Who is the real criminal in the Swami Nithyananda case?

The recent news circus surrounding revelations about Swami Nithyananda are very disturbing. What is disturbing is not what the Swami did, but how people have reacted to it, and how the government and media fail to protect individuals' civil liberties.

The enormous number of comments from the public in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka have two basic themes. Most people want the Swami to be "killed", "hung", "burnt", etc., all indicating some form of execution for his "crime". Many others have suggested his "genitals should be cut off", or other barbaric and primitive punishments last seen during the dark ages. Another common theme is that they want the government to arrest him and punish him with life imprisonment. Let us look at the specifics of this case and remove the artificially created emotional sentiment, so that we can ascertain what was the crime and who the real criminal is.

First, what appears to have occurred is that two consenting adults may have engaged in an intimate relationship in the privacy of their bedroom. Of course we are left to use our imaginations, as the video only shows the Swami being massaged by a lady, and latter embracing the lady with both of them being fully clothed. Let us ask the question, is it a crime for two consenting adults to engage in a consensual romantic relationship? Sex has been going on for the last billions of years. India in fact seems to be doing it more than most countries, and the proof is the overpopulation. No where in the world are so many people living in such a small mass of land, and the reason for it is that ample sex has been going on here (sex has been thriving). In fact, statistics suggest that even your father and mother probably engaged in sex. I know its shocking to believe, but yes, even them.

Sex is nothing new to India. India invented the Kama Sutra, and there are entire temples covered in erotic carvings, such as the temples at Khajuraho. There is even an entire branch of Hinduism that focuses on spiritual sex, called Tantra. The Puranas are full of stories about sex. So why are Indians so offended by sex, especially when it is carried out privately in someone's own bedroom? The problem traces back to the mughals, who invaded India and enforced their moral and religious views about women and sex. Unfortunately, even after becoming free from foreign rule, India has failed to become free from the artificial morality they imposed on the enslaved nation. For example, till this day women in North India must walk around covering their heads with their sari. If you look at ancient temple carvings, the women never covered their heads and actually wore quite revealing clothing. It was only after the mughals invaded that this custom of covering the head was introduced, and it is still enforced today - now being confused with Hindu morality and culture.

Let us go back to the comments found on most internet message boards. The majority of people want Nithyananda Swami to be killed as punishment, to set an example for others. They are suggesting that a person should be killed simply for having a consenting intimate relationship with another adult in the privacy of their bedroom! Does this punishment sound at all familiar with that from another unnamed religion? I remember there was an email circulating some time back that showed pictures of a man and woman in somalia that were stoned to death for "adultery", which is nothing but two adults consenting to an intimate relationship. Hinduism never suggests someone should be killed for engaging in activities that are not violent, not criminal and are fully natural. Yes, we need to admit that sex is fully natural - nature is in fact based on sex. All life is produced by sex and even in the Gita (7.11) Krishna says "I am the sex-life in all living beings that is consistent with its nature [procreation]." So it needs to be understood that sex life is not a criminal act, and this is accepted by indian law. As to whether it is immoral to engage in sex when two people are not married, that depends on their personal religious beliefs. We cannot force our own morality and religion onto others. As I mentioned before, even in Hinduism there are diverse views on sex, and as such there is no official "Hindu view on sex". There will be those who do not consider sex to be immoral, and we have no right to infringe on their religious and moral beliefs. We cannot impose our beliefs on them forcefully.

Thus in the case of Swami Nithyananda, absolutely no crime was committed by either himself nor by the lady involved. They are two adults who mutually consented to an intimate relationship in the privacy of their bedrooms. We have no right to put our noses into their bedrooms and try to impose our own morality onto them. By my own opinion (based on my personal religious views), the Swami may be a rascal and immoral in character for having sex outside of marriage, but that does not make him a criminal. Absolutely no crime has been committed by him in this regards. But there was a crime that was committed, and this is what the government needs to look into. The crime is that a news channel secretly entered into someone's private bedroom and illegally recorded their intimate private life, and then broadcast it without their consent to the entire world on television. What right does anyone have to secretly place spy cameras into our bedrooms. Today it is Swami Nithyananda, but tomorrow it could be your bedroom, or my bedroom. Do we want a government that allows our privacy to be illegally violated? Do we want a government that is violating our civil liberties by secretly spying on our most private aspects of life in our own private homes?

We should remember that the television channel that did this is also owned by the chief minister of the state. So this isn't just a case of a private individual violating our rights, but it is actually the government that is doing it. The government is using their political powers to allow their television station to get away with such illegal activities.

As I said before, India has a lot of sex going on. We are all hypocrites, because we pretend it isn't there, but it is everywhere. It's there in the films, its there in our houses, its there in our colleges, its at every turn. The politicians are actually the experts on the subject, but unfortunately we don't get hidden cameras inside their bedrooms to reveal this truth. There are some chief ministers in this country who have four and a half wives. Some of their sons even have rape cases against them. Imagine if the hidden cameras were secretly placed in the bedrooms of these politicians. Just imagine what we would find?

The worst aspect of Indian society is that everyone is a hypocrites pretending to have perfect moral characters. The police who will go to arrest Swami Nithyananda are the same corrupt police who require the city prostitutes to compensate them in immoral ways. The politicians who are calling for his arrest are the same politicians who have done what he has done 1,000 times over. The film stars who are shocked by this event are the same film stars who sleep with different people every night. We all know what a heroine must do to make it into film. Despite all of this, we all like to loudly pretend that we are perfect symbols of morality and we are ready to stone anyone we catch engaging in the terrible act of sex - even if its in the privacy of their own bedrooms. I wonder what we would find if we kept a hidden camera in your bedroom. Despite yourself posing as the morality police, we know what each of you do when the lights are turned off. We know what websites you go to when no one is around, and what movies you watch when alone. How do we know it? Because it is nature. The entire universe is based on this principle of procreation - sex. None of you hypocrites are free from this desire. You covet it and contemplate it all the time, but as soon as you suspect someone else is engaged in it you are filled with envy and jealousy. Welcome to Indian society.

It is time to stop being transfixed on other people's sex lives. What people do in the privacy of their own home is their own business. No one has a right to impose their own morality onto other people. If you feel sex is sinful and morally wrong, then avoid it. Simply don't do it. Stop watching it on the internet. Stop watching it in films. Stop watching the Nithyananda video... right now. Why have you watched the video 10 times already? You can't avoid it because its in your nature - it's in the very nature of existence and it is why our species have not gone extinct. The problem is not with sex. The problem is with the false morality you are still clinging to, which was imposed on you by invaders who enslaved your forefathers and destroyed your temples.

The police have now registered a case against Swami Nithyananda for "obscenity". I think India may be the only country in the world where someone can illegally video tape your intimate private life in your bedroom, then broadcast it publicly on television, and then blame YOU for the crime of obscenity. You never asked for the obscene material to be recorded. You never asked for the obscene material to be broadcast on TV. You were in the privacy of your bedroom. But now YOU are being charged with the crime of obscenity. Put a hidden camera in any bedroom in this country and you will find the same "obscene" activities going on everywhere. But everyone who is judging him is pretending that sex doesn't go on in their bedroom. Oh no, we would never do that. This society is full of moral hypocrites. Sex is everywhere and has been everywhere for the last billions of years.

Today another police case has been registered against Ranjitha (the lady in the film) for "inflaming people's passions". Is that even a crime? Maybe we should register a case against the kama sutra, or against Khajuraho temple. How is this lady responsible for "inflaming people's passions" when she wasn't the one who recorded or broadcast this video. She is the victim of a criminal act. Someone illegally recorded her private intimate life and illegally broadcast it on television. The person who should be charged with the crime is the television network and the person who illegally recorded the video. On top of that, the police officers have publicly requested "offended" people to come forward and register cases against the lady. This can only be described as insanity. There is no such thing as justice in this country.

Now let us look at some of the complaints from the public and see if they are valid:

1) Some are saying sex should only be between married couples and therefore Swami Nithyananda is a criminal. This is again a moral position based on one's religious belief. No one has a right to impose their moral beliefs on others. If someone else thinks sex is not immoral, what right do we or anyone (especially the police or government) have in restricting their religious beliefs. As long as the two adults are consenting to the intimate relationship, no one has a right to interfere. The only time sex would be criminal is if it was not between two consenting adults (such as rape). Personally I believe it is immoral to have sex without being married, but what right do I have to force others to accept this belief? Thus Swami Nithyananda is not a criminal simply because his actions differ from my own moral belief . At most he is an immoral rascal - but that also only based on my religious belief. I am sure there are some people who do not hold any stigmatism to sex and do not consider him immoral.

2) Some are saying that as a "Swami" he should not engage in intimate contact with women. This is true from most traditional Hindu views, but then there are other Hindus who do not believe this. For example there was Osho, who's ashram is still popular today in Pune. He gave "sannyasa" to people and told them there was nothing wrong with sex. Again it comes down to a personal religious belief. We cannot force our religious belief onto others. If you think Swami's must remain celibate then when you become a Swami follow that belief. Additionally don't go to Swami's who are not celibate. No one is forcing you to go to the Swami's who don't follow celibacy. As far as Indian law goes, the courts cannot and should not enter into the sphere of religion by trying to define what is a Swami and what vows a Swami must follow. Religion is left to each individual to decide for themselves. For example, there are Tantric Swamis and Aghori Swamis that also engage in sex. In fact part of their "sadhana" involves going to prostitutes. Now whether or not you want to go to those Swamis is up to you. No one forces you to do anything, feel free to avoid them or reject them.

3) Some are saying Swami Nithyananda declared himself to be "enlightened", "jivan mukta", "realized soul", etc., and therefore he was cheating the public by not being "perfect" while claiming to be perfect. First let us ask what is enlightenment? Is there any universally accepted definition? Again it is a matter of faith and belief. The government and the court cannot try to define who is and who isn't enlightened. Do we want the government certifying which gurus are enlightened? They have no authority to decide that a guru is not enlightened, nor even what the meaning of "enlightened" is. In other words they need to keep their noses out of the realm of faith and belief altogether and leave it to each individual. I don't want the government deciding for me who I need to worship. I don't know what claims Swami Nithyananda made about himself. If he did say he was perfect, well, then he was wrong. That's all. There is no crime in being wrong. If you gave him a huge sum of money solely based on the fact that he said he was perfect then you are an idiot. In fact, I am also perfect, why don't you come give me some money as well. The most you can blame him for is being wrong, or maybe even lying (if he knew he wasn't perfect). I'm sure everyone has said something that they were wrong about one time in their life. It is not a crime to be wrong, or to over-estimate your abilities. An honest person would come forward and say I was wrong, sorry. But even if they didn't, that isn't a crime - so there is no reason to punish someone simply because they thought they were a superstar but actually weren't.

4) Some say Swami Nithyananda claimed he was celibate, but actually wasn't. I can't say whether or not he actually made this claim, but it is irrelevant. Maybe he was celibate up till yesterday, and then changed his mind. How can anyone know? Even if he did lie about being celibate, it isn't a crime to say you are celibate. In India people are embarrassed and ashamed about sex, so sometimes they pretend they don't think about it or do it. You can call them hypocrites, but not criminals. The real problem is with the people who become angry and offended the second they find out someone else is having sex. It is nothing but envy and jealousy. All these Indians wish they were having lots and lots of sex, but they are too ashamed and embarassed, so they hide their sexuality and then attack anyone else who actually is having sex. Do I think a Swami should be celibate? Yes, of course. But that is my personal religious belief. Naturally I won't go to a Swami who isn't celibate. That's the simple solution for all these angry people.

So in summary, if you don't like sexy swamis then don't go to them. All this talk about killing him, cutting off his genitals, burning him alive, etc., is the talk of insane moral fanatics who probably spend their time watching porn on the internet. In India there isn't a death penalty even for murder and rape. Where are these moral idiots in those cases? They want two people to be killed for having consensual sex, but for murderers and rapists they are fine with them getting only a few years in jail. This is the insanity of India - complete over reaction to matters of consensual sex (but rape is fine!). You need to get a life and let others live their lives how they like. That means if they like to have lots and lots of sex in the privacy of their bedroom, then tough luck for you. You can't stop them. Just leave them alone and mind your own business.

The real criminals in this case were not Swami Nithyananda and Ranjitha. He is just a fake swami and immoral person, not a criminal. The criminal is the one who illegally video taped his private life, and the television network that illegally broadcast this film to the public. Both need to be punished by the law, but unfortunately in this country it will never happen. Here individual rights, civil liberties and justice are secondary to spectacular scandalous news. The public wants scandalous news, so the government gives it to them, even at the expense of individual rights. Then after getting the scandalous news they wanted, the public next wants blood. This is what is really scary about this society. Normal common everyday people can turn into blood thirsty criminals at the slightest provocation. Burn down the ashrams, kill the swami, attack the swami's followers... we want justice. How is that justice? First show a crime, and then speak of justice. Having sex in the privacy of one's bedroom is not a crime.

An additional line of thinking that we see coming out is that the government should seize all of his charitable trust's property and wealth because the Swami had sex. Is celibacy a prerequisite to run a charitable trust? If the trust is being ran properly for the purpose of the trust (no mismanagement of funds) then whether or not a trustee is celibate is irrelevant. Again, celibacy falls in the realm of private life. If Swami Nithyananda has a charitable trust for distributing annadana, and if the trust is properly distributing annadana, then what right does the government have to come interfere in that simply because the trustee had sex in the privacy of his bedroom? How many trustees in this world are NOT having sex? Probably not many. The government should proceed to seize every single trust in the country based on this.

What we see in all of this is fanaticism and sentiment overriding law and justice. I understand that for years some stupid people thought they were worshiping someone who was as good as god, and now they realize they were wrong. That's your tough luck. You were an idiot and took a common man to be god-like. Now learn to live with your mistake. There was no crime committed by anyone. The only thing resembling a crime was your stupidity and your violent reaction to something that is really insignificant. A man and a woman had consensual sex in the privacy of their bedroom. Sorry, that's not a headline news - it goes on billions of times every single day.