Theos-Talk Archives (January 2011 Message tt00062)

In the latest issue of Quest (Journal of The Theosophical Society in
America), Winter 2011, the National President comments:

âOver the last several years, disagreements over 2008 electoral proceedings
grew into a polarized, distorted, and highly critical Internet chatter
campaign.â

Readers should be reminded that the first shot in the election was fired by
the GC members (opposing Radha Burnier) who tried to convince the voters
that Radha Burnier was physically and mentally sick and hence should not be
elected. This line of campaigning continued even after three independent
physicians from two continents opined that she is fit both mentally and
physically.

Members had to make a judgement whether to believe professional opinions of
independent physicians or that of lay men and women (though elected by
their  Sections) who perhaps had a personal axe to grind in the election and
the end result was Radha Burnier was re-elected.

The good health condition of Radha Burnier was subsequently confirmed by her
travel and lecture schedule that followed the election. She also
participated in the Rome World Congress and opened the Adyar Convention last
month and delivered an impressive address.

One of the key issues that all members are aware is the lack of full
transparency in GC and election matters. Most members found out about the
candidates only when they received the election ballots and there was no
reason why nomination information should not have been communicated to
members in advance by their section leaders.

Once the attempt to defeat Radha Burnier failed, allegations followed about
how election was processed in India and when Indian Section challenged
these  allegations, the allegers could not substantiate their allegations.

The next thing that followed was the shock that members all over world
received when a handful of GC members, which included the National President
from USA,  launched an ill fated ultra secret attempt to disenfranchise all
us and seize control of the appointment of the International President.
This was timely discovered and broadcast over Internet to shocked members
world-wide. (Internet really saved the organization for its posterity, in
the opinion of many members.)

In days of old, the organizations had control over the lines of
communication with members and were fed with only information that
leadership wanted the members know about. Fortunately, at the time of the
current International Election, Internet was there and discussions and
dissemination could take place outside the control of all organizations and
its leaders.

When unsubstantiated allegations are circulated and ultra secret attempt was
made to seize the Presidency, are members expected to keep quiet? They had
to speak up and Internet forums came in timely and handy and intense
discussions ensued. So the members became better informed of what was going
on.

What we found was the elected leaders never came forward to discuss their
view points and justifications using the Internet forums which are available
at no cost to anyone. True leaders take on the challenges and convince their
membership and this strengthens their stature.

These are the facts surrounding the situation since the start of the
election and in the opinion of many members, the credibility of the leaders
is at its lowest we have seen for decades. It is up to the leaders to
rebuild their credibility so they can effectively lead the organizations.

On the question of the GC proceedings, the National President states:

âin concert with general secretaries of some other Sections, I am still
deeply concerned about practices that continue to contravene the
specifications of the international rules and regulations by with the
Society is required to conduct its affairs.â

Any issue relative to the practices and international rules and regulations
and any violations thereof, are legal matters and governed by the laws in
Chennai. While we may have heard comments and claims of violations, to this
day we have not seen any legal opinions from lawyers who know the laws of
India and Chennai. So any allegations from non-lawyers are just lay man and
womanâs personal opinion and does not carry any weight. So one wonders why
continued allegations from non-lawyers.

Apart from the above, the more urgent issue facing most Sections outside
India is the continuing drop in membership, even though the bank balances in
their treasuries may be going up. Since each Section is totally autonomous,
the General Secretaries may be doing a great favor if they take care of the
urgent situation in their backyards before directing their attention to
International Rules and Regulations.

My 0.02.

MKR

There is no religion higher than Truth


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]