also went to great efforts to get the British Embassy to issue a travel warning against Sathya Sai Baba, but failed. The following is a list of emails from Glen Meloy in which he admitted that ex-devotees were responsible the US State Department Warning.

An Attempt To Get The British Embassy To Issue A Travel Warning:

The following email was Glen Meloy's first attempt to get Stephen Bailey (the British Vice Consul) to issue a warning against Sathya Sai Baba:

British Consular Office Refused To Issue A Travel Warning:

The email that Glen Meloy sent to Stephen Bailey was forwarded to the Consular Office in Chennai and S. Revathi and Mrs. R. Ramanujam refused to issue a warning because they never received any complaints against Sathya Sai Baba or the Sai Organization and no police investigations were underway:

Group Thuggery Tactics Confirmed:

Glen Meloy then encouraged his coterie of Anti-Sai Activists to write and complain to (i.e., spam) Mrs. Ramanujam with complaints. Notice the caption, "URGENT ACTION REQUESTED!!!" on the following email. Glen Meloy also said:

"Together, we can make a difference...and until we have travel warnings posted in every country, the Government of India and the offcials of the Sai Organization are going to continue covering up these abuses...If we can get the U.K. to issue a strong travel warning, it will have a huge influence to induce other countries to do the same."

These statements prove that former followers were involved in unremitting, behind-the-scenes attempts to get travel warnings issued against Sathya Sai Baba in various countries and relied on group thuggery tactics to push their Anti-Sai smear campaigns:

An Admission And A Distortion About The US Travel Advisory:

In the following email, Glen Meloy said, "For those of us who helped secure that original travel warning...", once again proving that critics were responsible for the advisory. Glen Meloy blatantly distorted the advisory and had the audacity to say, "SATHYA SAI BABA'S 'INAPPROPRIATE SEXUAL BEHAVIOUR' CONFIRMED BY U.S. OFFICIALDOM". The advisory never "confirmed" anything. To the contrary, the advisory specifically stated the reports were "unconfirmed" (Reference):

Barry Pittard's Bold Faced Lies About The Travel Advisory:

Barry Pittard (an ex-devotee) purposely and maliciously distorted the US State Dept Advisory on a free press-release website in the following ways:

1. Pittard purposely withheld the link to the official Consular Sheet for India.
2. Pittard clearly insinuated that the advisory mentioned Sathya Sai Baba by name when he said:

   "The US State Department is now naming India's most famous (and infamous) guru Sathya Sai Baba as the previously unnamed individual mentioned in its earlier Travel Warning."

   Sathya Sai Baba's name was never published on the Consular Sheet for India. Rather, one had to allegedly contact John C. Peters and privately verify that the warning pertained to Sathya Sai Baba. Therefore, the warning always referred to an unnamed religious leader.
3. Pittard attempted to decieve others by mentioning the bogus "Former Devotees of Sathya Sai Baba, a Global Coalition" (FDSSB). Oddly enough, despite FDSSB being a "Global Coalition", it does not even have a proper domain, a written objective, a public forum, an online newsletter, public sponserships, conferencing schedules, collaborations, memberships, a board of directors, FAQ's, annual reports, public events, funding policies or even publications. Rather, Meloy and Pittard attempted to create official-looking webpages claiming that FDSSB had an "Office of Communications" with a "Media Relations Department"! These are the shameless deceivers attempting to "expose" Sathya Sai Baba.
4. Pittard claimed that the advisory was in relation to "pedophile accusations". No where did the advisory say anything about "pedophile accusations" or even one word about "pedophilia". This shows how Barry Pittard purposely and maliciously distorts information to further his fanatic and obsessive smear campaigns against Sai Baba.
5. Pittard purposely left out the word "unconfirmed" when he cited the Consular Sheet for India. Pittard quoted the advisory as saying, "inappropriate sexual behavior by a prominent local religious leader". The warning specifically stated "unconfirmed reports of inappropriate sexual behavior by a prominent local religious leader".

The defamatory, embellished and fraudulent article that Barry Pittard submitted to a free press-release website is as follows:

In Conclusion:

Anti-Sai Activists wage an unremitting smear campaign against Sathya Sai Baba in which they herd together and collectively "e-bomb" various organization and agencies with Anti-Sai propaganda.

Although the general public is fed these highly publicized articles, the behind-the-scenes subterfuge from critics is almost always withheld. Fortunately, Anti-Sai Activists have big mouths and let it slip out that they were the ones behind all the negative media against Sathya Sai Baba. This holds true for the Secret Swami Documentary, Michelle Goldberg's Untouchable article, the Unesco Withdrawal and Paul Lewis' The Guardian article. Ex-Devotees operate behind-the-scenes, feeding untruths, bias, disinformation and unsubstantiated allegations to the media.

To date:

• Sathya Sai Baba has never been proven to be a "charlatan".
• Sathya Sai Baba has never been convicted of any crime.
• Sathya Sai Baba has never been charged with any crime.
• Sathya Sai Baba has never had even one single complaint lodged against him by any alleged victim, first-hand, in India. As a matter of fact, not even one alleged victim has even tried to file a basic police complaint or court case against Sathya Sai Baba in India (the only place where courts would have jurisdiction over Baba as an individual defendent).

The U.S. Consulate website specifically states that victims of crime should file a report with the police, obtain a FIR (First Information Report) and contact the U.S. Embassy for assistance (Reference: See section: Information For Victims Of Crime). No alleged victim has followed any of these procedures.

Although critics and a few alleged victims make public demands for justice, they have failed to follow even the most remedial prerequisites required by the law. Instead of following the law (as would be required from the rest of us) critics and ex-devotees have created their own forums and websites where they judge, try and convict Sathya Sai Baba with "evidence" taken from mostly anonymous and second-hand sources. It is often seen that critics and ex-devotees publicly anguish on the internet about their "serious ethical duty to rise up and speak out against sexual molestation", yet have miserably failed to file charges in the Penukonda Magistrates Court or any other court of law in India. As the Sai Critic pointed out (with a slight modification):

"Do proceed with haste, with all anguised persons, nay sayers, gossipers and the like. ESPECIALLY do take 'young men from around the world who have come forward to describe their victimization by this man masquerading as God', do instigate and demand investigation, demand the laying of charges, demand the prosecution, with ALL HASTE.

Are you there critics and ex-devotees?

Cease acting as middle men.

Assist those who report complaints with Sai Baba.

Provide tickets.

Get them on a plane.

Fly with them to Bangalore or Hyderabad.

Assist with travel to Penukonda, to the Magistrates Court.

Fulfill your SERIOUS ETHICAL DUTY and lay your charges.

Assist these traumatised others to lay charges in the proper courts.

Then you will have salvaged your conscience and fulfilled your serious ethical duty. We remind you that Sai Baba is not afraid. After all, he has said, "Why be afraid of the mistake you have not committed?"

To date, not even one critic has even tried to assist any alleged victim file a case against Sathya Sai Baba and no one seems to care or question why.