June 13, 2023

From: Second Generation Advocates

Attn: SSSC Board, IHRP program administrators, 3HO-related businesses and organizations, and members of the community

Re: Open Letter requesting repairs to the Independent Healing and Reparations Program 

Please note that a similar letter was just released in the form  of a public petition and is currently gathering broad support from members of the community, but this Open Letter is more detailed and we request that the recipients of this letter read both and respond to us in a timely manner.

Greetings,

We, the Second Generation Advocates who grew up in the 3HO, Sikh Dharma, and Kundalini Yoga community, have written this open letter to make our voices heard in response to the abuses that we have experienced in the community. Many of us are currently participating in the Independent Healing and Reparations Program (IHRP) which was created to address these harms. The IHRP was organized by the Siri Singh Sahib Corporation (SSSC). This program may have been well intentioned, but it is being poorly executed and is causing retraumatization. Therefore, repairs must be made to it in order to ensure individual and collective healing, and changes must be made to ensure no future harm is done to new generations of children.

Harmful experiences during our formative years in the community have had long-lasting and devastating effects on our mental health, development, relationships, and work lives. Many of us have diagnoses of complex PTSD, anxiety and depression, lifelong health issues, deficits, and injuries requiring ongoing medical care. We have sought medical, therapeutic, financial, and professional help for ourselves, yet have not had adequate resources or support. While the institutional bodies have begun to address our healing needs, many Second Generation members are dismayed that our experiences are still being minimized and dismissed by community leaders and elders, with a lack of adequate support and action from the board, organizations and businesses. We grew up viewing the community as family, and want to be heard, made whole, and heal the divide.

In good faith, nearly 600 of us have participated in the IHRP to address the harms and abuses experienced by us during our childhoods. In the process we have had to disclose the abuses and traumatic memories that we suffered at young ages in boarding schools, camps, and ashrams; which has been retraumatizing for many. In order to sufficiently address the harms we experienced, adequate financial resources need to be provided to support our lifelong healing needs; and structural changes need to be made in order to prevent future harm for future generations.

ANONYMOUS EXAMPLES OF HARM

• In India children were physically beaten daily by teachers, prefects, seniors, students as punishment or pastime.
• Children were choked to the point of fainting and beaten until they would black out.
• Children were starved, malnourished, and their food was infested with bugs, and experienced an egregious lack of medical care.
• Sexual abuse of minors by teachers and guides in India, at children's camps, as well as by ashram members who were protected by the organization and never faced justice.
• Sleep deprivation due to school schedule and unsafe environment.
• Children were separated from their parents and siblings as young as 2 years of age.
• Children experienced neglect and extreme emotional and spiritual abuse.
• Many were excommunicated from the community when expressing concerns, severing them from the community that was their lifeline and family.
• Yogi Bhajan was introduced to us at birth as our spiritual teacher, the Master of the teachings we lived by, and our spiritual grandfather. He then sexually assaulted, molested, and raped girls as minors or as soon as they were over 18. He groped children's breasts. He "examined" children's vaginas. Some over 18  were forced into long term sexual relationships with him.  
• Yogi Bhajan forced girls and boys into marriages against their will, barred them from getting an education, forced them into minimum wage jobs with the promise of successful futures and the manipulation that he could read their destinies.

LASTING IMPACTS FROM HARM

• Lasting C-PTSD (Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder).
• Chronic stress, anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideations.
• Chronic health issues, physical injuries, concussions.
• Lack of healthy attachments, issues with intimacy, problems with authority, lack of trust.
• Shame, guilt, low self-esteem, difficulty with decision making, struggles with self-care.
• Sleep disorders, hygiene, food insecurity, eating disorders.
• Loss of educational and work opportunities, loss of skills and wages.
• Grief, betrayal, loss of community, family and friends due to different beliefs.
• Challenges with parenting.

Issues with program

We want this program to succeed for the collective healing of every individual participant, and the entire community. We entered into this program with trust and hope. We were promised a restorative justice program that would be independent and trauma-informed; giving us a voice and a process to repair systemic problems in the community. However it has not lived up to the promises laid out when we agreed to participate, and has been a retraumatizing process. Because of the highly inadequate funding for the number of people who have applied, there is not sufficient support for the healing needs of individuals. There has been a lack of timely action and contractual commitments regarding our non-monetary demands. We strongly believe addressing these following concerns are important steps in our healing to prevent harm for future generations.

1. Address the non-monetary requests before contracts are signed as they are a key to the success of the program. Release publicly a complete list of all non-monetary demands and create a working group with sufficient funding to address non-monetary requests.
2. Expand program funding to sufficiently cover the harms to the Second Generation and the increased number of people who applied.
3. Fix the program - The program has had inconsistencies with the protocols and promises made, insufficient transparency, lack of independence and communication among many other issues.

We are requesting these changes to the program to ensure that it fulfills the initial goals and promises made when people decided to participate.

Non-Monetary Requests:

So far, no response to our non-monetary requests have been provided. These requests were included in our individual claims and are at least as important as the monetary requests. We are participating in this program with the intent to help heal ourselves and this community and to prevent additional harm from being done to current and future generations. As an example, many of these requests include much needed changes to the boarding school in India to ensure no future harm is done to new generations of children. Despite these requests being made, even as we write this letter, we are receiving advertisements for the reopening of Miri Piri Academy.

The demands of the nearly 600 applicants to the Reparations Program are not being shared publicly, as we believe they should be, in order for there to be accountability and movement toward restoration. Below is a brief example of the kinds of non-monetary repairs that have been requested to ensure that additional trauma is not inflicted on a new generation. Please note that not everyone will agree on each specific request, but we are asking for everyone to sign in order to begin a transparent and accountable community process toward repairing and preventing future harms. The intention at this time is to make our voices heard which will open the door to making sure each of our requests will be considered and acted upon.

Examples of non-monetary requests:

• Resources for ongoing healing and support. Among the requests made by claimants are the creation of ongoing therapeutic funds not only for second generation members, but also for older and disabled community members who dedicated their lives to the community. This should include individual therapy, family counseling, support groups, and the establishment of a restorative justice program.
• Accountability & reconciliations. Requests include public acknowledgments and apologies from all SSSC affiliates and leadership for harms caused, including a statement of harm by Yogi Bhajan in all publications. More extensively translate, publish, disseminate, and make easily and publicly available on all community platforms and spaces both the Olive Branch and Alexandra Stein reports of harm so that every single global community member is informed. Accountability for individuals who caused harm and were protected by the organization.
• Ensure no harm is caused by Miri Piri Academy & other children’s centers/ camps. Ensure no harm is caused by Miri Piri Academy & other children’s centers/ camps. Applicants have requested an end to the systemic separation of children from their families. Most people are demanding that the schools and camps should be closed permanently. Some believe they can re-open, but only when a safe and healthy study abroad, camp, or boarding school environment can be assured. Ensuring strict requirements for staff and administration qualifications and experience, conducting background checks and training for anyone working with children.
• Make Solstice, Gurdwaras and community events safe spaces for all people, including Second Generation members and those who have been abused; for example by removing likenesses and connections to harmful leaders.
• Create organizational changes (SSSC/SDI/KRI/3HO/Sikhnet). Requests include increasing transparency and professionalism of all businesses and organizations, offering anti-harassment and trauma-informed trainings, changing the names of the organizations, especially Siri Singh Sahib Corporation, including survivors of harm in decision-making roles, and adjusting bylaws so the 2nd & 3rd gen that grew up in the community automatically qualify to vote in the SSSC elections.
• SSSC and YB Property. Applicants have requested that community property should actually be communal, and there needs to be a communal process to decide what happens with it. This includes companies, properties, and assets taken from community members; archives of YB’s belongings; and properties and current business earnings.

We are concerned our non-monetary requests are not being addressed, while allowing further harm to current students and future generations to come. It is unreasonable that we are being put in a position where we have to accept or reject financial offers with a strict timeline without having a full understanding of both the monetary and non-monetary components. The non-monetary reparations should be a part of each claimant's settlement offer, so we can understand exactly what is and is not being addressed – beyond a simple dollar figure – to enable us to make an informed decision.

Ian Elliott is compiling a report of the harms reported to the IHRP.  We ask that an anonymized version of his report be released  publicly.  We ask that you also release publicly a complete list of all non-monetary requests and create a working group with sufficient funding to address these requests, and do so before the contracts are required to be signed.

Program Funding:

Firstly, the program funding was originally created for what was believed to be a small group of reporters of harm, yet ten-times that number have filed claims. Despite this vast underestimation, we understand that the SSSC voted down a proposal to increase the funding even after the business entities offered to make more funds available. These businesses were built with the promise that they were for the children of this community. Many of us and our parents gave decades of our lives to these funds.

Secondly, in calls with potential participants to the IHRP, the SSSC and Lewis Roca’s lawyers led participants to believe that this program had no monetary cap on claims, either in total funding or for any individual. Since there is a limited pool of funding being used now, this means there has either been a breach in protocol or participants were given incorrect information in initial meetings with SSSC members and their lawyers.

Put bluntly, given the number of claims and insufficient pool of money invested in this program, we believe the monetary reparations offered will be completely inadequate to cover a lifetime of therapy and other medical expenses to heal the effects of these abuses.

If some of our peers decide to take legal action outside of the program, we believe they would receive average settlements comparable to the following cases of institutional abuse:

1. The Catholic Diocese of Santa Fe settled for an average of over $300,000 per person in December 2022.^[1]
2. Northwest Jesuits Indian boarding schools settled for an average of $332,000 ($448,431.10 in today's dollars).^[2]
3. Larry Nassar and Michigan State University settled for an average of $1,506,000 each ($1,821,509.64 in today’s dollars).^[3]
4. Those who have experienced sexual abuse in schools have settled for $1,000,000 - $4,000,000 and upwards if they involved rape.^[4]

We are asking you to expand program funding to sufficiently cover the harms to the Second Generation and the increased number of people who applied.

Repairing the Program:

We want and need to see the following changes implemented to ensure that this program is a success:

1. Address the non-monetary requests before contracts are signed, as part of the individual claim settlements or as a whole, as they are a key and equal component of the program. Release publicly a complete list of all non-monetary demands (with any personal demands redacted but not deleted) and make a well funded working group to address the changes, so we can judge the success of this program and work toward achieving healing and justice together.
2. Increase the pool of funds available to the program to sufficiently cover the harms to the Second Generation. Issue new offers based on this increase, even for people who have already accepted their offers.
3. Correct the language in all contracts to ensure that these settlements are non-taxable. Jess Fuller from Lewis Roca informed in a Q&A meeting with us "It is designed to be as tax favorable to the claimant as possible. We are not tax advisors, but are structuring it in such a way that there will hopefully not be money lost to taxes.” It has come to our attention that the tax language in the offer agreements is too ambiguous and there is a risk that it could result in the IRS auditing claimants and making them disclose the specific contents of their claim, once again reopening old wounds and retraumatizing survivors, and potentially making them pay taxes on some or all of their settlements after the fact. It appears that the language in the agreement protects the SSSC and affiliates from any tax liability, while not guaranteeing that the recipients of the offer will be protected from tax liability.
4. Ensure there are no  discrepancies between the way applicants with and without legal representation are treated. We were assured that we did not need a lawyer to participate in this program and that we would be treated equally without one. Given the lack of transparency so far, we want to ensure that there is no difference in the amount offered to claimants whether or not they are legally represented. We would like to see an independent report comparing applicants’ offers with and without representation, and if there is a lower average for non-represented applicants it must be rectified with an increase of the difference in percentage.
5. Extend all protections and improvements above to all applicants, including those who have already signed contracts.
6. Allow for the future participation of additional Second Generation members who were unable to participate within the existing timeframe, or didn’t know about this program. Actual healing and reparations is not a point in time event. Those in support of healing cannot set a deadline and expect true healing to occur.
7. Extend the timeline and deadlines of the program to provide time and space to address the issues raised in this letter and to get things right. The IHRP Representatives have already extended their own deadlines on meetings and offers; you have the authority to extend these timelines as well.

The IHRP program needs changes to be successful in its original intent of being a trauma-informed process. The Second Generation has been asked to relive their painful past without a proper container for inner excavation. Communication from the program has been offensive and not reflective of most of the applicants' experiences. The program should focus on making participants feel comfortable and safe in engaging with the community. True healing and meaningful action towards financial and non-monetary requests are necessary for healing the community.

Sincerely,

Second Generation Advocates

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

“Report on Themes and Impacts of 3HO Childhoods Prepared for the Independent Healing & Reparations Program” by Alexandra Stein, Ph.D. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Qz33sOtn_dkzebW1pIGWj6-_GOV2fQ7z/view

“The Painful Process of Awakening: Harm and Healing in the Healthy Happy Holy Kundalini Yoga Community” by Nirinjan Kaur Khalsa-Baker, Ph.D.

https://sacredmattersmagazine.com/the-painful-process-of-awakening-harm-and-healing-in-the-healthy-happy-holy-kundalini-yoga-community/

Rishi Knots Blog (by person from Second Generation)

https://rishiknots.com/blog-posts/