When questioned about his problematic casteist statement at the Chennai school by a physically challenged teacher, he hurled verbal abuses.
Published Sep 07, 2024 | 9:13 PM ⚊ Updated Sep 08, 2024 | 9:48 AM
Self-proclaimed motivational speaker Mahavishnu. (Facebook)
Mahavishnu, a self-proclaimed motivational speaker was picked up from the Chennai airport by police officials on Saturday, 7 September as soon as he landed in the city after his trip to Australia. A few hours after taking him in for questioning regarding the controversial speech at a school, police officials arrested him.
A case has been filed against Mahavishnu under five sections including under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act and he will be in police custody until 20 September.
A controversy erupted in Chennai over the conduct of a spiritual training class for the youth by Mahavishnu at Ashok Nagar Government Girls Higher Secondary School. With the DMK’s Dravidian model of governance in Tamil Nadu proclaiming to raise the scientific temper of school students, the spiritual training class drew criticism since it was conducted with the awareness of the education department.
Even though the state government and the chief minister spoke against the event, people questioned why a spiritual class was hosted by a government school. The event was held on Teacher’s Day, 5 September. The event comes at the heels of an incident where a man sexually harassed female students by conducting fake NCC camps in schools in the Krishnagiri district.
A video of him speaking of afterbirth and how the British destroyed the system of “Gurukulam” that taught students to use mantras to do several things has gone viral, garnering criticism. “Gurukulams were systematically destroyed by the British. Just reading a mantra can cause fire, rain, heal one’s body, can make you fly, but all these secrets – which were written on palm leaves – were lost due to British rule,” Mahavishnu said while delivering a class on “self-realisation”.
“If God was kind, everyone should be born equal. One is born rich while the other is born poor. One is born a criminal while the other is born a hero. Why such differences? What you did in your last birth, (is why) you were given this birth,” he claimed. This drew the ire of many for being pseudoscientific and casteist in nature. Additionally, when a visually challenged teacher at the school questioned him about his unscientific and insensitive statements, he hurled verbal abuses at the teacher.
Mahavishnu runs a private charity organisation named Paramporul Foundation used to conduct spiritual classes in government schools in the Saidapet and Ashok Nagar areas of Chennai. It is headquartered in the Tiruppur district.
At a young age, he performed as a stand-up comedian under the name Madurai Maha in the show Asathappovadu Yaaru which was aired on a leading Tamil television channel. Armed with his eloquence that impressed many people, he changed his path from stand-up comedy.
In 2021, he started the Paramporul Foundation in Tirupur, through which he organises paid classes that claim to guide one in “soul searching”. His official website mentions that it also provides solutions to people’s personal problems. Mahavishnu’s Paramathma Trust is said to be working to help poor students’ education, provide financial assistance to sportspersons, renovate school buildings, plant saplings and provide medical assistance to poor people.
The social media pages of the Paramporul Foundation address Mahavishnu as a “Guruji” who is a “Certified ReiKi Healer”.
(Edited by Neena with inputs from Baskar P)
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