A day after five sisters of Sri Aurobindo Ashram run Ambabhikshu apartments were evicted from the premises as per the directions of the Supreme Court, two sisters, and their mother, ended their lives in an alleged extended suicide bid by drowning in the sea.

The dead were identified as the siblings Arunashree (50) and Rajashree (45) and their mother Shanthi Devi (65).

Shanthi Devis husband Gadhadhar Prasad (70) and three other sisters Jayashree Prasad (54), Nivedita Prasad (42) and Hemalata Prasad (40) were saved from drowning by fishermen who were returning to the shore and were rushed to the Puducherry Government General Hospital.

The incident sparked off protests by political leaders and the Ashram too came under attack by miscreants.

Police sources said the sisters along with their parents, who were staying in Captain Marius Xavier Street, boarded a bus to Kalapet in the early hours of Thursday. According to eyewitnesses, the seven-member family walked towards the beach. A short while later, a group of fishermen who were returning to the shore saw them struggling in the waves and managed to rescue four of them. However, Arunashree, Rajashree and their mother Shanthi Devi drowned. Their bodies washed ashore at Chinna Mudaliyar Chavady and Thantharayankuppam beachfronts.

The bodies were sent to Pondicherry Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) at Kalapet for post-mortem. The rescued were admitted to the Puducherry government hospital. A case has been registered by Tamil Nadu Kottakuppam police.

An Ashram inmate termed the incident as unfortunate.

Bitter end to a long-drawn battle

The incident brings to a tragic end a long-drawn tussle between the Ashram and the five sisters. The Ashrams legal battle to evict the sisters for defying its rules and regulations, which dates back to 2002 culminated with a Supreme Court direction on December 9 to the sisters to vacate the premises within seven days, failing which, the court asked the jurisdictional police station All Mahila police station, Puducherry, to evict them from the Ambabhikshu House.

The five sisters had given a joint letter addressed to the Trustees of Sri Aurobindo Ashram on December 15 threatening to end their lives if anyone, including the Ashram Trust or Police, launches action to evict them from the premises as per the directions of the Supreme Court. It was amid high drama that a police team evicted the sisters on Wednesday and relocated them to their parents house in the Boulevard area.

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Evicted from Aurobindo Ashram, two sisters, mother end life

A day after five sisters from Bihar were evicted by the police from Aurobindo Ashram in Puducherry following a Supreme Court order, two of them and their mother allegedly committed suicide by jumping into the sea on Thursday, police said.

The other three sisters and their father, who also jumped into the sea at Kalapet on the Puducherry-Markanam route, were rescued by local fishermen and are undergoing treatment at the Government General Hospital, police said.

While the sisters were staying in the residential quarters of the Aurobindo Ashram for the past several years, their parents were staying in the town limits.

Kottakuppam Sub-Inspector M S Subbiah gave the names of the deceased as Shanthidevi, 70, daughters Arunashri, 50. and Rajashree, 45. The bodies were found washed ashore in coastal villages of Thandrayanpet and Chinna Mudaliarchavady in neighbouring Tamil Nadu by local fishermen who informed police.

The four rescued persons were identified as the father Gadadhar Prasad, 80, and three other daughters Jayashree, 54, Niveditta, 42, and Hemalatha, 40.

The dispute between the sisters and the Ashram Trust can be traced to 2002 when the ashram took disciplinary action against Hemalata Prasad for misconduct after an inquiry by a retired district judge appointed by the Madras high court.

The Supreme Court on December 9 directed them to vacate the ashram within a week failing which police should evict them.

The five sisters staged a high drama on Wednesday with one of the climbing up to the top floor declaring that they would all commit suicide if the police evicted them. However, police held talks and managed to shift them before evicting them later in the evening.

Along with their parents they allegedly struck a suicide pact and proceeded early on Thursday to the Kalapet coastal village to execute their plan, police said.

Meanwhile, the police have stepped up security at the ashram after some activists of Thanthai Periyar Dravida Kazhagam allegedly threw stones at it, damaging some glass panes. Stones were also thrown at other buildings owned by the ashram.

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Evicted from Puducherry's Aurobindo ashram family attempts suicide, 3 dead

Puducherry: An entire family - five sisters and their parents - jumped into the sea here this morning, a day after they were evicted from the famous Aurobindo Ashram in Puducherry.

Two of the young women and their mother have died, the police said, while the father and three other daughters were rescued by fishermen and have been hospitalised.

The family is from Bihar. The five sisters had been staying in the residential part of the Aurobindo Ashram for several years; their parents lived near by.

Yesterday, they warned to kill themselves if they were moved out; one of them climbed onto a water tank and threatened to jump, but was persuaded to change her mind. The sisters later were escorted out of the ashram by the police after extensive talks.

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Family Evicted From Aurobindo Ashram in Puducherry Attempts Suicide, 3 Dead

PUDUCHERRY: Tension prevailed in Puducherry on Thursday after two of the five sisters, who were evicted from Sri Aurobindo Ashram, and their mother committed suicide by jumping into the sea.

The bodies of Arunashri Prasad, her sister Rajyashree Prasad and her mother Shantidevi Prasad were washed ashore near Kottakuppam in the Villupuram district of Tamil Nadu. Police recovered the bodies and sent them for postmortem.

The other three sisters - Hemlata Prasad, Jayashreee Prasad and Nivedita Prasad - and their father Gadadhar Prasad, who attempted to end their lives, were rescued by fishermen and police. They were admitted to Indira Gandhi Government General Hospital and Research Institute. Their condition was said to be stable.

As soon as the news about the suicides spread, cadres of Party of India (Marxist), the Periyar Dravida Kazhagam and a few other outfits staged a protest in front of the ashram and government general hospital.

Some of them attempted to picket the ashram. However, by the time police had barricaded the vicinity. Police arrested dozens of protesters.

Later, protesters hurled stones at the ashram main building, a petrol bunk and a grocery store run by the ashram and damaged portraits of The Mother, Sri Aurobindo's spiritual collaborator, windows, doors, glass panes and computers and a few furniture items. Most of the establishments run by the ashram trust downed their shutters as a precautionary measure.

Police posted pickets at the ashram properties to prevent any further untoward incident.

An MLA of the ruling AINRC party sought a thorough inquiry into the death of the three women and suicide attempts of four others by an IAS officer. He also demanded that the Union government take the administrative control of the ashram trust.

Meanwhile, a host of Tamil outfits has decided to call for a token strike demanding a CBI inquiry into the incident.

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Tension prevails in Pondy after three of a family commit suicide; protesters attack Aurobindo Ashram

Puducherry: An entire family - five sisters and their parents - jumped into the sea here this morning, a day after they were evicted from the famous Aurobindo Ashram in Puducherry.

Two of the young women and their mother have died, the police said, while the father and three other daughters were rescued by fishermen and have been hospitalised.

The family is from Bihar. The five sisters had been staying in the residential part of the Aurobindo Ashram for several years; their parents lived near by.

Yesterday, they warned to kill themselves if they were moved out; one of them climbed onto a water tank and threatened to jump, but was persuaded to change her mind. The sisters later were escorted out of the ashram by the police after extensive talks.

Originally posted here:
Family Evicted from Aurobindo Ashram Attempts Suicide, 3 Dead

Students engage in a monastic debate session during the convocation/Dec 17, 2014

A modest convocation on Wednesday was attended, among others, by the Jhangtse Choeje as the chief guest, abbot of Gyudmed monastery, Tsering Youdon, member of the Tibetan parliament, and a representative of the Department of Religion and Culture.

The students also carried out short sessions of monastic debate during the convocation. The Tibetan leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama advices Tibetans and his followers to study the Tibetan Buddhism as a branch of science and not out of religious faith. The system of monastic debate, His Holiness believes, can be used for studying other subjects in schools as an effective tool of learning.

13 boys and 7 girls, including one from Switzerland, had signed up for the course that Department of Religion and Culture says is one of the important activities being carried out as per the suggestions and guidance of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

The kind of learning and education at Gyudmed school was very effective. And I can't emphasise enough how important it is that every Tibetan graduates took part in this workshop. I am really grateful to the organising committee at Department of religion and Culture, and Gyudmed Tantric University, said Tenzin Saldon Naga, a graduate in Mass Communication from Bangalore.

The Department says it will continue the course in the future and make efforts to improve the quality of the course for the Tibetan youth.

The students will travel to Mundgod to attend the teachings on Lamrim by His Holiness from 23 - 29 December, 2014.

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Tibetan college students complete course in Tibetan language, Buddhist studies