Indian Newslink: Strife rusticates religious body

Strife rusticates religious body
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Venkat Raman on 28/02/2010 05:45:00
 
A religious organisation, established to spread piety, unity and harmony among
the members of the Indian community, has become a hotbed of politics, discord
and strife.
The Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Auckland based Shri Shirdi Saibaba
Sansthan of New Zealand Inc held at the Mahatma Gandhi Centre in Eden Terrace on
February 13 was continuously disturbed by a section of members, questioning its
propriety, agenda and a host of other issues.
The members of the dissident group were also contestants to various posts for
which election was held later through a secret ballot.
The group also questioned this reporter’s presence, which was at the
invitation of the Executive Committee.
Trouble began when President Hari Gangishetty announced that Kevin Prohl, an
experienced toastmaster and speaker with immense experience in conducting such
meetings, would chair the AGM and the election.
The dissident group, led by Raja Sekhar Pendyala and Anil Anna (who later
contested for the post of President and Treasurer respectively) objected saying
that the Constitution of the Sansthan did not provide for an outsider to conduct
AGMs.
Earlier email exchanges between Mr Gangishetty and Mr Pendyala indicated that
the latter had agreed to this arrangement on behalf of his team.
Shouting Match
The dissident group also opposed approval of the minutes of the Special Meeting
of the General Body held on June 21, 2009, stating that there were
inconsistencies and unresolved issues.
The Members then voted to hold the election, deferring the approval of the
minutes.
It then became a shouting match between the opposing group, some of the existing
office-bearers and a few who said they were ‘neutral.’
Mr Prohl asked Mr Pendyala and his cronies to leave the auditorium, whereupon
the latter, shouted, “You get out of here.”
The arrival of the Police sometime later was pointless. No one could tell this
reporter who originated the call/s but the law enforcing officials listened to
both sides and walked away, saying, “No crime had taken place- no one was
manhandled or beaten up.”
It is not known if there would be charges laid for false reporting and wasting
Police time.
Mr Gangishetty later told Indian Newslink that his group, which contested in the
election, won all the posts and that Mr Pendyala had conceded defeat on behalf
of his team.
Group Meetings
During the following week, Indian Newslink held two meetings each with Mr
Gangishetty and Mr Pendyala and their respective supporters to provide facts to
the members of the Sansthan and readers in general.
Mr Pendyala said his group would not accept the outcome of the election, since
it was held without completing the AGM procedure.
He said the election of Bhaskara Reddy Duvvuru to the post of Secretary should
be held null and void since the person who had proposed/seconded his name had
done so for another member, making it unconstitutional.
But Mr Gangishetty said the election was legally tenable since the other
candidate had withdrawn from the election even prior to the AGM.
Mr Pendyala accused the Executive Committee of misleading the members on issues
relating to Resource Consent by the Waitakere City Council, delay in submitting
the annual accounts, lack of transparency and discrepancy in the total
membership.
Mr Anna had in fact sent us an email pointing out some issues on July 22, 2009.
A few allegations delved into areas of constitutional tenability but both sides
appeared to have obtained legal opinion, which favoured them.
A number of members, some of them reputed community leaders holding high
positions in voluntary and international organisations, expressed their disgust
at the ‘rowdiness’ and unruly behaviour at the AGM held on February 13.
Global Organisation of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO) National President Ashok
Bhatia (and a life member of the Sansthan) said the AGM made him wonder if he
was living in a civilised society.
“The whole episode was disgraceful and disrespectful to Holy Baba and needs a
complete overhauling right from the trustees to the committee level, if we have
to restore the prestige of the organisation,” he said.
Ambrish Gupta, another life member, urged the Executive Committee to consider
“expelling the troublemakers from the Sansthan’s membership.
“Otherwise, people will slowly stop coming to the Sansthan which will give a
wrong impression to the public, ultimately affecting our finances and
projects,” he said.
Crescent Technologies Limited Business Development Manager Vasu Kunapuli urged
the Executive Committee to “get rid of people with questionable behaviour.”
“The main teachings of Sai Baba were Shradda (Faith) and Saburi (Patience or
Tolerance) but unfortunately, many Sansthan members lack these qualities,” he
said.
Barrister & Solicitor Sastry Rambatla said while he was excited over the
election results, the events that unfolded earlier were disappointing.
“It was a sad story, but I could see that a majority of members were behind
the Executive Committee. A handful of disgruntled members tried their best to
siege the whole matter. Several members left the scene in disgust,” he said.
Vikram Choudary Konka called for better controls to avoid such incidents.
“I felt bad when I saw the behaviour of some people at the AGM, especially
from those in the team that lost the election. It would be better to expel them
from the membership of the Sansthan,” he said.
Ravi Vaddagiri said the demeanour of some members was unacceptable.
“The Sansthan is said to be an association of peace loving people and a place
of prayer. The behaviour of some displeased members was against the principles
of Baba’s preaching.  I see no reason why the organisation should put up
members of such disposition,” he said.
Several members called for an extraordinary general meeting to discuss and
decide on the issues and move the Temple construction project forward.
Chartered Accountant and community leader Govardhan Mallela described the
disturbances as ‘sad and felt that the two groups should have settled their
differences outside the AGM.
“The exposure to outsiders and election officials has made this a serious
discussion point among many community organisations and devotees. The Sansthan
has a big task of constructing a Temple and such happenings will not help,” he
said.
A devotee (name withheld on request), replying to an email from Mr Pendyala,
asked if his group was keen on promoting the teachings of Shirdi Sai Baba or had
another agenda.
“If you want power and continue raising these types of issues, you would be
harming Sai Baba followers and their wish to build a Temple. No one has stopped
you from collecting donations for the Sansthan. The Members know everything and
they will decide what they want, and hence do not try to misguide them,” he
said.
At press time, none of the issues appeared to have moved anywhere near
resolution.
Indian Newslink will continue to monitor the scenario and provide views from
both groups, if obtainable.
The Winners
Hari Gangisetty (President), Thulasi Krishna (Vice-President), Bhaskara Reddy
Duvvuru (Secretary), Raj Duptala (Treasurer), Arun Kangokar, Hameed Mohammed,
Laxman Sunkari, Murugesu Ramanathan, Rajiv Keth, Ravi Pondichery, Ravi
Vemulapalli, Sainath Nethula, Sandeep Aggarwal, Shivani Arora, Uma Devi Rao
(Committee Members)
The Losers
Raja Sekhar Pendyala, Pratap Chilakapati, Ravi Chittajallu, Anil Anna (contested
respectively for the post of President, Vice-President, Secretary and
Treasurer), Anil Kumar Kodakandla, Chenchu Nagulu Goli, Chetan Sonavane, Dr
Anjaneya Prasad Penneru, Kavita D’Cruz, Prankusha Rao Thadakamalla, Pravin
Rana, Prithvi Raj Thota, Sajjan Siddu, Smita Nagpurkar and Srikant Kappatralla
(for Executive Committee)