Teachers’ Day At Chennai School Marred By Motivational Speaker’s Controversial, Superstitious Comments

The guest incited controversy with his comments on karma and rebirth.

Chennai: Teachers’ Day celebrations at a government school in Chennai were marred by controversial and objectionable remarks by a motivational and spiritual speaker who was invited to address the students and motivate them.

The guest incited controversy with his comments on karma and rebirth, and by purportedly attributing children’s life challenges to their own actions, on Teachers Day. This led to the Tamil Nadu government deciding to intervene. State School Education Minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi confirmed that measures would be taken against the speaker for his contentious remarks.

Members of the DYFI and SFI held a protest in Chennai, challenging the School Education Department’s decision to allow spiritual awakening classes in state-run schools in Saidapet and Ashok Nagar. They also called for action against “Maha Vishnu,” the speaker from Paramporul Foundation, an NGO.

Two government schools faced criticism after inviting Maha Vishnu to deliver a motivational speech. He was condemned for using the school premises to admonish the children and for openly confronting a differently-abled teacher who questioned his religious statements.

In his speech, he blamed the British for systematically destroying Gurukulams and claimed that by mere chanting of certain mantras, one could cause a rain of fire, cure ailments, and even fly.

“All these were written as scriptures by our ancestors but the British erased them,” he had said in a video that went viral.

“If God was kind, everyone should be born equal. One is born rich or poor, a criminal or a hero. Why such differences? You have been given in this life based on what you did in your previous birth,” he had said.

To this, a teacher objected and said, in the video, that he was invited for a motivational talk and not spiritual discourse on school premises. This led to an argument with Maha Vishnu who accused him of having “ego issues.”

Amid the controversy, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin said that he had been emphasising the importance of education and the need to develop scientific thinking at numerous events over the last three years.

“Science is the way to progress,” he said in a post on the social media platform X on Friday.

The best scientific ideas that the students needed to know were available in the high-quality textbooks. The teachers could bring out the best ideas needed to face future challenges with confidence and enhance knowledge, he said.

“Steps will be taken by the school education department to provide the necessary innovative training, and social education with the help of appropriate departmental experts and scholars,” the Chief Minister said.

(With PTI inputs)