Some of us lived in Auroville years or decades ago; others have
supported one or another of Auroville’s projects; yet others have sent or raised
funds to the extent possible, or helped spread information about Auroville. Some
of us have simply been drawn to Sri Aurobindo’s and Mother’s vision of a future
humanity and wish to see it actualized in the important experiment that
Auroville represents. And all of us have deep respect and admiration for Indian
civilization and culture, without which Auroville could not have taken root on
Indian soil.
We have followed recent developments in Auroville with great concern and
growing anxiety. In particular, through numerous reliable reports from diverse
sources, we are very disturbed to note:
• Sustained campaigns of misinformation in an effort to denigrate Auroville’s
bright achievements over several decades, which have in particular worked
towards the integration with the surrounding environment and society at
environmental, economic and sociocultural levels, even if much progress
remains to be made;
• The absence of an integrated plan of development of Auroville that would
build on the above foundation; instead, a rigid and short-sighted focus on a
Crown Road as a “perfect circle” with 12 radial roads, with no adequate
studies of its environmental and social costs, and with the exclusion of
most of Auroville’s own experts in urban development, landscape
management, environmental conservation, water management, skill
development, etc.;
• The systematic takeover of Auroville’s major internal working groups in the
fields of administration, media and finance, resulting in the concentration of
nearly all administrative powers in a few hands which do not represent the
community at large;
• The takeover of Auroville’s email server, with many email accounts
subsequently blocked, which represents a breach of privacy;
• The use of brute force from December 2021 onward, be it to send
bulldozers in under the secrecy of night, or to call the police and file police
complaints for nonexistent “crimes”, and generally to intimidate the
Auroville residents, leading to widespread polarization and alienation, as
pointed out by Dr Karan Singh, former Chairman of the Auroville
Foundation, in a recent statement;
• The use of visa recommendations as a weapon to coerce foreign residents,
many of whom have worked in Auroville for decades, into toeing the line of
the administration; as a result, residents entitled to five-year extensions
have been granted just one year or even three months, while others have
been kept waiting indefinitely; and many have had to endure objectionable
visits to their homes by immigration officers asking irrelevant and privacy-
intrusive questions, such as their opinions on the current Secretary of the
Auroville Foundation and whether they support her (after giving warning
that those who do not will be thrown out of India).

We consider that the current line followed by the administration is
diametrically opposed to Sri Aurobindo’s and Mother’s vision — a vision
of human unity, genuine collaboration and hope for the future. Indeed, in this
year when Sri Aurobindo’s 150th birth anniversary begins, to witness such abuse
of power and widespread distortion of Auroville’s objectives is a particularly cruel
irony. Nothing in the previous regimes, which boasted names such as Dr Karan
Singh, Dr Kireet Joshi or Dr MS Swaminathan, could have led us to predict this
abrupt turn towards a vindictive, authoritarian administration devoid of vision.

We appeal to His Excellency the President of India, to the Honorable
Prime Minister of India, and to the Honorable Minister for Education, to
urgently intervene, to ensure that the present catastrophic course of
coercion and exclusion be abandoned, and to bring together all those
who have worked for decades for Auroville’s growth in a genuine spirit
of collaboration. It is not too late to use 15 August 2022 as a launching pad
for a new positive phase in Auroville, a phase that will respect the Auroville
Charter in letter and spirit, respect Auroville Residents’ guaranteed rights to
organize themselves, and see that the Auroville Foundation’s Governing Board
and International Advisory Council fulfill their true mandate, which is to act as
mentors, guides, protectors and trustees.

“In tendering any advice to the [Auroville Foundation] Governing Board,
the [International Advisory] Council shall endeavour to secure that —
(a) the ideals for which Auroville has been established are encouraged,
and (b) the residents of Auroville are allowed freedom to grow and
develop activities and institutions for the fulfilment of the
aspirations and programmes envisaged in the said Charter of
Auroville.” — Auroville Foundation Act, 1988
“Collaboration does not mean that everybody should do the will of the
man who asks for it. True collaboration is a non-egoistic union of all
personal efforts to express and realise the Divine’s Will.” — The Mother
“Auroville: ... At last a place where nothing will have the right to impose
itself as the exclusive truth.” — The Mother, February 1968