Rationalists' take on Baba different
Saying that India would have been a better place without Sathya Sai Baba, the Indian Rationalist Association and Rationalist International on Monday charged him with causing ''huge setback'' to the country by his ''devastating influence'' on reason and scientific temper.
It also questioned the “miraculous image” of Sathya Sai Baba and pointed out that Sathya Sai Baba had predicted at a public gathering at his headquarters in Puttaparthy in 2000, many times, that he would die at the age of 96 only. But he passed away at the age of 85.
“He proved once again that miracles and predictions fail. Till the last moment, many of his devotees clung to his word and waited for a miracle. May it be an eye opener for the millions of gullible people whom he misguided and deluded,” President of Indian Rationalist Association and Rationalist International Sanal Edamaruku said in a statement.
Tricks of trade
Sathya Sai Baba insisted in all seriousness that he was god, the creator of the universe, and proved his divinity with a couple of "small” miracles. “As the son of a village tantric he was familiar with the hand sleights and tricks of the trade,” he charged.
However, the godman not only “fascinate” poor and uneducated villagers with his “fraudulent performances.” Over the years, he managed to attract a “galaxy of India’s rich and powerful, among them ministers, prime ministers, presidents, chief justices, top industrialists and superstars,” Edamaruku added.
