Four members of the Working Committee (Anu, Arun, Partha and Srimoyi), allegedly supported by the Office of the Secretary, have attempted to take over the entire WCom by dismissing the three other members (Chali, Hemant and Sauro). They used a twisted (mis)interpretation of the ‘Participatory Working Groups’ document to do so. In their communication on this ‘decision’, they make several false claims regarding the other three members. This unprecedented use of political manipulations is destructive to the core values of community processes in Auroville. This move came during the current vote of the Residents’ Assembly to decide which Working Committee member should be removed from office, and which Working Committee member should remain. This appears to be another abuse of power by the four Working Committee members, attempting to bypass the Residents’ Assembly in order to forcefully push forward their agenda.
The three other Working Committee members replied here that “this request is not valid and [they] will continue to exercise [their] functions unless … requested otherwise by a decision of the RA”. Sauro also sent a personal response and the Auroville Council made an announcement requesting “all Working Committee members to remain in their position and await the result of the Residents’ Assembly Decision (RAD) on the 8th of May 2022”. Now more than ever, it is important to uphold our community processes and the Residents’ Assembly’s right to decide on Auroville’s important matters.