He Hit my Chest with a Huge Stone, Damaging My
This text was machine-transcribed from the printed book and may contain errors. Select the words and choose “Report a mistake”.
Lungs
- Sri Nithya Nateshananda Swami
Nateshananda Swami survived a barbaric attack, where a huge stone was used as a crude weapon in an attempt to kill him. He still carries physical wounds from the injury and waits for justice.
The impact of the crude rock used as a weapon against him, caused damage to his lungs. This severe injury has left him with breathing problems to date, a problem he never suffered with prior to the attack. This is the physical scar which reminds him of the attack, however the psychological scars run much deeper.
In March of 2010, Sri Nateshananda Swami was sitting in the Welcome Centre of the Bangalore Aadheenam (monastery complex). He was attending to some of his duties and responsibilities of a monk, believing the day to be like any other. Little did he know, he would be the victim of a planned attack to murder his Guru, staged as a 'random' mob riot. How could an entire community of monks who vowed their lives to upholding righteousness of non violence could be attacked in the most brutal way! He still wonders!
Sri Nateshananda Swami recalls the day when he was beaten up, and watched his fellow monks and Aadheenawasis (residents of Aadheenam) suffer at the hands of violent 'mob' attackers:
"I was sitting in the Welcome Centre, suddenly, I got a call saying there are some people gathering in front of the main gate. I rushed there. When I went there, I saw there were some hundred rowdies and thugs literally they have weapons like big stones, iron rods, wooden sticks and even petrol cans in their hands in one side. Then, on another side there are some guys having their cameras ready to shoot.”
Sheer dread filled him when the reality of the situation began to sink in. How could the media be there? Media would usually come to take footage of events that had ALREADY happened. He instinctively knew something bad was going to happen. When he saw the kinds of weapons the mob was carrying to attack defenceless monks, he understood the magnitude of the situation.
“Literally I felt that they were going to kill me”, he recalls. “They started shouting and 10 to 15 guys jumped over the main gate and came inside and with the weapons which they have like stick, rods and started beating on us. There is a guy who has big stone, they started throwing on me, it came and hit on my chest. I don’t know what to do then. There is bleeding on my chest.”
He soon collapsed from the pain and impact of the blow. Laying there helpless, he watched as the media apathetically recorded the chaos and destruction.
He was later admitted to hospital where he was required to take bed rest for a month in order to recover. The impact of the crude rock used as a weapon against him, caused damage to his lungs. This severe injury has left him with breathing problems to date, a problem he never suffered with prior to the attack. This is the physical scar which reminds him of the attack, however the psychological scars run much deeper.
“Still I am able to remember the scene, the rowdies, the thugs, media and mafia. They came and started beating on us and everything is captured. They didn’t stop. They started beating everyone around me. Within a few minutes, after this incident they vanished. I know very well it is not spontaneous one, it is not a public attack, it is very planned attack and they came to kill us. The very scene if I remember, still I have fear. Don’t know how to escape from there, surrounded by rowdies. I didn’t do anything wrong. Still waiting for the justice.”
“What wrong have I done? I am a sanyasi here, simply living my life. What have I done? I am feeling I have lost my life. The whole pain still every night is a nightmare for me without doing anything wrong. Why should I get beaten? I need a justice what I have gone through, with this hope I am surviving.”
Although riddled with emotional and physical scars from the attack, Sri Nateshananda Swami continues with his humanitarian work. He continues to pray for justice and for the world to learn the truth of what really happened in the attack.
Video: I Am Waiting for Justice
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGPBNfGhPys&feature=youtu.be]