Some really surprising information in this one. I didn´t know that Auroville (the quasi-utopian community in southern India organized by Aurobindo´s supporters) has a de facto special status within the union of India. One of its governing bodies include fairly high-ranking elected Indian officials! It seems the BJP government has claimed the mantle of Aurobindo and may be moving towards making Auroville a federal territory, while making the community more explicitly "Hindu" (or rather Hindutva).
I suppose the old hippies living in the community don´t like the new developments. The short docu linked above hints at ethnic and perhaps political tensions between native Indians and White Western expats, many of the former supporting the BJP. Note also the special visa provisions for foreigners residing in Auroville.
One thing I didn´t get was *why* (as in "why really") the federal government of India is so interested in this particular location. Let me guess. Some kind of property development? Perhaps this is the end of the Mother´s agenda...
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