In Goa, ‘Tales of Kamasutra’ event scheduled for Christmas cancelled after Catholic groups, NGOs object

In a statement, the Goa Police said, “We have promptly taken cognizance of this matter and have directed organisers not to go ahead with the event. Organisers have also been directed to remove the advertisements from social media. Moreover, police stations have been directed to maintain vigil over upcoming events in their jurisdiction.”

The event had been advertised on social media under the banner of “Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh Foundation”. The facilitator of the event, Swami Dhyan Sumit, founder of Osho Ludhiana Meditation Society, said, “It was a meditation retreat based on tantra. In the poster, we mentioned Christmas celebration with the intention that festivals…are for celebration. It has been portrayed incorrectly as something indecent was being organised. It was a retreat for meditation. We got a call from the authorities that sentiments of the Catholic community have been hurt, so we have decided to cancel the event and withdraw all the posters.”

In a statement, he further said, “In this camp, we integrate select therapeutic processes — introduced on the guidance of our Guru, Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh — to prepare participants for deeper meditative immersion into Tantra. In our poster, there was the word Kamasutra (the name of a book that carries the technology for these meditations) and the celebration of Christmas together. So, people who are looking at the poster are getting a misunderstanding that there will be some sexual activities… It’s not like that, and moreover, it’s based on a meditation spiritual retreat. We are very sorry that the combination of these two words gave the wrong message and hurt the feelings of local people.”

On Saturday, several NGOs urged police to verify the credentials of the organisation conducting the event and take immediate action to halt the event.

In a letter to the Tourism Director, the Goa Women’s Forum (GWF) said, “We strongly condemn this type of activity being promoted in Goa as it will project Goa as a sex tourism destination and severely affect the image of Goa as a family tourist destination.” The forum urged the tourism department’s immediate intervention, demanding that an FIR be lodged and an investigation conducted to determine the antecedents of the foundation organising the event. “We are confident that you will act on our above submission so as to protect the interests of the people of Goa and its image,” it said.

Arun Pandey, director of Arz, a Goa-based organisation working towards combating sexual violence and sex trafficking, also wrote to the Crime Branch SP, saying that an advertisement of the event contained descriptions of explicit activities. “Given the sensitive nature of the content and the possibility that such programmes may involve activities that violate legal provisions related to obscenity, exploitation, trafficking or unauthorised events, I request your office to verify the authenticity of the organisation and the event being promoted and initiate appropriate action,” he said.

The Catholic Association of Goa also lodged a police complaint against the organisers of the event for allegedly hurting the sentiments of the Catholic community.

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