NEW DLEHI: Sadhguru, whose real name is Jaggi Vasudev issues an apology after he referred to a Muslim student in the Student Union of the London School of Economics (LSE) as a ‘Proper Talibani’.
on March 31, during an interaction with students at the London School of Economics (LSE), the spiritual leader described the student named Bilal bin Saqib as Taliban during their conversation in a programme titled “Youth and Truth: Unplug with Sadhguru.”
“He is a proper Talibaniya,” Vasudev, the founder of the Isha Foundation said to Saqib, who is from Lahore and was the host of the event.
The LSE Student Union (LSESU) issued a statement soon after the video surfaced, referring to ‘deeply disappointed in Sadhguru’s comments and views them as Islamophobic’. “If the comments were made in jest, this does not lessen their impact – the words still offend,” the statement read.
“The LSESU confirms that such comments do not have a place on campus and are to be condemned. If the comments were made in jest, this does not lessen their impact – the words still offend. Such incidents, if not duly denounced, aggregate to create a culture where casual Islamophobia becomes acceptable and, as such, we implore Sadhguru to release a formal apology to the student body with regards to the statements made,” it said in a statement.
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The video clip of the interaction was shared widely on social media platforms forcing Sadhguru to issue a clarification and an apology for the same.
“In anyway offended or insulted anybody, this was not the intent”. “I wish to anyway apologize to the London School of Economics and the Students Union, if it offended any of you in some way. My gratitude to the London School of Economics and the Students Union for having organised this event,” he said in his video and written clarification.
