Meeting with the International Advisory Council.
For the first time since their nomination one year and a half ago, the IAC has met the community.
The meeting format allowed for an open sharing between residents and the IAC. Many of the residents who spoke talked of their profound distress about the current situation and how it has unfolded over the past 18 months.
Several Aurovilians urged the IAC members to try to use their position to help unblock the situation with the GB; however, it was clear from the responses given by IAC members Gabi Gillessen and Michel Danino that their attempts to alleviate the situation have been ignored by the Governing Board (GB), who appears to now consider themselves as the ‘supreme authority’ in Auroville and unwilling to listen to the residents.
One IAC member shared that at their most recent meeting with the GB, the Chairman had expressed the intention to devise and administer a ‘Code of Conduct’ for Aurovilians, which would seemingly be implemented without any inputs from Aurovilians themselves. It was also noted by an IAC member that the GB consistently refers to Aurovilians as not being able to ‘manage themselves’, and that while they often speak of Sri Aurobindo, the Mother is almost never mentioned. It became apparent over the course of the evening that the IAC is unable to speak with one voice against the measures that are being taken against Aurovilians, with only Gabi & Michel taking a strong stance against the actions of the AVFO and the GB.
Other topics such as the withholding of visas and the Leave India notice received by WCom member M., jobs being taken away without any due process, home eviction emails sent to Aurovilians, and the general air of fear and instability that has been pervasive in the community for the last year were discussed by a number of the speakers in a calm and eloquent manner.
Video of the meeting:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLiZvkyID1M
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