Monalisa Das| The News Minute | September 17, 2014 | 03:20 pm IST
It is a story that forces one to ask who is really a messiah. In 2010, a man from the temple town of Madurai was selected as one of the top 10 ‘heroes’ of the year by American news channel CNN.
Narayanan Krishnan, a chef-turned-social activist, became a popular name. But in the last few months, the ‘Akshaya Home for the helpless', that he had started in Madurai has been embroiled in many controversies.
The home run by Akshaya Trust has been accused of holding many of its 537 'mentally ill' inmates against their will. In the last few months, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court ordered a panel, including an advocate commissioner and a psychologist, to probe into the complaint. Almost 190 people have been allowed to leave the home- all of them were able to give addresses of their families, some of them were not mentally ill and some were simply picked up from the road.
The only relief for Akshaya Trust is that the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on September 12 quashed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed against them, observing that allegations of sexual harassment of inmates and other wrongdoings made against the Trust had not been substantiated with sufficient evidence. The Court directed concerned officials to monitor the working of the trust and to take necessary actions if any irregularities are found , states a report by The Times of India
The Court also directed the trust to submit, on a monthly basis, the records of the inmates under their supervision to the state's commissioner. The trust should also submit information related to its inmates to the nearest police station.
Background to the story
Akshaya Trust, is an NGO that works towards the rescue and rehabilitation of the homeless and the destitute. It was founded in 2003, and ten years later in 2013, the ‘Akshaya Home’ for the helpless was started. The Trust is run by its founder Narayanan Krishnan, a well known chef-turned-social activist who was selected as one of the top 10 ‘heroes’ of the year by American news channel CNN in 2010.
Trouble began when in June this year, a female inmate from the trust’s home ran away. She later told the police that she and other inmates had been physically and sexually abused in Akshaya Home. Following this, the All Indian Democratic Women Association (AIDWA) filed a Public Interest Litigation against the Trust alleging several serious charges of wrongdoing by the Trust authorities. Some of the allegations included bringing and keeping inmates in the house against their will, poor living conditions of inmates, the death of 120 inmates in the past one year and sudden disappearances of 60 inmates.
Following the AIDWA's petition, the Madurai bench of the Madras High Court directed the court Registrar, two psychiatrists and advocate commissioner to inspect the condition at Akshaya home. Three reports, submitted by this probe panel, talked at length about deaths, disappearances, abuse, lack of medical care etc at the home.
One of the panel members had earlier told The News Minute, " It is not clear on what basis the Managing Trustee and their staff come to the conclusion that people on the streets should be lifted to their Home or that a particular person is mentally ill or mentally retarded or a destitute."
Read the findings of the reports here: Who gave Narayanan Krishnan and Akshaya Homes the right to lift people off streets asks probe
Narayanan Krishnan and a panelist's response to the court's decision
In a conversation with The News Minute over email, Narayanan Krishnan talked about the court's recent order quashing AIDWA's PIL. "I felt that there is still space in this world for truth and Dharma", he said.
One of the most serious allegations against Krishnan's Trust was that they were holding people against their will. It was also reported that many of the people in the trust' home had families too, but were refused to return to their homes. With the court having released 190 inmates from the trust's home, The News Minute asked him why the inmates were forced to stay by the trust against their will.
'Yes I agree that the court released 190 inmates forth with', he said.
"If you ask any mentally ill person whether they want to go back and wander in the streets they will say Yes – because they don’t know the difference between good and the bad. To get an answer from them as YES depends on how you frame the question to them. "
"Almost out of 190 I would say that 170 are on roads. It was just a motive with revenge by the people who were involved in this mission", he further adds", he further stated.
He also compared the situation to that of a student being given a choice to go to school or to play/watch a movie. It is likely that most would opt for the latter, but would that mean blaming the school for going against the student's will if they did not go by their wishes and wants, he asks.
Krishnan also claims that many of the inmates who were released by the Home on the court's directive were 'dropped on roads by the Police but the record says that they were reunited back with their families'.
But is it reason enough and justifiable to keep a person in confinement, because they happen to be mentally ill? If yes, on what basis?
D. Geetha, an advocate commissioner, and a part of the panel constituted by the Court, however, differs in opinion from that of Krishnan's. "Around 190 people from the trust's home were allowed to leave and most of these people knew their addresses well. Quite a few of these people hail from North India and had come to Southern India as pilgrims."
"There was no doctor certification to prove that these people were mentally ill and so they were let go", she told The News Minute.
But Krishnan seems to not agree with the court's order to release all inmates who were willing to leave. "I am surprised to see the court and the Police picking up people from a secure place and abruptly dropping them on roads."
Although the court has cleared him of all allegations in the PIL, its order to release 190 inmates is likely to raise questions on the workings of the Akshaya Trust.
Krishnan, however, seems to be satisfied with the decision. "To me showering allegations are easy – but it’s difficult to prove", he concludes.