News & Notes 908:Our perspective of what really transpired
Our perspective of what really transpired (by 4 members of Working Committee)
Dear Auroville, the recent vilification of four members by the other three members of Entity::Working Committee is not about breach of trust but really about power and control that has become endemic in our system. The report subsequently led to demonization by others in public and on other forums. Here is our perspective of what really transpired and how things tend to function: some examples:
10 questions on Governance raised by the GB was immediately taken up by Sauro without so much as a by your leave from the rest of the group. No in depth discussion followed on these questions nor any reflection on the answers received. We were merely asked to put in comments, very little accepted and the package sent.
On receiving news of the GB meeting, one of us prepared a template with topic suggestions taken from the last GB minutes to make it easy for working groups to get going at short notice. This was viewed with some suspicion and finally we agreed to send it off with just one sheet, as time was short. There was no discussion at all in the group as to what, we as Working Committee, were going to present on issues of governance given the critical circumstances we were in or, whether we had a stand on the events at all.
We agreed to meet on Monday, 17th morning to discuss our presentation. Realistically, that meant only half an hour’s time before a meeting with the Foundation. However, some of us were alerted just before 10 am that people who had been shouting at us on December 4th and on subsequent days at the Town hall were planning to come to the office. This did not bode well for a working meeting nor did the 4 of us who had been singled out by this group for abuse and vilification wish to be loaded with such treatment again. Being a member of the RA does not give free ‘powers’ to vilify and abuse.
We decided to move to the Foundation café to wait it out. We did not inform the others because we did not want the crowd to come and shout at us there. While waiting, we were called into the Secretary’s office and updated about the Collector’s visit.
Back at the office, there were some heated arguments and it was decided that two separate reports of the December events would be done presenting the two views of the Wcom members. However, that evening while preparing the report we realized that almost all working groups had sent in their presentations for the GB, except the Working Committee.
After completing the Report of Events we (Anu, Arun and Srimoyi) put together the points and shared it with Partha the next morning. After getting feedback on both documents we shared it with the rest of the group for their feedback.
This is where all hell broke loose. We were shouted at, accused of lying, of blasphemy, of preparing a presentation on the sly for days without their knowledge, and not following ‘process’.
We said, as also in front of the GB, that it was a presentation prepared by the 4 of us but that it was incomplete and needed further work for which we invited the other members. This was immediately dismissed as coming too late with no time to add anything from their side. Members were verbally attacked by Hemant who also advised one of us not to listen to others as they were too old and were going to die soon and who should shut up. The presentation was condemned and we were categorically told not to present it. However, at that point, we said we would do so.
From all this it became clear that the real problem was that we had dared to prepare a presentation and that it was not by the usual three. Interestingly, there was no curiosity to look at the points in the presentation or discuss them further as though it was all nonsense.
That the four of us could actually prepare a presentation overnight, by ourselves, seemed unthinkable to them. It was not a breach of trust, more a breach of command that was expressed, not about exclusion but about who calls the shots.
No such condemnation or outrage was forthcoming about the stay order that had trampled over two thirds of the community and the project of Auroville without the least communication, process or protocol.
At the GB meeting Sauro contested one or two points of the presentation but there was no offer to work together on it. Instead, Chali distributed a signed letter of complaint by the three of them against the four of us to the GB members and eventually to the whole GB and IAC declaring they were victims of ‘exclusion’. We leave it to you to judge who was really excluded.
The current atmosphere of vilification and mistrust has heightened following the Auronet and News and Notes postings. The work atmosphere has been disrupted by all this and even made us dysfunctional for a while. It also seems to have given license to some in the community towards public vilification and abuse against us. This is the reason we are obliged to write this note.
We hope that as members we will first try to resolve our differences from within before running to complain to the rest of the world. This is not the first or last time that there will be differences within a group and the strength of a working group will be determined by its ability to resolve its internal problems from within.
In a separate post we will share our report of the events in December and their impact on Auroville which was given to the GB. Since we were called before those events as Working Committee members we feel a report is needed to be put on record.
With a prayer for our community and our city that has been broken and stalled, that we may heal and grow again together.
Sincerely, Anu, Arun, Partha, Srimoyi
Members of the Working Committee