Revered yoga guru Jaggi Vasudev (popularly referred to as Sadhguru) had to issue a clarification after a video clip emerged of him calling a Muslim student at the London School of Economics a 'Taliban'. The clip triggered criticism from the London School of Economics Students Union (LSESU), which claimed it found Sadhguru's comments to be “Islamophobic”.
The video was purportedly recorded on the sidelines of a Youth and Truth: Unplug with Sadhguru event, which was held with the LSESU on March 27. In a conversation with an LSE student, Bilal Bin Saqib, Sadhguru referred to him as being a 'Taliban' after he asked a question.
Sadhguru responded to the criticism by issuing a press release and also a video, uploaded on April 2. In the statement, Sadhguru described Saqib as a “wonderful young man, having aspirations to make an impact in the world … The last thing I have is any ill-will or intention to abuse or insult him”. Sadhguru declared, “It is not in my heart to insult anybody, especially not this wonderful young man with so many aspirations and intentions for the world.”
However, Sadhguru also claimed the video clip was of “a private conversation” and had been “mischievously edited”. Sadhguru also explained why he used the word 'Taliban', claiming it meant ardent student in Arabic, “which Bilal definitely is”.
Sadhguru also claimed the term Taliban “is always used in India in relation to someone who is over enthusiastic”. “It is in that context that I was joking with Bilal; it is very unfortunate that it has been projected this way,” Sadhguru claimed.
“If this has in anyway offended or insulted anybody, this was not the intent. I wish to anyway apologise to the London School of Economics and the Students Union, if it offended any of you in some way,” Sadhguru said.
The LSESU was apparently not impressed with Sadhguru's apology. “We do not believe the video was 'mischievously edited' and have heard no reports supporting the common use of ‘Taliban’ in India as meaning over-enthusiastic,” the LSESU responded on its official tumblr account. The LSESU referred to Sadhguru's status as a popular teacher with considerable following and warned against “casual Islamophobia” in the wake of terror attacks such as the recent incidents in New Zealand.
“We believe that individuals who have many followers, hold power and status, and claim to promote tolerance, should be aware of and sensitive, to the political and extremist connotations attached to the word ‘Taliban’ in our current context. Casual Islamophobia such as this perpetuates the culture of misunderstanding and judgement. This is especially relevant given recent spates of terror against Muslims in Britain, New Zealand and around the world,” the LSESU stated.
In 2018, Sadhguru's Isha Foundation started the Youth and Truth series of events to interact with college students to understand and tackle key philosophical, moral and practical issues.