What impact is Osho's presence in Kutch having on the local community?

Osho, any message for kutch?

I AM coming! And I am coming with my whole world of orange people. We are going to change the whole color of Kutch -- we are going to make it orange! First ten thousand sannyasins will arrive, then more will be coming. Within five years fifty thousand sannyasins will be there and within ten years one hundred thousand sannyasins will be there. So, Navin Mehta, tell the people of Kutch: Get ready! We are certainly going to destroy many things -- many things which need to be destroyed, which should have been destroyed long ago. The whole of India is suffering from many stupidities, many superstitions. We are not going to leave a single stone unturned! We are going to destroy every nonsense, howsoever ancient and old it may be. We are going to bring a totally new vision to Kutch. I have chosen Kutch for the simple reason…

Osho, in Jainism the principles of ahimsa, aparigraha, anekantavada, co-existence, etc., have a special place. But today in a newspaper I read a statement about you by a Jain muni, Shri Bhadragupta Vijayji, and was surprised. This monk is calling people to sacrifice everything and organizing them in protest against your entry into Kutch. For those who profess aparigraha, why this attachment to the Kutch region? And within their anekantavada, why opposition to your vision of life? Does it befit a muni to incite people in this way?

What of a Jain muni’s claim on Kutch! But it makes no difference; if “my India” is possible, why not “my Kutch”? Then “my district, my tehsil, my village.” Then what trouble with “my house”? It’s the same thing. Then why such difficulty with “my wife” and “my children”? If “mine” must remain, what fault is the wife’s and the children’s that you ran away, leaving them? It’s not that the wife wasn’t from Kutch—she must have been a Kutch woman. The children too were Kutchis—they were born of two Kutchis. You left your wife—no shame at leaving a Kutch woman! You left your children—the little Kutchis—no shame! And still: “My Kutch”? But I understand. It is a flock of the blind—led by the blind. The blind lead the blind, and both fall into the well. They keep falling—day after day. But if it is “my own well,” why not…

Osho, paan Kachchh halonta? (Shall we go to Kachchh?) Truly, the fortunes of Kachchh are strong! Blessed will the land be by your going there! Until now Kachchh has been the most neglected—even by Kachchhis themselves. But the moment talk began of the ashram going there, suddenly Kachchh’s well‑wishers have awakened to love of the land, security, who knows what all feelings! Most of those who are now running protests against the ashram’s entry into Kachchh were deeply moved by your discourses on Mahavira. But now…! Kindly bestow a message! (Aun Kachchhi aniya.—I am Kachchhi.)

Morarji tried to stop me and himself went away. I kept waiting; I said, fine. I took Saswad as a pretext—so it would seem I had dropped the idea of going to Kachchh. But I did not go to Saswad either. You went to do the inauguration; I did not set foot there. If I go, I will go to Kachchh—paan Kachchh halonta. Saswad is no distance—twenty‑twenty‑five miles—I did not even go to see it. You went and inaugurated it, you went and held the ceremony. But I knew that Morarji and company were not going to last long. It was like a pot breaking by a cat’s luck, the rafters giving way—pure accident that Morarji sat on the country’s chest. Otherwise there was neither merit nor purpose nor any benefit to the nation from him. How long could he sit on our chest? His going was certain. A year…

Osho, over the last three or four months, what has your experience been? You just mentioned two things—that opposition can break things, and that opposition also brings publicity. So in these four months, what has happened in your experience? Please tell us that as well.

Nothing has broken—nothing has broken; nothing can be broken. And has it become stronger? Yes, certainly, certainly! Was there any refutation of genius? No, nothing. An idol can be broken; genius—no one can do anything to it. When you first came to Junagadh, the people who were with you then don’t seem to be visible today. Why is that? Just a few—two or four people, not more than that. Were those two or four some ordinary people? To me everyone is ordinary. I don’t measure worth from person to person. And I call them even more ordinary because they are not to be seen; had they shown up, they would not have proved so ordinary. Even if someone is opposed to me, there is no harm in showing up. And if one is opposed to me, then it is even more necessary to come and listen. They could ask me,…

Osho, some people connected with Kutch are selling one-rupee tickets at the Bombay station. Their slogan is: “Remove Rajneesh, Save Kutch.” Osho, what trouble is your entry into Kutch causing to their kacchas (underpants)? Are they, like Sardar Baldev Singh, also unwilling to change their kacchas? Please say something.

Chaitanya Sagar! Those so-called Kachchis who have run off to Bombay—poor fellows, they’ve left their kachchha (drawers) along with their Kutch behind. They’re standing stark naked in Bombay. Are these any Kachchis? Fake Kachchis! Otherwise why run? They are deserters. If they loved Kutch so much, they should have been in Kutch. What are they doing in Bombay? Why do they need to be in Bombay? Go to Kutch; live in Kutch. They all fled Kutch. I don’t call deserters Kachchis. Those who are in Kutch, they are Kachchis; they still have their kachchha—and they’re ready to change it! These Bombay Kachchis, after great running around and effort, could deliver only sixty-five letters of protest to the Gujarat government. I haven’t even gone to Kutch. My sannyasins didn’t try anything in Kutch. Yet, three hundred and fifty associations have written to the Gujarat government in my favor, saying they are…