The Art of Living international ashram in Bangalore, India

GNRD and the Indian guru

Rights group's puzzling connection
  
With the sudden death of Anne-Marie Lizin, the Emirati-linked Global Network for Rights and Development (GNRD) has lost one of its key figures – its High Commissioner for Europe. GNRD does, however, have two other High Commissioners – one for Asia and one for Africa.

Like Lizin, Joseph Chilengi, the High Commissioner for Africa, appears to have been chosen for his contacts: he is heavily involved in the African Union and chairs the general assembly of its Economic, Social and Cultural Council (ECOSOCC). 

More puzzling, though, is GNRD's choice of Jaina Desai, an Indian woman, as High Commissioner for Asia. Ms Desai works for Art of Living, an organisation which sells yoga-based "happiness" courses and which critics have described as a cult and a tax shelter "masquerading as a humanitarian organisation". 

Art of Living, which now operates in 152 countries, was founded in India in 1981 by a charismatic guru called Ravi Shankar (not to be confused with the famous musician of the same name). Its core practice is a breathing technique known as Sudarshan Kriya, or SKY for short. 
 

Jaina Desai, GNRD's High Commissioner for Asia

 
An academic thesis on the organisation by Inga Bårdsen Tøllefsen of Tromsø university in Norway describes Shankar as a "religious entrepreneur" and goes on to say: 

"Cults are businesses which provide a product for their customers and receive payment in return. This point is valid and indeed essential to the Art of Living enterprise, as their main product is the courses and workshops that they sell to customers ... It is easy to see that they are not a poor organisation. The courses and workshops are not free, especially not for foreigners taking courses in India."

Some comments from people who have taken its courses and felt themselves sucked more deeply into the organisation than they intended can be found here.

Tøllefsen's thesis also draws parallels (page 38) between Shankar and L Ron Hubbard, founder of the Church of Scientology – an organisation which GNRD has also had some involvement with (here, here and here).

Like the Church of Scientology, Art of Living has resorted to some heavy-handed tactics to protect its reputation. A few years ago it attempted to sue two of its former afficionados, identified only as "Skywalker" and "Klim", who published blogs criticising the organisation. The case was settled out of court in 2012, with Art of Living paying the bloggers' legal costs and allowing their blogs to remain on the internet.

One of Skywalker's blog posts describes some extraordinary efforts by Art of Living and its supporters to manipulate the Wikipedia entries for Shankar and his organisation.

GNRD boasts on its website of using "out of the ordinary and unique approaches to achieve real changes in the field of human rights and development" but its connection with Ms Desai and Art of Living does seem especially bizarre. If any readers can offer further explanation I'll be glad to hear from them.