Tamil Nadu minister calls Sadhguru a 'law violator who will pay sooner or later'
Tamil Nadu Finance Minister PTR Palanivel Thiagarajan had in an interview to a newspaper termed as nonsense the demand made by Sadhguru to free Hindu temples from the control of the government's Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments department.
FollowDays after terming Isha Foundation head Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev as a publicity hound, Tamil Nadu Finance Minister PTR Palanivel Thiagarajan has accused the spiritual leader of being a "violator of law" who will "pay sooner or later".
The Tamil Nadu minister had on Saturday termed as nonsense the demand made by Sadhguru to liberate temples under the state's Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments department.
On Monday morning, Minister Thiagarajan took to Twitter to say: "I slept at 1:30 & woke at 4:45 am, to ensure Madurai has adequate oxygen supply. I am loath to engage in this charade... but 2 LAST points Jaggi Vasudev is a violator of the law & will pay sooner or later. @MaliniP needs professional advice/counselling to not destroy @the_hindu brand."
The minister's outburst was triggered by the open letter written to the state finance minister by members of the Isha Foundation, who lamented his personal attack on Sadhguru.
"Sadhguru and Isha Foundation will continue to do so for the welfare of the people of the state. Our relationship with every government has been that of cooperation and support. We regret the deterioration of this culture. We regret the poor standard of public discourse. This (minister's remarks) is certainly unbecoming of an elected representative and an honourable member of the state cabinet," Isha volunteers said in the open letter.
In an interview with The Hindu, Thiagarajan said that "In the case of Jaggi, he is a publicity hound and a charlatan who is trying to find another angle to make more money."
"Will a godman focused on God sell Shivratri tickets for Rs 5 lakh, Rs 50000 and Rs 5000? Is that how a spiritual man is identified? He is a commercial operator, who is pretending to use God and religion to get help," the minister told the newspaper.
He also said that the HR&CE minister PK Sekar Babu had announced a probe into the Isha Yoga foundation in Coimbatore.
