Days after his very amicable interview with ANI, self-styled godman Jaggi Vasudev aka Sadhguru had a tense interaction with BBC News Tamil that culminated in his team allegedly turning off BBC's cameras.
The channel's interviewer was asking him questions on why he hadn't obtained environmental clearance for his projects, and Vasudev got visibly annoyed.
"The government has said there is no illegal occupation, everything is perfect," he said. "...Isn't there a law in this land? Isn't there a government? Let them do their job. Why are you, the media, doing this when the government is following the law?"
I was really expecting him to add, 'Dosti bani rahe', but it seems his people forcefully stopped BBC's 3 cameras (before those 3 golden words could be uttered). pic.twitter.com/Ks5eXj8QoP
— Karthik (@beastoftraal) June 10, 2022
The interviewer didn't back down, even as Vasudev tried to shush him: "When you're so concerned about the environment, why don't you take proper permission before you start these buildings?"
Vasudev shushed him again and said, "Isn't there a government? Isn't there a law? Let them do their job. Leave it...Enough now, please."
When the interviewer refused to let it drop, he said in English, "Again your nonsense you're saying...Turn off his camera. Enough...Listen, man, listen to me. Every law that is there in the country has been followed. If there is any discrepancy we fixed it, long time ago, 20 years ago, some small discrepancy..."
The interview cut off at this point and BBC News Tamil flashed a message on the screen saying the "people who were with Jaggi Vasudev forcibly stopped BBC's three cameras".
Of course, Vasudev's Isha Foundation campus in Coimbatore was built in blatant violation of laws and rules. Newslaundry's investigation found the same old story of greed, corruption, and abuse of socio-religio-cultural sentiment for material enrichment. Read our Sadhguru series here.
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