RA WCom: Letter to the editor of The Hindu re article about visit of Dr Karan Singh Dear Comm...

RA WCom: Letter to the editor of The Hindu re article about visit of Dr Karan Singh Dear Community, We are sharing with you here a letter that has been sent by us to the editor of The Hindu regarding an article that appeared in their newspaper on the 21st of August 2025, titled “Former Auroville chairman reviews progress of development projects in international township”. In this article a number of statements are attributed to Dr Karan Singh and presented as quotes by him. It has come to light, however, that he did not, in fact, make any such statements. We have therefore requested The Hindu to issue a correction. In service, Aravinda, Bharathy, Chali, Matthieu, Prashant, Valli The Working Committee selected by the RA Dr Karan Singh's interview to Auroville Today Aug2025 - dt. 30.08.25.pdf (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NyeWx9LKK776zxSVCK6-w_dpFYdE2IE6/view) Auroville Today Issue Nº 434.pdf (https://drive.google.com/file/d/17oID2r1XSU85G6TQImUqcEB3TwXfIVoO/view) *********** To: Mr. Suresh Nambath, Editor, The Hindu, Chennai Dear Respected Sir, We would like to draw your kind attention to a matter regarding a recent article in your newspaper titled “Former Auroville chairman reviews progress of development projects in international township” dated 21st August 2025. The article refers to a visit to Auroville by Dr Karan Singh and makes claims about various statements he is supposed to have made regarding Auroville’s development projects and the local youth. These claims, which we understand were made on the basis of a press note from the Office of the Secretary, Auroville Foundation, have been refuted by Dr Karan Singh himself. Please find attached an interview published in ‘Auroville Today’, in which Dr Singh states: “I was amazed to read [the article] for it is not true. I did visit Auroville on 14 August as I wished to make a flower offering to [the statue of] Sri Aurobindo at Savithri Bhavan… I was on the point of leaving when I was told that the Secretary was on the way to greet me . I waited, she came, we had a cup of tea [together], and I left. That is all." We are sure you will agree that it is vital to correct such an egregiously misleading article that appears to be entirely based on false statements from the Office of the Secretary, Auroville Foundation. Therefore we look forward to a correction appearing in your newspaper within a reasonable timeframe. Best regards, The Working Committee selected by the Residents’ Assembly of the Auroville Foundation (Aravinda Maheshwari, Chali Grinnell, Ilayabharathy Somasundaram, Matthieu Gardelle, Prashant Hedao, Valli Senthilkumar).