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Basava Premanand
(17 February 1930 - 04 October 2009)
B. Premanand, the doyen of Indian rationalist movement, is no more. He breathed his last on Oct 4, 2009 at 2.20 pm at Podannur, Tamil Nadu. He was 79. According to his wishes, his body has been donated to the local medical college.
Born on 17 February, 1930 in Kozhikode (Kerala), Premanand was a keen observer of paranormal phenomena even in his childhood. In his teenage, he approached assorted swamis and gurus to gain spiritual insights but soon fell out with each one of them when he realized that they were all fakes. In 1969 he met the ace Sri Lankan skeptic Dr. Abraham Kovoor who was in India for his “Miracle Exposure” lecture tour. That was a watershed in the life of Premanand, who immediately plunged headlong into the campaign of debunking spiritual tricksters. After Dr. Abraham Kovoor’s death in 1978, Premanand continued Kovoor’s famous challenge of offering One Lakh Rupees to anyone who could demonstrate psychic abilities under fraud-proof conditions. Admittedly, there have been few takers.
During his tumultuous campaign spanning over three exhilarating decades, Premanand visited almost every village and town in India exposing godmen and their miracles, conducting science workshops for the educated and the laypersons, giving public lectures and demonstrations. He visited about 49 countries with his mission to spread skepticism and critical thinking. He was given a Fellowship by National Council for Science and Technology Communication of Government of India for his efforts to spread scientific awareness.
Premanand’s most famous target has, of course, been Puttaparthi Sai Baba, the number one spiritual fraudster in India for decades. Once he famously filed a Civil Writ Petition in Andhra Pradesh High Court against Sai Baba under Indian Gold Control Act! He wanted the government to proceed against Sai Baba for materializing gold from thin air because it was violative of Section 11 of the Gold Control Act, which mandated the permission of the Gold Control Administrator for manufacturing gold! Given the clout godmen have among all strata of Indian society, it is not at all surprising that the case was dismissed by the court. Premanand has compiled a massive collection of records on the infamous murder of six individuals in Sai Baba’s ashram on 6 June 1993 and has brought it out as a book (Murders in Sai Baba’s Bedroom) running into more than 800 pages. This book is a “collector’s item” for those who want to know the truth behind the shady dealings in the ashram. (cont'd) [
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