Foreigners, including key Osho trustees leave Pune commune

The Osho commune’s spokesperson Amrit Sadhana said the foreigners who were residing at the commune were asked to return to their respective countries by the end of March

All foreigners, including key trustees of Osho International Foundation (OIF) who were residing inside the Osho International Meditation Resort at Koregaon Park, have left the Commune on account of the Covid-19 pandemic. Pune is one of the hotspots with 40 deaths due to this disease as of Wednesday- among the highest in the country.

She said that the Osho Commune, renamed as the Osho International Meditation Resort, had a series of events planned throughout April (HT FILE)

The Osho commune’s spokesperson Amrit Sadhana said the foreigners who were residing at the commune were asked to return to their respective countries by the end of March. When asked, she confirmed that key trustees of OIF such as John Andrews (Swami George Meredith), who had served as the personal physician of Osho and OIF chairman, Michael O’Byrne (Swami Anand Jayesh), had also left the commune. Jayesh’s brother Darcy O’Byrne, another trustee of OIF was also a resident of the Pune commune.

“We had many foreigners who had come to meditate but everyone was sent back by their respective countries by end of March,” Sadhana said.

She said that the Osho Commune, renamed as the Osho International Meditation Resort, had a series of events planned throughout April.

Apart from the foreigners, the Indian visitors had also returned to their respective places, she said.