For the last few weeks Humanists, rationalists and human rights activists have been waging a huge battle against the forces of fundamentalism in Andhra Pradesh in South India. This is a battle that involves all sections of society, including the media, the police, the justice system, aggressive fundamentalists, the Dalai Lama as well as Humanists and rationalists. It is a battle that is being watched with keen interest in millions of homes as it unfolds on live TV and through public discussions and newspaper articles.

The campaign started publicly with a complaint made by me, representing IHEU, along with a dozen collaborating intellectuals and organisations, to the Andhra Pradesh Human Rights Commission. The campaign’s slogan, ‘Sambhavi Gudilona Badilona?’ has now become a byword for TV programs, for newspaper articles and also discussions as all citizens are challenged to take a stand whether Sambhavi, a child of 7, who, it is claimed, is a reincarnation of a Buddhist goddess, should be in school or remain in the temple.

How the fraud became public

On the morning of 16 August, several Telugu news channels telecast the ‘news’ that Sambhavi, a child of 7, was claiming to be the reincarnation of a childhood friend of the Dalai Lama. Some of her claims were that Tibet would be free in 2010, that there would be a great event in 2012, that the Dalai Lama is a friend of hers and that he would visit her soon in Surya Nandi temple in Kurnool District of Andhra Pradesh. If this were not enough, she also claimed that the medieval Telugu soothsayer Veerabrahmendra Swamy’s predictions would come true in 2012 and 2014. Sambhavi’s caretaker, Usha Rani, claimed that the former had miraculous powers.

The news channels asked me, along with other rationalists and atheists like Dr. Vijayam and Lavanam of Atheist Centre, Vijaywada, to comment. They had also invited some orthodox Hindus. I took the rationalist stand that this was all nonsense. On the claim that the child was in touch with the Dalai Lama who had accepted that she was his childhood friend, and was seen with her, I asked the news channels if they had verified it with the latter. In any case, since the Dalai Lama believes in reincarnation, I pointed out, and is also desperate to bring Tibet back into focus, and since this is the 50th anniversary of his escape from Tibet, and the 60th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China, he might be using this as a well-timed publicity gimmick. In any case, some of the Dalai Lama’s religious beliefs border on the ridiculous, not to say dangerous. However his influence is limited since of the 300 million Buddhists in the world, divided into Hinayana (or Theravada), Mahayana and Vajrayana sects, he represents only the latter, associated with the Tibetans, and so he cannot be said to represent all the Buddhists. The TV channels expressed interest in our views on the Dalai Lama.

Since then several colleagues like JVV leaders T.V. Rao, Ramesh, Radical Humanist C.L.N. Gandhi, rationalist lawyer Madhusudan, feminist Volga, head of CEASE Child Labour and industrialist Kotapati Murahari Rao, and myself have been at dozens of TV discussions and public meetings.

Our questions

We asked the following questions at public discussions:

1. What was Sambhavi’s real name in this life?

2. What was her name when she was a friend of the Dalai Lama in her previous birth?

3. As Sambhavi is reputed to have met with the Madhyamika philosopher Nagarjuna who died many centuries ago, why did she not meet with the Buddha as well?

4. Who were Sambhavi’s real parents as only Usha Rani, who is parading as Sambhavi’s caretaker, seemed to be around?

5. What were the economic interests behind this claim?

6. If the Dalai Lama was visiting Surya Nandi to inaugurate Buddha Vijayam - the ashram being built for Sambhavi - what were his interests?

Sambhavi’s ‘Claims’ and our rebuttals

The Dalai Lama has been talking of late in several voices, making even some Tibetans angry: he offered to be reborn even before he died; on another occasion he said that he would be reborn outside Tibet, and as a girl; on yet another occasion, outraging the really orthodox, he even said his reincarnation could be elected by the people of Tibet! Was he coming to nominate his successor? We also pointed out that the soothsayer Veerabrahmendra Swamy’s predictions were hardly what someone could take credibly – there is no authentic text, nothing has been predicted in advance in a verifiable manner – there is only myth, legend, pulp fiction and popular cinema around his personality.

In any case, this silly salad of adult superstition and unconvincing stories of ancient soothsayers occupied TV screens for the next two months in Andhra Pradesh. While some channels turned a skeptical eye towards the developments, the highest TRP- rated TV9 had several special documentaries. Almost all the channels boasted special interviews and discussions with the ‘spiritualist miracle’ celebrity child. Most recently, Sakshi Newspaper, which has the largest circulation of all Telugu newspapers with 1.2 million copies per day, shocked us with a mindless analysis of Sambhavi's divinity in a two-page Sunday special.

Thanks to all this media promotion, the Telugu people soon knew everything about Sambhavi, who is a lovable looking child with charming mannerisms: she was the daughter of Bengali brahmins living in Varanasi, she was made a sanyasin (ascetic) at the age of four, and once she went into a trance and travelled to the Himalayas where she met the Dalai Lama and also read Tibetan manuscripts. The child’s ‘caretaker’, Usha Rani, claimed that Sambhavi expressed concern for the Dalai Lama's health and suggested that the Dalai Lama became healthy again after Sambhavi prayed for him. We were all told that Sambhavi holds regular telepathic conferences with the Dalai Lama with regards to the future of Tibet and that there were many secret matters that they discussed. We were told that she speaks fluently five languages, blesses whoever prostrates in front of her, and that the devotees were quickly benefitted emotionally and economically. Sambhavi came to the town of Surya Nandi with a famous film singer's family and when she arrived there she immediately started speaking Telugu, an alien language, and chose to establish her ashram there!

What did Sambhavi Say?

But all the reports from the gushing journalists, the charming childish talk of Sambhavi and the halo of the Dalai Lama's support could not hide the real estate business being set up in and around Surya Nandi, the eagerness of Usha Rani to promote her ward's supernatural claims, or the incoherence of the child and the political nature of the statements being made through her. Here is a sample:

• India is doing well because India has Buddhism

• The Chinese and Pakistanis are bad people. They will be punished.

• Tibet will be free in 2016; China will become democratic in 2012.

• I was born for Tibet's freedom and I will do anything for Tibet's freedom

• There is a giant statue of the Buddha in the soil in Tibet – it went inside the soil because otherwise China would take it away. It will emerge from the earth as a ray of light.

• The Dalai Lama was the deity Balabadhra in the past life and I (Sambhavi) was the goddess Ugra Taraka Devi

• Lord Siva (a Hindu god) lives in Tibet. Hanuman (a Hindu god) will go to Tibet, worship Siva after which he will free Tibet.

• All non-vegetarians will be destroyed when Veerabrahmendra Swami will be reborn as Veerabhoga Vasantarayalu in Surya Nandi on 14 January 2012. He will also pull out the eyes and the hearts of non-believers.

• Jagan Mohan Reddy, son of late Rajasekhar Reddy, will become the next Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh

How to Stop This?

In addition to the media hype surrounding the Dalai Lama’s impending visit, there was also news that India's richest industrialist, and one of the world's wealthiest individuals, Anil Ambani had donated Rupees 10 million or USD 200 000 to Sambhavi/Surya Nandi temple. The Dalai Lama, it was announced, would come on 21 December when he would inaugurate Sambhavi’s ashram.

Matters were becoming urgent since if the Dalai Lama declared that Buddha Vijayam was Sambhavi's ashram, she would never be able to have a normal childhood. This is how, in Nepal, Hindu maidens are made ‘Kumaris’, who are, till puberty, considered divine and after nearly a decade of isolation from the rest of society are thrown out of temples to fend for themselves.

Our strategy

• The Andhra Pradesh State Human Rights Commission had to be approached.

• The National Commission for the Protection of Rights of Children had to be alerted.

• Cooperation of fellow Humanists and progressives needed to be invited.

• Ground had to be prepared for international action, and Roy Brown had to be consulted for campaigning at the UN in Geneva should local remedies fail.

• It had to be ascertained whether the Dalai Lama and Anil Ambani really supported Sambhavi.

• The question of Sambhavi needed to be made a household issue for which the media needed to be involved.

In cooperation with Sri Kotapati Murahari Rao, President of CEASE Child Labour and Treasurer of the Rationalist Association of India, and the well known novelist Pydi Chandra Latha, a list of possible collaborators was drawn up and MVV, JVV and Rationalist Forum of Hyderabad were also consulted.

We first approached Prof. Shantha Sinha, the Ramon Magsaysay Award winner for Human Rights and India's first Chairperson of the National Commission for the Protection of the Rights of Children, who heard our arguments about Sambhavi with great sympathy. She even suggested that the Commission itself could approach the High Court to save the child.

20 November: Universal Child Rights Day

We then announced to the media that our day of public action would be 20 November 2009, which marks 20 years of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and 50 years since the UN's Declaration on the Rights of the Child.

The response from the media was most helpful for the progress of the campaign. Zee 24 Hours offered to partner us in this campaign. They organised a two-hour live discussion on Sambhavi. Their cameras followed us throughout the day and they came with us to the Human Rights Commission.

The Chairperson of the Commission, Mr. Justice Subhashan Reddy, heard us all with great sympathy and concern for the child. Others present and involved were A.B.K. Prasad, senior journalist and former Chairperson of the Official Languages Commission, the noted feminist and editor Kondaveeti Satyavati, feminist and leader of Asmita, Mrs.Volga, the educationist Prabhakara Sastri, the child rights activist Sri. Achyuth Rao, JVV’s T.V. Rao amongst others. Two children, Ms. Sahasi, granddaughter of MVV's Hanumantha Rao, and Arun Gogineni were also present, reminding all how happy a normal childhood could be.

We submitted to the judge respectfully that

- This was not a religious debate, but a human rights struggle.

- Children who have been identified as the reincarnation of a dead person have always been psychologically damaged much before adulthood.

- Sambhavi has the right to play and to a normal childhood and should be brought up in the loving care of a mother.

- It appears that the child has been indoctrinated for nearly 3 years and has lost touch with reality. Such mental abuse should attract all the relevant civil and criminal provisions of the law.

- It is not the religious views of the parents but the best interests of a child that are paramount.

We urged the judge to take action:

a) For the rehabilitation of Sambhavi into normal life with the help of child psychologists.

b) To the State government and its relevant departments to take immediate steps to halt the abuse.

c) To summon Sambhavi's parents and Ms. Usha Rani and the relevant birth records of Sambhavi to ensure that she has not been a victim of abduction and exploitation.

d) To issue notice to the Dalai Lama to ascertain if he and his organisation have a role to play in this.

e) To issue notice or guidelines to the media so that they will report such matters with sensitivity.

We also submitted that we were offended that a crime of abuse of a child is being portrayed as a spiritual achievement, to the detriment of the child’s best interests.

In response, recalling that when previously a child was being used for TV reality shows, he had passed orders putting it under the protection of a Government Child Home, the Honourable Judge passed instant orders to the Collector of the Kurnool district to present a report on the parentage of Sambhavi as well as whether the human rights of Sambhavi were being violated. In view of the urgency, the Collector was given just 10 days to report – till 30 November 2009.

Gudilona, Badilona?

Golla Venkatesh worked with me to create a poster and a banner for the campaign with the question 'Sambhavi Gudilona, Badilona? Manavavadula, Hetuvadula Prasna'. (Humanists & Rationalists Ask: Should Sambhavi be in a School or in a Temple?). The curtain was raised for launching a new debate in all sections of society on questions that matter to us all. Along with Sri T.V. Rao of JVV and Sri C.L.N. Gandhi of the IRHA we shared our media responsibilities so that the voice of reason could be heard by a large number of people.

Role of the Administration

The Child Welfare department had done nothing for Sambhavi in the last two and a half months. The Endowments Department took no action from the time Usha Rani illegally occupied the temple. The District Collector, who ordered an inquiry by the Nandyal Revenue Divisional Officer (RDO) on 24 November, was even reportedly setting up facilities for the Dalai Lama's visit, but showed no interest in the plight of Sambhavi. Could we trust the Administration?

In spite of the risk involved, I went to Kurnool and Nandyal towns to give evidence to the inquiry commission.

As expected, and planned, the meeting with the Collector was widely reported in the media. After two months of seeming inaction and negligence, the Collector was suddenly put under public pressure. He did not have the courtesy of offering a seat to our delegation and even showed his impatience that we went to the Human Rights Commission rather than to him.

The next day we met with Dr. Madhavi Latha, the former scientist from ICRISAT who is now the RDO and the Inquiry officer, along with the Deputy Superintendent of Police Samayjohn Rao and Zubeida Begum, the Integrated Child Development Scheme Officer. Dr. Madhavi Latha met us after first questioning Usha Rani for four hours: defying the notices to appear, Usha Rani arrived without Sambhavi or the child's supposed father Soumya Acharya from Varanasi. “We will not bring Sambhavi to the inquiry as she is a child”, said one of the persons present there. “There is no need to bring her”, said her lawyer to the TV channels.

The Hindu Right Wingers

A group belonging to the Student Federation of India that arrived with no prior information to us - but to support our petition - was arrested by the police. Members and leaders of the Hindu right wing VHP and RSS groups started shouting slogans against us, giving dire warnings to rationalists for interfering with Hindu religious affairs. They picked up a fight with me. The police advised us to leave as the VHP activists were becoming increasingly difficult and aggressive.

We filed the petition to save Sambhavi; she has to go to school and cannot be exploited in the name of religion. She has shown no miracles and should not be called a goddess. And we filed the petition not just on behalf of the rationalists but on behalf of all the religious and non religious people who were morally offended by how the child was being abused and whose humanitarian instincts were waiting for a formal avenue to express themselves.

The official inquiry was conducted for another two days. Sambhavi was finally produced in front of the inquiry officer. Usha Rani was ordered out of the temple by the Endowments Department and the local villagers also largely expressed their disbelief in Sambhavi's miraculous powers. We were confidentially passed on recordings of telephone threats made by Usha Rani to some journalists. Others have received threatening phone calls. We are keeping a record of those numbers.

The District Collector has sent an interim report to the Human Rights Commission saying that there are no miraculous powers to the child, that Usha Rani had no legal custody of the child, and that she and Sambhavi’s supposed father were making so many contradictory statements that the administration wants to verify whether he is the real parent of the child.

The Collector has asked for special teams to be dispatched to the respective native places of Soumya Acharya and Usha Rani, confirming our original complaint and suspicion that this child may have been abducted. He has ordered that a caretaker and a police constable should be posted with Sambhavi to watch over her till such time that clarity emerges about the child’s parents; he passed orders that Usha Rani and Soumya Acharya were prohibited from taking Sambhavi from the village without government permission. As I write this, the Minister for Education has said on TV that he does not rule out the Government taking over the welfare of the child. The Home Minister has ordered a Crime Investigation Department inquiry into the matter.

People continue to ask us why we are interested in Sambhavi when there are millions of other children. Our reply: there are millions of children, all of who deserve our concern and help, but they are not being paraded as gods and goddesses. Every child has to be rescued child by child. We started with Sambhavi because if we do not take up the case of Sambhavi no one else would. But this can only be a small contribution to a national effort in a country that is 139th in the comity of nations for living standards and has the world’s biggest concentration of child labour. We all have our duty cut out to help the vulnerable children. Though we were planning to write to the Noble Peace Prize Committee if the Dalai Lama visited Sambhavi, he chose not to do so.

But one thing is already achieved: not only did we touch the common people's hearts, not only did we expose the hysteria in society as a crime against a child, we also convinced the main players and changed the terms of the debate. Our responsibility in the matter has increased because of the public's positive expectations despite the sloganeering of the right wing VHP and RSS. But the only test of victory for our efforts and our campaign would be when Sambhavi is freed from the clutches of her own people so that she could grow to her full potential. The first positive steps have been taken.

It could well be that we will need to involve friends from all over the world in this campaign.

Babu Gogineni is International Director, IHEU