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TABLE OF CONTENTS 

“We have to think about the people who come afterwards. They're going to find something that isn't what it should be because our generation just let it slip away." ~ Former KFT/Brockwood Park Employee

MISMANAGEMENT OF KRISHNAMURTI FOUNDATION TRUST (KFT) / BROCKWOOD PARK SCHOOL

 Based On Over Seventy (70) Testimonies & Letters

Research, Analysis and Reporting by Reza Ganjavi (MBA, BSCS, BA Phil), and Team of Former Trustees, Students, Parents, Staff, Volunteers, Supporters, and Close Friends of Krishnamurti

“If you complain to the Charity Commission, we will sue you.” ~ KFT Trustee

“The Trustees failed in their duty of care.” ~ Ex-Parent

“Management as it is understood in other organisations and institutions does not apply at Brockwood” ~ Member of Old Boys Clan and Management Team

“Mina had no teaching, pastoral, or pedagogical experience whatsoever; she was arrogant and was given power and authority that was not befitting her qualifications, or lack thereof.” ~ Ex-Parent

"Nasser I met once on a zoom call. It took me one minute to see through his egoic charade—I knew from that moment that he was going to wreak havoc on Brockwood." ~ Ex-Trustee

"Raman was involved at every stage with Nasser without having an official role." ~ Ex-Staff Member

Regarding: Krishnamurti Foundation Trust Limited (KFT) / Brockwood Park School, Bramdean, Alresford, Hampshire, SO24 0LQ, UK.

·      KFT Charity Registration No. 312865 (England and Wales).

·      KFT Company Registration No. 1055588 (England and Wales)

·  [Previously] Brockwood Park Krishnamurti Educational Centre Ltd. Co. 01055539

THIS VERSION SUPERSEDES ALL PREVIOUS VERSIONS – ALL OF WHICH WERE WORK-IN-PROGRESS (DRAFT) VERSIONS. This is a dynamic document, and is updated as new information becomes available; content is added, edited, modified, refined, corrected, as we get new information. If in the course of reading you come across factual or editorial errors, please inform us so we can assess/correct. You can reach out team via the contact page of www.rezamusic.com

NOTE: This enormous project was undertaken purely on a volunteering / pro-bono basis, without any financial or personal reward. As such, it is not optimized at the level of an academic paper or published book, so excuse any editorial shortcomings.

DECEMBER 2023 UPDATE

Recap / Big Picture / Purpose / Achievements

PPS – (PPS to email in section” Troubling but unsurprising information” below)

There was a question about the work that our team did investigating and documenting the mismanagement of KFT/Brockwood. We had three key goals:

1) to get to the truth - and we did this in the utmost objective and authentic way, i.e., an inquiry that starts from the unknown, purely as an exploration, without any hypothesis.

2) to take action if necessary, based on our findings. We had no idea in the beginning any action would be warranted, and left that to be determined by the facts, in line with ideas such as: insight is action, understanding brings its own action...

3) to document our findings for the sake of history.

We are pleased that all our three goals were achieved. The investigation was painful and painstaking but after getting testimonies from tens of people, several questions started becoming very clear, and like a puzzle, gradually all the missing pieces came together on some big painful questions such as "why was MAR (head of Inwoods) fired?"

Questions such as these were extremely complicated because some parties at KFT had given contradictory, dishonest answers when this question was asked by various people, and had tried to distort and avoid the subject, probably because they knew what they did was not right. But we can confidently say we got to the bottom of it and found the root causes, which absolutely had nothing to do with MAR. She was adored and loved by the students, parents, staff; the school was thriving, with good engagement from parents and community. But the plug was pulled (that led to its collapse contrary to what the Trustees had naively expected) for illegitimate, dishonest reasons.

Another thing that came up repeatedly in the interviews we conducted was the role of Raman Patel who works for Friedrich Grohe. I was honestly surprised when multiple witnesses brought up this subject. I had no idea Raman had so much power at Brockwood without having any official duty.

I reached out to Raman early on, before him, Nasser and Mina filed two false police reports, with two police agencies, and both times their bogus report hit the wall because of lack of evidence. They tried to abuse the police power to shut down our investigation, in the way companies abuse to law with SLAPP lawsuits to silence critics - but they didn't want to spend the money filing a baseless lawsuit so they abused the police resources, but it didn't work, because truth is more powerful than creepy way of trying to silence it. 

These are all documented in the investigative report about KFT - and the associated UK police misconduct report and other artifacts that can be found in the K section of my website: https://www.rezamusic.com/writings/on-j-krishnamurtis-work

One discovery led to another, and one of the key findings of our investigation was the role of Friedrich Grohe as the enabler of Raman who would have never had such level of political power had he not been Friedrich's "soldier". We also looked at Friedrich's influence on KFA, which was almost the same movement, via Rabindra instead of Raman, and the dire consequences that in my view made KFA a hopeless organization and a disgrace to Krishnamurti's vision and work; KFT followed the same path, a few years behind KFA, and has become a hopeless organization in my view, and everything that K dreaded and warned about.

So it was not a surprise to read that "no one from KFI was going to attend the international trustee meetings at Brockwood Park". Given how KFT doesn't seem to like accountability, I bet they're happy that KFI is not attending. They probably wish KFA didn't attend either, and KFT would be left to its own, to continue getting donations of money and property, and get richer and richer, and provide a comfortable place for the management to live and retire in, without getting challenged or feeling accountable to anyone.

We have information that our report raised enough alarms to force some changes. The fundamental change we were looking for, which was to uproot the cause of the chaos in the Board of Directors did not fully materialize, but we are pleased that significant change came about as a result of our work, and many facts that were swept under the rug came to surface, and many complex questions were answered, and the mismanagement of KFT/Brockwood was documented for the sake of history.

Sadly, the very same people that our research identified as the core of the problem, are still there. Hanging on to money and power is nothing new in human organizations, which K direly warned about, but everything he dreaded about organizations came true in his own foundations, at least in KFA and KFT that we have looked deeply at. An extensive report about KFA is on the back-burner but will be published as time allows. Timing is not a factor in publishing facts about an organization that is hopeless.

The result of mismanagement of K's organizations is mediocrity. But that's not what K was about ...

Best wishes for the holiday season. Here's a new Christmas video I uploaded: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23hAcgzIa1A

Reza Ganjavi

Troubling but unsurprising information

On 12/15/23 1:01 AM, Reza Ganjavi MBA wrote:

FYI  [Forwarded message I sent to Friedrich Grohe]

Dear Friedrich

I guess you won't see this message as the Gang or assistant will shield it from you so that you are not facing reality. I just received the message below. Disaster continues. Poor K! Congrats to Friedrich and his Gang who turned Brockwood into what it is now, in my view based on all the facts we have, and meanwhile wearing the rose colored glasses, painted by the Gang that everything is honky dory !  Management matters. Friedrich instated Mina and Nasser there; empowered them with Raman in the background; Antonio and Bill are close associates of Friedrich and receive benefits; Raman who is part of Friedrich's Gang is now the Executive Director there. Don't tell me Friedrich has no influence there.

And the argument that he is an old man and out of touch, doesn't hold water. When you hire people, and they act using your clout, you are responsible for them.

"Last Summer I met someone from KFI going to Murren. He told me there has been a fall out between KFI and KFT because of publications issues and that no one from KFI was going to attend the international trustee meetings at BP. Someone else I met who had attended the K gatherings organized at BP during the Summer told me he was not too impressed by it. I also found that they have scrapped the mature students programme. I guess it was taking too much of their energy ... And they have decided not to have the reunion which was due next year."

Kind Regards
Reza

~~~~ 

On 12/16/23 12:05 PM, Reza Ganjavi MBA wrote:

PS --

(this is to a few people)

A former Trustee very familiar with the mess at KFT/Brockwood is very concerned about K's work, as we all are, especially in light of the information below about KFT and KFI's attitude.   KFT seems to be slipping more and more in the direction we were concerned it would.  The real victim here is K. And the painful part was he saw it coming and warned about it.

We are planning a call for former and current Trustees early next year. Get the word out and let me know if you're interested to attend.

Reference: https://www.rezamusic.com/writings/on-j-krishnamurtis-work/KFT-Mismanagement

Best wishes

Reza

PREFACE TO THIS VERSION

We have gone through a painstakingly long period of research, inquiry, interviews, analysis, and updates of this report over the course of the last months. We did not publicly release this report meanwhile, but the current version will be filed with the Charity Commission. The latest version of this report can always be found here: https://www.rezamusic.com/writings/on-j-krishnamurtis-work/KFT-Mismanagement

Note: We have not updated this report since earlier version to reflect new testimonies, discovery of further conflict of interest in the Board of Trustees, and the superficial changes the Trust has brought as preemptive moves prior to Charity Commission potential audit.

New Discoveries of Trustee Conflict of Interest

We’ve received new evidence of new instances of conflict of interest at the trustee level, and influence mongering of Friedrich Grohe & Gang.

Troubling New Testimonies, e.g., Report of Child Having Anal Sex In School Library

Several new testimonies have been added to this report.

Trust’s Preposterous Police Reports & Lying to the Police

During the course of the last months we were also distracted by the Trust’s dishonest false reports to a couple of police agencies, both of which decided not to investigate the Trust’s baseless allegations. We also filed a complaint against Hampshire police for alleged police misconduct in relation to the Trust’s meritless complaint. That also took a long time – and eventually Hampshire police decided to ask the Trust for evidence to back its claim, which the Trust failed to do, which proved it had acted in ill-will and dishonesty.

The details of the police fiascos are illustrated in these two documents:

·      https://www.rezamusic.com/writings/on-j-krishnamurtis-work/krishnamurti-foundation-trust-kft-bogus-police-reports

·      https://www.rezamusic.com/writings/on-j-krishnamurtis-work/uk-police-misconduct-kft-misconduct

Prior to filing with Charity Commission we had another round of legal consultations with attorneys in the UK to make sure the I’s are dotted and t’s are crossed, about the case. That does not mean that this document is perfect. It would cost us a lot of money to have an attorney go through 300-pages, but as this document has been produced with genuine sincere motives to find truth and present truth, hopefully this volunteer-produced artifact will serve its purpose to reflect what has become of Krishnamurti’s beloved KFT/Brockwood, and serve as basis for the Charity Commission to act, given the presence of substantive body of direct and circumstantial evidence.

~~~

WARNING

This is a collective effort and not the work of one person. But to defend itself against the consistent and troubling allegations made herein by over 70 people, Krishnamurti Foundation Trust has chosen to make 100% false accusations against our team and our lead investigator. Once called out, the Trust failed to provide any evidence to back its preposterous fake claims. Their lawyer pulled out of the case after we demanded evidence to support the Trust’s fake attempts to intimidate and discredit us.

Then the Trust filed two meritless dishonest reports with the police. Both police agencies refused to investigate the Trust’s dishonest report due to lack of evidence. And we obtained proof that the Trust lied to the police. Compare that to Krishnamurti’s teachings on importance of truth. So be careful about the Trust’s attempts to tarnish our team or our lead investigator’s reputation, and demand to see evidence for their fake claims which they fabricate to cover up for their mismanagement, misconduct, failure of key duties of some trustees, and deep rooted governance issues.

Departure of Gisele Balleys

We recently came to notice that Gisele Balleys is no longer a trustee. We have nevertheless retained the references about her in this report, since the alleged gross mismanagement of the Trust and failures of the Board of Trustees all happened while she was a trustee, and based on information we have we do not believe anything has changed as a result of Mrs. Balleys departure since she was a passive trustee and sided with management and was apparently marginalized by the management in what we consider to be a defective power structure. The mismanagement and governance issues at the Trust are still vital issues in our view based on latest testimonies we have.

Preemptive Superficial Changes at the Trust Including Antonio’s Role

We also do not believe the superficial changes at the Trust are anything more thanks preemptive action ahead of Charity Commission investigation, in order to give pretense of change. We believe the Trust’s governance has too many fundamental issues to self-heal and therefore we hope Charity Commission will intervene.

Antonio’s role change does not diminish the fact that he’s still very much a part of the School’s management team, that he’s still a very close affiliate of Friedrich Grohe and part of his extended team. We assume he’s still part of the Old Boys clan which has had tremendous power at the Trust, outside the Board of Trustees. And based on numerous testimonies he was a part of much of the mismanagement that happened at the Trust, and had a key role in what led to the collapse of Inwoods. We have no evidence that anything fundamental has changed in terms of Antonio’s influence. All of this is described in detail in this document.

Trust’s Futile Defense: Blame Words of 70+ People on One Person; And Bill Taylor’s Lies

We learned that the Trust has engaged in fabricating lies about our main investigative reporter, in order to discard the findings of this report. Age old, futile, unethical tactic: when you don’t like a message, try to discredit the messenger.

See section “Calling Out Bill Taylor’s Lies”

WHO WAS J. KRISHNAMURTI?

Mr. Jiddu Krishnamurti was a prominent and highly respected 20th century philosopher/speaker/author/educator who traveled the world for over 60 years, giving talks to larger crowds about important questions of living. He provided a set of challenges and pointers which he asked his readers/listeners to examine for themselves. He did not provide any manifesto, doctrine, method to be practiced or followed, and he did not want to have followers.

A most brilliant person, his discourses and books are full of precious insights. The following page contains quotes from many prominent personalities about Mr. Krishnamurti.

https://www.rezamusic.com/writings/on-j-krishnamurtis-work/jiddu-krishnamurti-references-compiled-by-reza-ganjavi

DISCLAIMER

The statements of many people which are reflected herein were collected in a spirit of sincere search for truth, and examined from multiple angles to derive at truth as much as possible. The opinion and reports of events by people cannot always be verified for truthfulness, and as such the authors do not take responsibility for them – however, a sincere, diligent attempt has been made to examine from multiple angles if what was said was true, corroborated, and consistent with other testimonies and circumstances. We did not include any submissions which made allegations that were not substantiated by a witness, evidence, or adjudication. If you see anything in this document which is presented as a fact which you know is factually incorrect, please contact us via this page: https://www.rezamusic.com/about/contact so we can assess and correct it. See additional disclaimers below.

NOTE TO NEW WITNESSES: Witnesses of mismanagement at KFT/Brockwood who would like to share their story, as long as it's sincere and genuine, can contact us here: https://www.rezamusic.com/about/contact

INTRODUCTION

PROBLEM STATEMENT, OBJECTIVES

Over seventy (70) testimonials and letters, together with the associated research and analysis reported in this document, unveil a bleak, disturbing picture of Krishnamurti Foundation Trust (“the Trust”)'s deep-rooted governance issues, mismanagement, some trustees’ potential breach of key duties, and accountability issues. It all culminated in the collapse of a great school (Inwoods), among the many other issues such as the reported mistreatment of some people, potential legal issues, gross diversion from the Trust’s founder’s teachings and ideals, subject matter incompetence among some people in charge, and numerous other management issues.

Painstaking, diligent, objective inquiry clarified the root causes of the issues, including external influences. Out of this inquiry, the solution presented itself in light of the fact that the Charity Commission has the legal power to oust part or entire Board, so some entities might want to “self-heal” which is less painful:

There is an urgent need for fundamental change at the Trust, e.g., the replacement of several trustees including Derek Hook, Gary Primrose, Wendy Smith, and the dismissal of Raman Patel, Nasser Shamim, Mina Masoumian, Antonio Autor, with a reasonable notice period.

If Charity Commission gets involved, our request is only to replace some of the trustees, as we believe a new, impartial Board of Trustees will make the right decisions about the management resources.

Our activism may yield no tangible results but at the very least we’ve documented this important and tragic snapshot in the history of K’s work. We are pessimistic that the Trust could heal itself. But we are cautiously optimistic that UK’s authorities/regulators will take a serious look at things and hopefully force out some of the problem trustees. We have some excellent trustee candidates (e.g., former students and staff) who could step right in.

PROJECT TEAM

This research report was done as a collaborative effort by a group of people concerned with mismanagement and scandals at Krishnamurti Foundation Trust (“KFT”) / Brockwood Park Krishnamurti Educational Center (“Brockwood”), which culminated in the collapse of the Inwoods School. They asked Reza Ganjavi, MBA to get involved as an investigative journalist, senior business analyst, senior program manager, philosopher, student and friend of J. Krishnamurti (when he was a teenager, K gave him a red rose). The pro-bono engagement started with a totally clean slate and no bias whatsoever, with the aim of getting to the facts. Course of action and the necessary remedies became evident only after all the facts were on the table.

Numerous interviews were conducted, and analyzed to identify common threads, consistencies, root causes. The results are reflected in this document. The interviewees appreciated this research, and felt it to be a breath of fresh air, given all the injustice, mismanagement, and disintegration they witnessed in a place they hold close to their hearts.

This activism is a collective effort involving several concerned parties, with support from a much wider circle. Many people including close friends of Krishnamurti, ex-trustees, current trustees of other K foundations, ex-students, staff, volunteers, etc. have been outraged and alienated by the mismanagement of the Trust and the prevailing incompetence, egotism, mismanagement and betrayal of some key values Krishnamurti spoke about for 60 years.

Many witnesses pointed to the trustees of the foundation, including Derek Hook – and Raman Patel, Nasser Shamim, Mina Masoumian, Antonio Autor as allegedly some of the key parties behind the disastrous mismanagement at the Trust.

For example, various people were allegedly threatened to be charged with (bogus) gross misconduct. These two quotes is one of many examples why the mismanagement was on their part! They made a great school collapse without the foresight to see it coming - which points to key oversight and competence issues on the part of trustees and management. And that was just one of the disastrous results of the alleged mismanagement and alleged trustees’ failure of their duties.

KFT Trustees: "We are confident that this transition will be managed smoothly and professionally and that Inwoods, now in its 23rd year, will continue to flourish as it has done up to now." Reality: Inwoods collapsed and it has not been the same again.

Nasser Shamim: "All the good things here [at Inwoods] will continue. I don't think why it will become different." Reality: Inwoods collapsed and it has not been the same again

PUBLIC INTEREST

Krishnamurti Foundation Trust is a charitable, non-profit, tax-exempt entity which receives public donations, and its work is a matter of public interest. Furthermore, it was founded by Mr. Jiddu Krishnamurti who was a public figure, and his work is a matter of public interest. Therefore the critique of the Trust presented in this paper is a matter of public interest.

RESEARCH METHOD

This endeavor was primarily an exploratory research without any preliminary hypothesis or apriori assumptions to direct the exploration. The goal of the research was purely to try to find truth which at the onset seemed like a needle in a haystack. We wanted to verify if there was a chaos, and if so, ideally, arrive at the root causes. We started with a complete blank slate, and giving everybody the benefit of the doubt; no ulterior motive; no axe to grind; no malice; no prejudice.

As such our approach was objective, sound, and driven by an earnest search for truth. Therefore, we were able to listen to everyone who came forward, with an open mind. We asked them follow on questions to get a better understanding.

We had no idea in the beginning how it will go, what we will find, or what action if any should be taken. In due time it became apparent that indeed there was a serious management issue at the Trust, and we began seeing a lot of consistencies in different people’s accounts, and we gained insights into the mindset of the Trust’s management – which was revealing and disconcerting, and we believe we gained understanding of the root causes of the issues.

RELATED DOCUMENTS

Statement Of Reza Ganjavi About His Engagement As Lead Investigator Of The Mismanagement At KFT

·      https://www.rezamusic.com/writings/on-j-krishnamurtis-work/Friedrich-Grohe-Gang-Jaap-Sluijter-Infiltration-KFA-Krishnamurti-Foundation

Statement Of Reza Ganjavi About His Interaction With KFA, Before and After Grohe Gang Takeover – Which KFT Falsified To Disparage Activist Taskforce

·  https://www.rezamusic.com/writings/on-j-krishnamurtis-work/History-KFA-Krishnamurti-Foundation-Friedrich-Grohe-Gang-Jaap-Sluijter-KFT

Friedrich Grohe and his Gang's Influence Mongering at Krishnamurti Foundations

·      https://www.rezamusic.com/writings/on-j-krishnamurtis-work/grohe-gang-influence-mongering-at-krishnamurti-foundations

Report of Two Fake Police Reports KFT Filed to Quash Criticism; The Police Refused To Pursue The Cases

·      https://www.rezamusic.com/writings/on-j-krishnamurtis-work/krishnamurti-foundation-trust-kft-bogus-police-reports

·      https://www.rezamusic.com/writings/on-j-krishnamurtis-work/uk-police-misconduct-kft-misconduct

Police Misconduct In Falling For KFT’s Lie Upfront; It Was Proven Later That KFT Had Lied To The Police

·      UK Police Misconduct (Hampshire), UK Charity Misconduct (Krishnamurti Foundation Trust - KFT - Brockwood Park School) https://www.rezamusic.com/writings/on-j-krishnamurtis-work/uk-police-misconduct-kft-misconduct

Letter Requesting Investigation of KFT

·      https://www.rezamusic.com/writings/on-j-krishnamurtis-work/activist-taskforce-complaint-about-kft-to-uk-charity-commission

About Nasser Shamim's Cowardly Behavior

·      Reza Ganjavi reached out to Nasser Shamim to get his take on the reported scandals at KFT. Report of Nasser’s cowardly non-response: https://www.rezamusic.com/writings/on-j-krishnamurtis-work/letters-to-nasser-shamim-about-his-cowardly-behavior

Emails to Raman Patel

·      Reza Ganjavi reached out to Raman Patel to get his take on the reported scandals at KFT since Raman’s name came up consistently as a culprit. Raman’s response was very revealing: https://www.rezamusic.com/writings/on-j-krishnamurtis-work/letters-to-raman-patel-regarding-his-role-at-brockwood-park-school-krishn

Investigative Report On Friedrich Grohe and His Gang

·      Reza Ganjavi researched the Grohe Gang a while back and released this public document after they failed to address serious concerns about some of their reckless and unintelligent actions. The report made a lot of difference – finally the light of public attention made them wake up and pay attention to what they had chosen to ignore before; they changed some of their ways. Reza Ganjavi received many thank-you notes including from several trustees who were happy someone had finally spoken up and said what they wanted to say but hadn’t – mainly because many relied on donations from Grohe and didn’t want to upset big money. https://www.rezamusic.com/writings/on-j-krishnamurtis-work/the-fifth-foundation

Response to Bill Taylor

·      https://www.rezamusic.com/writings/on-j-krishnamurtis-work/response-to-bill-taylor

Also see Cease & Desist sent to Bill Taylor in response to his lying about Reza Ganjavi, in order to quash free speech.

Letter to Mr. J. Krishnamurti About His Foundations Years After He Died

·      (November 2021): https://www.rezamusic.com/writings/on-j-krishnamurtis-work/letter-to-krishnamurti-by-reza-ganjavi

Quotes About J. Krishnamurti

·      Quotes Collected by Reza Ganjavi, including Aldous Huxley, Joseph Campbell, Dalai Lama, Henry Miller, Khalil Gibran, George Bernard Shaw, Van Morrison, Milton Friedman, David Bohm, Pepe Romero, Angelo Gilardino, Deepak Chopra, Alan Watts, Anne Morrow Lindberg, Jack Nicholson, Jack Kornfield, Rollo May, Bruce Lee, Franz Beckenbauer, Joe Lewis, Fairfield Osborn, Margueritte Harmon Bro, Francis Hackett, Terence Stamp, John Cleese, and others. https://www.rezamusic.com/writings/on-j-krishnamurtis-work/jiddu-krishnamurti-references-compiled-by-reza-ganjavi

REGULATORS, ETC.

The task force identified these entities as interested parties from regulatory standpoint:

·      Charity Commission, UK – charitycommission.gov.uk

·      Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI), UK – Safeguarding@isi.net, concerns@isi.net

·      Department of Education, UK – registration.enquiries@education.gov.uk

·      Office for Standards in Education (OFSTED), UK – enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk, casenquiries@ofsted.gov.uk, cie@ofsted.gov.uk (Compliance Enquiries)

·      National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) – help@nspcc.org.uk

·      Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education – enquiries@oiahe.org.uk

·      Home Office Immigration Unit, UK – complaints@homeoffice.gov.uk, public.enquiries@homeoffice.gov.uk

·      The Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBU) info@thebureauinvestigates.com

·      Other Free Speech, and Anti-SLAPP organizations: article19.org, cpj.org, daphne.foundation, ecpmf.eu, edri.org, freepressunlimited.org, ForeignPressCorrespondents.org, gfmd.info, gijn.org, icfj.org, ipi.media, jfj.fund, lawyers4reporters.org, mediadefence.org, medialegalhelp.org, oas.org, pen-international.org, rcfp.org, rorypecktrust.org, rsf.org, spj.org, spotlightcorruption.org, tbij.com, tcij.org, the-case.eu, thebureauinvestigates.com, trust.org

·      Krishnamurti Foundations India Trustees

TESTIMONIES & ANALYSIS

[For an explanation of who’s who, see sections below starting with “Key Figures”]

DISCLAIMERS

Note: This research started with no bias whatsoever, as a fact-finding mission, and that spirit of wanting to know the truth remained till the end.

Note: Our primary objective was to find the truth, and report according to our findings in an objective manner. To that effect, we made a painstaking effort to cross check things as much as possible, and question things from different angels because we didn’t want to settle with something however sensational it may have been, at the expense of compromising the integrity of our approach and effort. So this is a well-researched report and not a tabloid.

Note: The section below includes statements from witnesses as well as commentary and analysis of the author in relationship to those statements, and statements of others which may be related to the topic in each section. Our search for truth included talking to several people who knew of certain situations or heard from people who were later gagged by NDAs (sometimes just before the NDA was signed) and therefore couldn’t talk to us.

Note: The term “testimony” is used here to mean statements vs. a formal testimony made in court of law under oath for example. What the witnesses have said and written are not formal, legal testimonies or affidavits. They may have lied. The job of the investigative reporter is to try to find truth in a hay stack of statements that may or may not be true, and look for consistencies and circumstantial evidence by logical analysis of the information. What we found however, was that most if not all the statements were very consistent with other statements made by numerous other people. Certain isolated things we have no way of verifying but those are usually minor innuendos. But a very diligent effort was made to get at the truth, by talking to as many sources as possible, and not settle with any conclusions prematurely.

Note: Work on this document started before Raman Patel becomes executive director, so not all the sections are totally up to date in terms of e.g. saying Raman is acting in the background.

Note: As many of the testimonies were taken verbally, not every statement is quoted in quotation marks, however, much that are not in quotes are also the words of the interviewee but to be accurate, paraphrases are mainly not in quotes.

ANAL SEX IN THE LIBRARY

The Trustees of Krishnamurti Foundation Trust are also the Governors of Brockwood Park School. Gary Primrose is the Chair of Governors. Wendy Smith is a "Safeguarding Liaison Trustees".

We have a troubling report from a parent about inappropriate sexual relationships at the school. She wrote that a student female child at Brockwood Park School who was a friend of her child who was also a student there, used to come to their house. The child told the lady that she was having anal sex in the school library with an older male student and that she had not enjoyed and had pain and was wondering if there’s something wrong with her! 

A former staff member commented: “Regarding anal sex in the library, it's horrible. Poor thing. There was no supervision; nobody was supervised. They were left at the mercy of each other. There was a lack of supervision all around. I believe her one hundred percent. I can see that happening there. Often nobody is looking after them. At a school you should have staff members keeping an eye. That was not happening at Brockwood. Basically you had people running the school who were learning how to run the school.”

The subject of sexuality at the School is discussed in other sections in this report as well.

TESTIMONY OF LADY GGG

Also see Lady GGG’s powerful letters to the Trust in the section “Letters From Lady GGG” below.

"I wonder now how many other kids they have failed - certainly there were many concerns over drugs and underage sex and inappropriate relationships between students and staff - altogether quite concerning when you step back and look at it - they let a boy go into my daughter's room once when she was very sick, he had a crush on her and apparently kept stroking her but she was too ill to do anything about it and felt very uncomfortable. Another girl asked me for advice because she was having unprotected anal sex with an older boy, often in the library, and didn’t understand why she wasn’t enjoying it, she was 15 and a full time boarder with a guardian overseas. She thought there was something wrong with her."

Mina’s Arrogance & Lack Of Competence

“I did not like Mina’s attitude or manner from the beginning. She seemed to be incredibly opinionated for someone with so little experience, so little competence in the subject matter, no education or experience in the topic prior to Brockwood. She clearly did not fully understand the nature of our concerns but was too arrogant to listen.”

“Mina had no teaching, pastoral, or pedagogical experience whatsoever, but to <>’s and most likely others detriment she was arrogant and was given power and authority that was not befitting her qualifications, or lack thereof.”

Lack of Proper Safeguarding / Pastoral Care

Lady GGG alleges that her child developed anorexia while enrolled at the Trust’s Brockwood Park School, because of lack of sufficient safeguarding / pastoral care, where for example, for ten days her child had not eaten but nobody had noticed it. She wrote a detailed account of disturbing factual allegations that is consistent with what we’ve heard from other witnesses in their dealings with the Trust and its School.

She also cites a number of examples of the way the school mishandled her child and other children that she had direct experience with, e.g., allegedly having one disturbed child take care of another disturbed child.

Lady GGG tried to work things out with the Trust and get them to take some responsibility, but they categorically refused to take any responsibility.

Lady GGG gave up on the Trust after Trustee Wendy Smith wrote her a dishonest response which lady GGG also interpreted as a bullying attempt.

Wendy Smith also reiterated going to Mina as the way to communicate with the Trustees but the parent had already made it clear to them that she does not want to have anything to do with Mina because of her sentiments towards Mina due to Mina’s mismanagement, which is squarely the fault of the trustees due to Mina assuming such a powerful role at the School while lacking education or experience in the field of education, safeguarding, pastoral care, etc. prior to being instated at the Trust by Grohe’s Gang.

Trustee Wendy Smith Lying (December 2022)

Wendy Smith, in her December 2022 email to the parent wrote: “you also included individuals who are no longer Trustees of the school.”

That is a false, deceptive statement. First off, the School is not a trust to have trustee. Trustees belong to the Trust and unfortunately Wendy Smith is one of them, and the Trust has been veered in a direction that apparently it has become a part of the culture of the Trust (due to factors outlined in this report) to lie, to not be honest, to use twisted statements, to give public convoluted confusing untrue statements.

·      Fact is in the email the parent sent to the Trust, which we obtained a copy of, the parent included only the current trustees of the foundation plus Gisele Balleys who was a trustee up to recently.

·      On Brockwood Park School’s website there’s a list of the Trust’s trustees as the trustees. There is no separate concept of trustees of the School. There is the concept of trustees who are in charge of the school but it is not defined publicly. We know from communications we’ve received involving the school that Gary Primrose and Wendy Smith were most active in matters of school, and they are on the list of problem trustees whom the Charity Commission should force out, in our opinion, for reasons outlined in this report.

o   Even if Wendy Smith is referring to trustees who are in charge of the school, her statement is still deceptive because “no longer” implied they the supposed trustees were at some point trustees in charge of the school – but that is false – we know several of the current trustees were never in charge of the School. And we’re confident Wendy Smith is referring to departure of Gisele Balleys but Gisele is one person and not plural.

·      Wendy Smith’s alleged deceptive statement attempts to tell the former Brockwood parent that more than one person on the email list are no longer trustees but that is a falsehood which Wendy Smith must have known to be false, therefore, she intentionally lied. Only one person is no longer a trustee, and no multiple people.

·      This may seem like a small phrase but in the grand scope of the level of dishonesty coming from the Trust of a man who spent a lifetime promoting importance of truth, it cannot be overlooked.

Trustee Wendy Smith Allegedly Falsely Accusing Parent (December 2022)

Wendy Smith, in her December 2022 email to the parent also wrote: “Please note that you have used Trustees' private email addresses which is in breach of the school's data protection policies.”

Perhaps Wendy Smith obtained her inaccurate legal advice from Nasser Shamin who has reportedly often used his lawyer clout (despite not being a licensed solicitor or barrister in the UK) to get his way; or she didn’t seek legal advice before threatening a former parent of being in breach of school policy.

·      Wendy Smith, as a trustee, should have known that a former parent is not subject to a school’s data protection policies especially in regards to data that she did not obtain from the school.

·      We spoke with a school principal who also has a law degree, and he laughed at Wendy Smith’s response. The parent did not find it funny and wrote back to Wendy stating she felt bullied.

·      Again, in our view, the significance of this seemingly short phrase is the culture of the Trust which seems to have strayed from the objective and values of the Founder and the Trust’s charter, and such actions by the Trustees are directly responsible for an apparent culture of lack of accountability and thinking anything goes. There are several accounts of people getting false information from the Trust, which the Trust apparently used to cover up for its mismanagement.

"What an awful story! Incredibly indicative of the lack of appropriate training and the arrogance of some people at Brockwood, in particular Mina. If Trustees don’t finally remove Mina after this then I don’t know  what will." – Former Staff Member

TESTIMONY OF BROCKWOOD PARK SCHOOL'S SECRETARY / INWOODS' PARENT

“Dear Réza,

Here is an account of my 12 months' employment at Brockwood Park School. I was employed as the secretary between 27.09.2017 and 21.09.2018.”

Favoritism, Tribalism

“First of all, I was surprised, disappointed, and shocked to see the big favoritisms from the management that existed towards both staff and even worse, students at a K school. It was clear from the beginning you had to belong to the right clan to be "successful" either as a staff member or student. There was clear manipulation and control of those that were categorized by the management as being in the right clan. Those members of staff or students that had critical thinking and voiced their thoughts were not welcome and therefore were pushed out. The management must have missed K's message about Freedom as well as School with no Fear.”

Nasser Allegedly Laughed Off Staff Member In Pain

“I have considerable experience in the business world - regarded within the K world, it often seems as the "outside bad world of competitive, aggressive and disrespectful ways". In my 20 years in that so-called world, I had never seen such an unprofessional, disrespectful and uncaring way of treating staff members. To give one of many examples, I once badly hurt my back. Consequently, I was walking awkwardly, due to the severe pain I had. Nasser Shamim, instead of caring and sending me home, laughed in my face, quite literally. If that would be considered a bizarre reaction from a colleague, then from “the director of the foundation”, the reaction was, in one word, stunning.”

Strange, Strained, Tense Place

“This is the most vivid example of the present atmosphere at BP and the fact that the working atmosphere was not a relaxed, positive one in which working and professional relationships could flourish and evolve healthily, constructively and effectively for the "deserved benefit of the place, the people and the legacy of K". The atmosphere I experienced was a strange, strained and tense place.

In my brief time, I witnessed the episode with Gopal’s departure and the consequent manipulative message they gave staff members about it. It was very clear there was something unhealthy going on, based on that alone. Gopal embodied the spirit and essence of sharing K’s teachings. As did (see later) HEADTEACHER. I also witnessed the subsequent pushing out of teacher <>.”

Firing Without Dialogue

“My own employment ended when I was dismissed on Friday, 21.09.2018. At 1:00 pm, I was told by Mina Masoumian while having lunch that I was to have a meeting at 3:00 pm that same day - without any indication as to the reason for/ nature of said meeting, nor any prior warnings of any kind. At 3:00 pm, I was told my "part-time role was not working". I was not given the option to work full time nor was there any interest in having a "dialogue" to look at what the situation was and how we could solve it. Again, they don't seem to put into practice K's teachings.”

Manipulation, Control

“I sought basic level advice on the matter (from the UK’s Citizen Advice service) and was advised that I had “a case to bring”. However, given that my son was an Inwoods student and my husband was a class teacher there, I opted not to pursue that route. It seems that others too opted not to bring similar cases. In part no doubt, this is due to a wish not to harm the good name of Krishnamurti and/or a fear of doing so. It’s a powerful reality of which no doubt the management have long been aware and via which, I believe, they continue to manipulate/control/ make decisions that lack integrity.”

“Brockwood, the Biggest Disappointment in My Life”

“Brockwood Park School has been the biggest disappointment I have experienced in my life on a professional and personal level. I went from being ready to sell a property to be able to fund our son's education at BP to not wanting to touch it even if it was free. I simply trust none of the current management. I do not think they are qualified for the roles, demonstrate the duty and competence of care nor have the experience to be responsible for 80+ teenagers the majority of whose parents are far away. Some of the younger students were quite lost and emotionally unsupported.”

“I am grateful to life for the wonderful 4 academic years our son was able to enjoy at Inwoods Small School under the care, holistic approach and loving attention of HEADTEACHER whose criteria for fully covering children's needs, I fully trust. I was disgusted but sadly not surprised to hear of the way in which she too had been pushed out, and the way in which the management and trustees failed to listen and respond (literally and figuratively) to parents’ and teachers’ questions and requests for dialogue as the school under HEADTEACHER was brought to a close, leaving the children's educational/schooling needs completely unattended. “

“The closure was, for BP management, favorably timed with the pandemic unfolding, i.e., all schools 'closed down' at that time. But other schools of course continued to provide educational services via online classes, tutorials and activities. In contrast, the BP management effectively shut down Inwoods. The manner in which this was done and communicated brought directly into question their own ability and suitability to run any type of educational establishment - let alone a residential/ boarding one where a caring, pastoral ethos has surely to be at the core of everything.”

“I am therefore, with a touch of irony, grateful for the fact that life put me inside BP before investing what would have been the best part 100.000 GBP for my son’s education. They’ve also lost the potential interest and investment from others to whom I can no longer recommend the school. We had a circle of international friends & contacts considering that option.”

“I am happy for this text to be used for the benefit of recuperating the genuine essence of Brockwood Park School - once the most progressive school that sadly our son and many others won't be able to enjoy.”

“If you would like to discuss anything on Zoom etc., please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

With best wishes,”

<Lady HH>

Part 2: Hello Reza, good morning...Thank you. Wow, that is a lot of work!! As you say for a very good cause. 🙏🏻

Brutal Micromanagement

“I was lucky that I did not have much to do with Nasser on a daily basis. I cried because of the actions of Vicki Lewin. Once I returned to work after having hurt my back, when I was still in pain, the mother of a Spanish student who is a Physio, offered me a massage. It had to be there and then as she was flying back to Spain that afternoon. I told Vicki I was going to be absent from my desk for 30 minutes max and she did not allow me. Vicki was very much part of the gang, who I may be wrong but I always thought she spoke badly about me to Mina as she felt threaten by me. She always made me feel uncomfortable and was nervous around her. It was either you are part of the gang or you are not. She was and I wasn't.”

“The mother who offered me the massage could not believe it when I said I was not allowed to be absent from my desk in such a school...I have recently found myself thinking with nostalgia about how the perfect school BP could have been for our son who is now 15. Sept 22/23 would have been the time when he would have joined. Very, very sad. We have not found a suitable school yet!”

“One important correction about my role. I was luckily not Nasser's secretary. I was the school's secretary.”

TESTIMONY OF INWOODS’ STAFF MEMBER AND PARENT

“We moved many miles for our 5 year old child to join Inwoods Small School in 2013, initially on a part time basis (of which was a rarity in most primary schools) and to gradually build to 4-5 days. HEADTEACHER was a unique Headteacher (who disliked the title), so loving, so wise and such a visionary. I witnessed that she held the children (and the whole community) from the ground up, not top down like other schools. Once a month she would pull the whole community together to check in, update, review and have a dialogue, thus, keeping in regular face to face contact and was always available at the school or remotely.”

“I didn't know a great deal about K when we joined the school, I just simply loved the way of being that I saw and felt on the 6 times we visited before making the leap. HEADTEACHER was the very essence of following K's teachings, of course she would as she knew him first hand! HEADTEACHER ensured all staff were on the same page, having regular dialogues on a weekly basis. Consequently, the pupils were in a very special place, surrounded in nature and totally heard, known and understood, all coming from love and an understanding of what education is and needs to be. HEADTEACHER was for my child who is now 14 who recently said, "HEADTEACHER is the best teacher I have ever had"”..

Inwoods and Brockwood Had Healthy Relationship Before Antonio/Nasser/Mina took over Brockwood

“When I joined, Inwoods families were made to feel welcome (and encouraged by HEADTEACHER) at KFT (by appointment) to understand K's teachings and also, the school could share Brockwood’s facilities on many levels, food ordering, main hall for end of year show, tennis courts and pottery are a few things I was aware of. Thus, a healthy connection between Brockwood and Inwoods was had on all levels.”

From the onset, Helena allegedly wanted HEADTEACHER out

“However, the Principal changed to Antonio and [in my opinion] Helena began to dig her heels in. It was very clear [in my view that] she wanted HEADTEACHER out. Helena was forever scathing of HEADTEACHER. As I became administrator soon after our arrival, I witnessed Helena's [apparently, allegedly] undermining behaviour alongside the shift when Nasser and Mina come into power. Whilst I continued to assist HEADTEACHER and welcome in new families, I could see that something was awry. Money that belonged to Inwoods was put in a collective account, rather than a separate bank account.”

“It was not clear where all the monies were going. On a regular basis I had to ask Accounts for an update on monies received by parents for trial days etc. This information I was granted to continue the Admin process. I suggested that a separate account be set up as HEADTEACHER and I had observed that a substantial amount was being taken out for 'shared' gardeners, maintenance, accounts etc. without any break down of actual hours and invoices paid. Surely, the school should have its own bank account for accounting purposes and clarity?”

“Several families who took both children out following Nassar's presentation said they were furious how Nassar turned up out of the blue and told all parents how the fees didn’t meet the amount required to keep Inwoods afloat. He gave a flip chart presentation with ball park figures explaining how those who earned more would pay more. We, as parents, asked for specifics as there were obviously people there selling everything to be there. About 6 months later he turned up and gave the same presentation with no further information whatsoever.”

“Subsequently, HEADTEACHER ‘had a word with us’ but it was obvious she was told to by Brockwood. We handed our notice in not long after that.”

“One parent ends with 'I’d happily suggest Nasser and Mina were not qualified to make financial decisions on the scale of Inwoods/Brockwood. The fact they had ‘visa issues’ rung alarm bells for me'. It’s difficult to see how Inwoods was in such bad shape financially when none of the staff were really being paid anything meaningful. There was definitely another motive!”

“And so, I could list many issues whilst I worked in the office, such as:”

Nasser & Mina Often “No Show”

“1. Nasser/Mina agreeing a regular meeting to connect with (and suggested by) HEADTEACHER, but rudely never turning up or cancelling many times at the last minute.

2. Not allowing HEADTEACHER to create a governing body for the school, which was puzzling.

3. No longer allowing access to use the Brockwood facilities that I mentioned earlier.

4. NEVER entertaining the idea put forward many times of linking the two schools together through creating a middle school using the brick building on the Inwoods site which seemed to be the obvious place and a costing had been made to show it would be fruitful and thus, doable.

5. Reducing HEADTEACHER's timeslot at Trustee meetings.

6. NOT allowing HEADTEACHER to bring another colleague to any of the Trustee meetings.”

Antonio: “We don’t need yoga at Brockwood”!

“An Inwoods highly experienced yoga teacher parent came forward to offer yoga to Brockwood students, this was turned down by Antonio, 'we don't need yoga at Brockwood'. [Krishnamurti did yoga and wanted it taught at Brockwood; and he didn't want martial arts taught in his schools. Now Brockwood teaches martial arts and doesn't each yoga!]”

Antonio never went to Inwoods

“Never, did I see his presence on Inwoods site in 5 years of working there, I now understand by looking at Inwoods’ website that he is Principal of Inwoods, an ex-footballer, in charge of two schools? What evidence is there of his educational training, experience and expertise I wonder?

After witnessing such a thriving community within Inwoods Small School, with HEADTEACHER at the heart of it grow from strength to strength, it is great sadness that for whatever reasons HEADTEACHER was asked to move on. I would like to hear, first hand those reasons as so far, this is not clear [all the contradictory reasons given to various people turned out to be lies].”

No Experience With Primary Education

"Antonio who is now principal of Inwoods but has no experience of primary education or working with parents, and is not regularly directly engaging with the children."  Ex. Staff

Inwoods Provided Great Education

“All the children I have met following their experience of schooling through Inwoods are the most stable, grounded, solid, confident children who have a real passion for learning and zest for life.”

“If HEADTEACHER ever chose to leave, she would have handpicked the right person to take over and the transition would have been seamless. “

Nasser Allegedly “Never Made Sense”

Lady AAA shared her impression of Nasser who was "never there, never making sense, his eyes were glassy, and had a silly smirk about him all the time". She recalls Mina allegedly had no comprehension about the running of a school. "She didn't get how a school worked or how it ran"; not surprising since Mina has no background in the field of education, and neither does Nasser, and he thinks "everyone is an educator". Poor Krishnamurti whose beloved school ended up in the hands of Nasser and Mina and Raman and Antonio. The latter two also have no formal education in education. Raman, Mina, and Nasser also have no experience running a school, yet are reportedly behind all key decisions.

Helena’s Alleged Brusque Response To Child

Lady AAA recalls visiting Helena's school and a boy wanted to urinate -- and Helena, in the middle of a conversation with Lady AAA who was a complete stranger to the boy, allegedly pulled the boy's pants down and held him horizontally “like a board”, with the boy’s feet on the ground but his nose almost to the ground, and the boy urinated. It happened as the conversation with lady AAA was continuing. Lady AAA was shocked and wondered how the boy felt at this rather brusque and mechanical response, and how the boy’s parents would feel. Lady AAA said at Inwoods they would handle it very differently and with more care, sensitivity, and respect.

After reading the report Helena wrote that it’s up to the children to choose to be “assisted” “behind a tree if they request more privacy”. An expert in young children schooling thought it’s odd to expect a young child to tell the adult: I want privacy, let’s go behind a tree; the adult should judge that.

Like a few other people Lady AAA views Helena as allegedly a “control freak” and “obsessed with tidying things”.

(Lady AAA)

TESTIMONY OF EX-BROCKWOOD STUDENT

Climate of Tension and Fear

Mr. HH was a student at Brockwood. I know him and his family are very interested in K's teachings and care deeply about Brockwood. He went back in 2016/2017 after Nasser and Mina had become the leaders, and with Raman in the background were gaining increasing power.

"I could surely perceive a new climate of tension and fear. Something had changed compared to when I was a student."

Nasser “not acting in harmony with the intention of the place”

"I always felt that Nasser and Gopal were not acting in harmony with the place and its intentions. That, and other personal reasons, brought me to leave the place."

TESTIMONY OF MR. QQ

"Mr. QQ is such a lovely chap shame on them the way they treated him." -Ex-staff

Complaining Allegedly Led To Firing

Mr. QQ worked at Brockwood for more than a decade. He put up with the Nasser/Mina/Raman/Derek regime for five years until he finally had to speak up. He was sacked a couple of months after the first time he had complained. He believes his firing was because he had complained. He complained to Antonio that some things are not right at the school. Students are in bed with each other - boy and girl - in the middle of the day and so on. Antonio didn't like the criticisms and reacted with silly rationalizations. Later he was fired, without a reason, and they hired someone else, which means his position was needed, and he had been successful at it for over a decade. But he had opened his mouth, so he had to go; at least, that's how it seems to him.

People Unfairly Treated by Big Egotrips

"Something should happen – the way people have been treated has been unfair in the last 5 years since Nasser and Mina have been there."

"They didn’t tell us Nasser and Mina were coming. Suddenly one day they were there, to supposedly review the finances but ended up being on a big ego-trip that hurt the place." Within a few days his boss said "they were there to get rid of us. The atmosphere quickly changed for the worse when they brought their own guy to run his department."

Mina's "Change Management" Blunders

"There was no introduction. We didn't know who they were." The accounts ladies were made redundant very quickly. Mina thought she could manage the finances on her own. But realize that she can't. Then she got some mature students and others involved. "The attitude of Mina was, just get rid of them and save the school some money - in their eyes to save the school money".

"She thought she could handle all the accounts herself. But she couldn't. She ended up engaging mature students and volunteers who were untrained to help with the accounts. They were untrained and there was pressure on them which was unfair. There was a lot of stress on a lot of people unnecessarily".

They treat outside staff differently! Some of the best contributors to any organization are outside stuff and that was the case for Brockwood as well. But they were treated as inferior, yet another sign of mismanagement. The tribal attitude of "us vs. them" is dangerous in an organization that should work cohesively as one unit. That's Krishnamurti 101. Also, love is an organization's best tools. It makes things work! But where the thought made sense of the self, ego is and love is not. There's no shortage of ego among the dictators.

They Fired Good Part-Time Teacher To Save Money, But Spent £4000+ On Their Flat

“Four part time teachers were let go and I know their wages was not high. They got rid of them very quickly. One of the teachers they fired was a great teacher, part-time, who didn't cost that much. She was very helpful to the students. I know her wage was not that much.”

“Soon after firing a teacher who was very valuable to the students, they spent thousands of pounds remodeling and refurnishing Yannick’s flat” after they evicted him, so they can move into his flat, at the West Wing, where Mary Zimbalist and Krishnamurti lived (before it was remodeled by Scott Forbes years ago).

“Yannick was the most dedicated man. He was available 24/7.” After all these years they sacked him, for no reason.” Perhaps his guilt was that he was there at the school before the dictators came in and lived in a beautiful flat they had their eyes on. Mr. QQ confirmed the dictators replaced almost everyone at Brockwood except Antonio, Bill and himself.

Boys And Girls In Bed In The Middle Of Day And Open After-Lunch Kissing

In his meeting with Antonio (which he believes led to his firing), he told Antonio that "the students run themselves. The staff members are not really checking the students enough."

"Adrian was good at keeping some discipline with the students. Now the discipline is gone."

"Andy and myself would go to the students' rooms to do some maintenance work, during the day, and we'd find a boy and a girl in bed together. On more than one occasion. And that was during the day. In the evening God knows what happens."

"Antonio's response was that the students are the happiest they've ever been. Blah blah..."

Mr. QQ was shocked by Antonio's reaction. Antonio must have absolutely disliked hearing these facts. Antonio was probably too afraid to relay them to Mina - or who knows - since as the head of the school, it was his responsibility, and he was a part of the power games Mina and Nasser allegedly were playing. They knew or didn't care what happens at the school.

Several witnesses have expressed that for the management, the school and quality of education is not of primary importance. See section below ("KFT TRUSTEES & BROCKWOOD HAVE FAILED KRISHNAMURTI").

"It was at lunch time and the kids were sitting on the couch, kissing and cuddling. Boys and girls."

Before Nasser and Mina's time, it was not allowed for a boy and girl to be in bed, or to kiss out in the open. He was also concerned about the impression prospective parents would have if they walked around. "Adrian would not have tolerated that."

Hypocrisy: Extreme Rule | No Enforcement

At the same time, a witness and an ex-Brockwood student, whose son went through the application process, said she was surprised at some of the new rules. "They make it clear that you're not allowed to have a girlfriend or boyfriend. That's never been in the rules before."

Before it was like, "do you have to be discreet about relationships...obviously you couldn't have an intimate [sexual] relationships but it was part of growing up. You can't keep teenagers from falling in love. It's just not possible." That was one of the main things that turned off her son about Brockwood, and he decided not to go to there.

Brockwood under Mina and Nasser doesn't allow boyfriend/girlfriend, but reportedly and allegedly, routinely students intimately kiss in the sitting room and have reportedly been seen in bed together. Before, love relationships were allowed, but the guideline was discreteness, and it was enforced. Enforcement is a loaded word; ideally appropriate action is integrated into a school's culture.

Nasser Allegedly Disparaging Student Artwork

“When they first started, there were a few incidents where I realized what Nasser is about. There was an art workshop where students hung their artwork in the dining hall after the workshops. I was in there one day. It was only Nasser and myself walking through. Nasser started laughing at the artwork". Nasser also allegedly made a remark which Mr. QQ recalls being disparaging. Mr. QQ thought, "if these students see him laughing at their artwork, it's demoralizing. You don't do that as a normal person," especially given his position as the head of KFT.

Nasser's alleged "Power Trip", Alleged paranoia that flight simulator certificate could be used for flying a real airplane!!

Mr. QQ is a pilot and has done an aviation workshop for students at Brockwood. At the end of the workshop, he made a certificate for each student as a motivational move so they would remember the class and something to show that they used a flight simulator. This is very normal and even online courses often issue certificates. One year when Nasser and Mina started, "I was doing the same thing and printing certificates. Nasser stopped it. He said if I use this they can say that the they are qualified for flying!!! Which is something ridiculous, absolutely crazy. No way. It's just a certificate that shows they've used a flight simulator in a workshop! I am qualified in aviation law. What Nasser said was just ridiculous. At that time, I realized this guy is on a power trip."

He hears that Nasser was quoting Krishnamurti a lot. He seems to use such quotes to assert his authority, which is exactly what Krishnamurti did not want and sternly warned against.

[Update] A student reported getting the flight simulator certificate as the highlight of his time at Brockwood. But Nasser put a stop to it because he’s a lawyer and in his mind, a flight simulator license can be abused to try to fly an airplane (a rationale that makes absolutely no sense to us).

Nasser's Alleged Intimidating Behavior

"I'm not an aggressive guy. I get on with everybody. But I don't like bullies. Nasser was being a bully." ~ Mr. QQ

In a maintenance meeting after his boss was fired, Nasser was there and staring at Mr. QQ in the eyes, which he found to be intimidating, strange and rude. “Nasser was completely glaring at me in an intimidating way and I don't know why. He is a <snipped>. I'm not an aggressive guy. I get on with everybody. But I don't like bullies. Nasser was being a bully." Bullies do that sometime: stare into someone's eyes to assert their power. When the big boss does that, it's even worse. Krishnamurti spent years talking about importance of healthy relationships, communications, and truth. If you have something to say to someone you tell them, you don't play games. If you're a boss, it's at a minimum very impolite to stare at a multi-level subordinate in the eyes while the chap has absolutely no idea what your problem is.

Nasser's Alleged Intimidating Disrespect For A Female Employee's Space

Mr. QQ cited a lady who said, "on several occasions Nassar got right into her space in an intimidating, authoritarian manner by standing very close to her as she was sitting at her desk, demanding certain things to be done for work. She felt really uneasy."

Nasser & Mina's Alleged Quest For Easy Life

Mr. QQ said he suspects Nasser and Mina are on to something. Perhaps they have their eyes on the money, or it is just a hunger for power, living a good, easy life in one of the most beautiful places in the world without effectively being accountable to anybody. A weak Board of Trustees doesn't count when the same powers that brought these people in and empowered them have huge influence on the Board. Mr. QQ said he does not trust them with <snipped>.

Another witness commented that he doesn't think Nasser allegedly works hard (I put it politely) and "just instigates and strategies."

Racist Attitude?

Mr. QQ is the second person who said that Nasser had allegedly exhibited a racist attitude or treatment of a guest at the Center. There's no concrete evidence of this but since more than one person reported it, it's included here as a possibility and certainly not an accusation.

"I think there was a man of African descent in the quiet room and Nasser had some issue." Ex-staff

Strange Power Structure / Mina's Misleading Title / Nasser's Role

A bursar would never have as much power as Mina. Mr. QQ believes Antonio, the Principal, is submissive to Mina. "I thought she had some kind of a hold over him." That makes Mina the head of the school and not just the Bursar, the head above the principal. It is one freaky organizational structure. Add to that Nasser's role:

“I think Nasser has a voice in the background that gets Mina to take action at the school. He's the puppet master, and I think Mina is a voice for him”.

That refines a theme that has come up in other testimonies: Nasser's hand in the school. It's reportedly there not as doing something, but influencing, controlling, and freaking over trivial details like flight simulation certificates, asserting his psychological sense of self and his will-to-power, staring at subordinates, getting into their space, interrupting a casual friendly conversation with his aura of authority and fear...everything Krishnamurti dreaded.

Nonexistent Complaints Process

The September 2021 inspection raised an issue with the complaint process. The reality, as Mr. QQ said, is that they don't welcome complaints or grievances. "There is no HR there. There's nowhere for any staff member to go to file a complaint except with Mina or Antonio. They got complete control over the power," apparently without much accountability. "If you don't completely fit in or voice an opinion they don't like, they get rid of you. There's no place to go complain. I've seen this with other staff members as well."

Brockwood's Culture Declined

Mr. QQ is one of the very few who spend several years before and after Nasser/Mina/Raman/Derek allegedly took over the place. After Nasser and Mina came on board, eventually he felt some basic courtesies like “opening a door for you or holding the door" have degraded.

The place "did become more self-centered", which is so against K's teachings. K is about less the "psychological sense of self" and not more! It makes perfect sense how and why this happened. Nasser and Mina allegedly instilled a self-centered culture, starting with their own behavior to quench their greed for more and more power, micromanagement, control. Top leadership sets the tone of an organization.

On one occasion while installing a heavy wardrobe for Raman's man, Abhijit Padte allegedly just sat there, watched him, and didn't offer any help.

“There was always whispers. Every time you went into a room. People being secretive all the time. Really strange atmosphere.” Again, an atmosphere of fear and everything Krishnamurti dreaded.

"They were not that interested in the students, I felt. Since NASA and Mina came, the actual education seems secondary."

Various witnesses have expressed the same view. Related to the students and their rooms, one witness noted:

"The only thing I can add is about the lack of hygiene and how disgusting some students rooms are, with really dirty bedding and clothing, I complained about this to the housekeeper several times and he said he would speak to the person who should check it but for me it was an ongoing issue I kept seeing, I would not want my child living in that filth."

Adrian, Gopal, Bill, Antonio

"When Adrian and Bill were running the school it was the best times." This was before Nasser and Mina took over. Adrian was one of the first people they sacked and nobody knew why. Bill went with the flow and became part of the Nasser and Mina team, as their subordinate. Both Antonio and Bill are close associates of Friedrich Grohe and Nasser and Mina probably realized they couldn't get rid of them as they needed a few people from the past for the sake of continuity.

"The atmosphere changed when Gopal came and it was not necessarily for the better", Mr. QQ contends. Gopal had some ideas that raised eyebrows and seemed too progressive for even a K school. For example, students teach themselves and go to a teacher only if they had a problem! What's the point of the teacher then? "This may work for older students but for a 13-year-old it's more difficult."

Inwoods, Helena

He said the collapse of Inwoods was a real shame. And like everyone else, he expressed very high praise for HEADTEACHER.

The first phrase that came to his mind about Inwoods was, "maybe it was a jealousy thing" (firing of HEADTEACHER) allegedly on the part of Nasser, Mina, Helena, Antonio...

Like several other witnesses he felt Helena had a strong influence on Antonio. "I had the feeling that that might be an angle, where Helena may want to take over Inwoods. She has a preschool."

Mr. QQ found it strange that Helena took her preschool kids to have picnic near a cesspool. "The sewage was leaking. It was winter time. She chose that spot for some reason although there are so many nicer places, and away from leaking sewage and cesspool. Right next to the sewage which has been leaking for months." He told her politely what are you doing here. "Leaking sewage plant, little kids, in the winter. Where is the common sense?" Helena says after she was informed she didn’t go back there.

TESTIMONY OF LADY QQQ / Letter to ISI

“Many staff and parents were gaslighted”

URGENT - Information for the Inspectorate of Brockwood Park and Inwoods Small School (inspection 21/09/2021)

“To whom it may concern,

It has been brought to my attention that an ISI inspection of the above schools is due to take place tomorrow, Tuesday 21st September 2021.

I am a former employee of the KFT, having worked as the admin and recruitment manager at Inwoods Small School from January 2018-March 2020 when the original school closed. My daughter also attended the school from 2017-2020.

From November of 2019 until the demise of the school in March 2020, many staff and parents were gaslighted by members of the management team. The trustees of the school handed the reconstruction over to the management team and staff and parents were prevented from having their concerns over the manner in which this was undertaken, heard by them.

It was a long drawn out process, without mediation and effectively culminated in the entire staff and parent community being forced to leave the school.

I feel that it would be advisable for the ISI to look very closely and carefully at the demeanour, intention and integrity of  two most prominent figures in the management team and to examine carefully whether the quality of education is underpinned by a healthy and honest ethos.

I would like this email to remain anonymous.

Kind Regards”

This Report Called “A Blessed Relief”

This is one of several complements we have received which is nice given the tremendous effort that we put into this project. Her statement is presented in this section because it’s more than just “thank you”.

Lady QQQ sent this note to our task-force:

“What a blessed relief - at last!

I put in a request for an urgent OFSTED and Charity Commission inspection with my comments of concern delivered prior the last inspection.

So many of us have been gaslighted and mistreated by the KFT management team and I feel that justice and closure is long overdue.

Many thanks to you brave folks,

Warmly”

TESTIMONY OF LADY D

“Inwoods was a very special place.” They were very impressed with Inwoods and the Director, HEADTEACHER, so they decided to send their child to Inwoods, although before that the child was happy at their school. “It was a good move. She got a lot out of a completely different approach to education, and she made good friends”. The children felt safe there. “That for me was an important one because it encouraged the children to be what they wanted to be. The staff were really lovely people. I have very high impressions of HEADTEACHER in particular…she was really pivotal in that school… she put her whole heart and soul into it. And people gravitate towards people like that, period. She attracted some really good teachers. She was really kind, really hard-working, all the children loved her and trusted her completely.”

Lady DD thought Brockwood Trustees should have given more support to Inwoods, and this hampered the great work it was doing. Support in this context could be understood as the opposite of everything that Nasser/Mina/Raman were allegedly doing to undermine Inwoods. At a minimum, they should have let it live and prosper and continue to flourish, educate and change children’s lives for the better, instead of trying to monkey-wrench it for the creepy motives illustrated in the testimonies herein.

Lady DD was appalled at how KFT undermined HEADTEACHER and Inwoods. They told her that she needed to go on a sabbatical. That’s their typical line/approach when they want to get rid of someone. It seems dishonest. A sabbatical means you will have a place when you come back. But KFT apparently sends people on sabbatical knowing when they come back, they will not have a place – so essentially instead of firing them, they send them on sabbatical, which is worse because if someone is fired, they’re free to look at their next step in life. But this seemingly dishonest conduct of KFT gives a false impression which ends up being confusing and problematic down the road and impact people’s lives negatively.

Reportedly, HEADTEACHER tried to negotiate the terms of the proposed sabbatical, but they kept dodging the issue and finally said they were firing her instead of offering her a sabbatical. This was all before she had signed her NDA so she was free to talk to people; and we talked to some of them. But the rumor had gone around that HEADTEACHER should have gone on sabbatical but refused, which was not true. The terms of each sabbatical are negotiated; but after making the offer, KFT reportedly declined to negotiate the terms (which is normal for every sabbatical) and flip flopped, saying it wasn't an option.

“There were no discussions around it”. It was a dictatorial approach. Nasser, Mina and Antonio reportedly attended 3 meetings with different parents. Most parents went to the first one. To Lady DD, it felt like “it was a done deal period”. There was no discussion with the parents to take their consideration into effect. The dictator had his/her mind set on conquering Inwoods and getting rid of its much loved Director who had made Inwoods the great school that it was. “We really prepared for that meeting. We had a list of questions. We loved the school and if felt we could have trusted the new way it was going to be done we would have stayed, but they didn’t give us any sense of trust. And there were no plans, no outlook, no clarity on who would run the school and how, and how the parents would be a part of that, etc. They seemed set on first wiping out HEADTEACHER from the power map perceived in their heads. But they hadn’t thought beyond that destruction.”

They said Antonio would run it in the interim, but the parents didn’t have confidence in this option since Antonio was already very occupied at Brockwood.

One of the great things about Inwoods was that “as a parent you were a part of how it ran which is why it felt so safe. All of the children knew all of the parents.” Parents were there twice a week to help out, so it was run by the staff and the parents. Mina and Nasser allegedly wanted to distance the parents “and make it into a school where the parents were not a part of it”. Why not have the parents involved? The setup Lady DD is describing is like a village, a family, and a community, where a young child is immensely nurtured, which is what a child needs and Krishnamurti spoke at length about. It’s not just about academics.

“Education as a mutual task was key in HEADTEACHER’s vision. It was K who said that. It was hard work but I felt really wholesome. You felt that you wanted to be part of that; you wanted to get to know the kids; and yeah it was good.”

Mina, Nasser, and Antonio with backing from core of political power, Raman, allegedly “didn’t want those parents to continue because they knew a lot of the parents felt that Nasser and Mina didn't want to keep the parents and the children carrying on that had been there because they knew that we all are friends and supporters of HEADTEACHER's vision. And it wasn't just HEADTEACHER, it was the other staff as well. It was a heartful school; the kids loved it and flourished”.

K talked about the importance of parent involvement as part of the process of learning and working together towards a right education, obviously, as the parents are an important part of the upbringing and education of their children. (Education doesn't just happen within the school walls). However, at Inwoods, reportedly the parents weren't making key decisions and “running” the school; that would have been very difficult to manage as parents are not one body but individuals with different ideas about learning and schools.

They were involved in practical ways such as cleaning, tidying, and gardening. They were also invited to meetings, dialogues, and discussions regarding the functioning and vision of the place. To organize a place in this way requires a great deal of trust and care in relationships - apparently not the way Nasser, Mina, Raman, Antonio were managing their relationship with Inwoods and some others who report a lack of trust. Being control freaks would have never allowed Inwoods to flourish as it did under HEADTEACHER's Krishnamurtian, love-caring-respect-centered approach to relationships. Different talent/mindset/skills are needed when you are including people and delegating and utilizing the power of love than when you're controlling and acting dictatorially by utilizing fear.

The excuse of Nasser and Mina allegedly gave was that “HEADTEACHER had become too powerful, and it wasn’t healthy!!!” OMG! It wasn’t healthy for whom? The dictators were threatened by HEADTEACHER’s power? And what was HEADTEACHER’s power? It wasn’t the kind that dictators gain – it was the power of love!! The love HEADTEACHER and her staff gave to the kids and their parents: the love that they got back and that love that sustained this amazing school. And the dictators found that threatening. That sums up the scandal!

It’s amazing how many different, contradictory excuses were told to different people – which is very typical of lies. Lies are inconsistent.

“That wasn't my impression at all. She led that school from behind; that was the phrase that stuck in my mind. And she wasn't a leader as such in a traditional sense; she knew how to bring out the best in her staff; she never spoke more or longer than she needed to; she had that very female approach that you don't often see in men – sorry, no offense.”

“She led from behind and that really I thought was an incredible quality that she had, and she did it very well. So to accuse her of sort of taking the school off on a limb and doing it in her own way, I thought was really unfair. I heard Mina and Nasser were accusing her of breaking away from Brockwood. I heard very often the opposite from HEADTEACHER that she made several attempts to invite them to various events and gatherings and that they would never come, and she wanted to keep the relationship going but it becomes so tense and difficult. It took a huge toll on HEADTEACHER”. And they had the nerve to say HEADTEACHER didn’t engage them! This is sooo bad. This is like a person who owes you money saying that you own him money!

It was just one big dishonest screw-up. They gave so many contrary reasons to different people which seems to indicate they were just lying and trying to make up excuses to justify their attack on HEADTEACHER, Inwoods, and the Inwoods’ students, parents, teachers, supporters, and volunteers. The latest excuses I hear in this testimony are that HEADTEACHER was getting too powerful which they viewed as unhealthy. So they clearly know how unhealthy too much power can be, but they’ve been constantly getting more power themselves.

The latest excuses seems to be the most telling. It shows an apparent core motive behind their crusade against Inwoods: wanting to have absolutely power. They didn’t like the fact that HEADTEACHER was running such a successful gig and was so loved versus them being disliked by so many people. They had alienated many and instilled a spirit of fear, which is so radically contradictory to the spirit of K and what he taught.

So HEADTEACHER, as beautifully described by Lady DD and so many others, is the kind of personality that would be a threat to the dictators who seem rather to be power hungry, egotistic, control freaks. It’s unhealthy and should be an inspiration, but the dictators are not inspired by people driven by intelligence, love, clarity, happiness, and other positive qualities. HEADTEACHER was so contrary to the mindset of the dictators, so they toppled her! And down with her went a great school! For shame!

“Being able to use the facilities at Brockwood dwindled. I heard that they used to do it a lot more and there was a more of a sense of being part of a larger community, and that got less and less under Mina and Nasser’s regime. When her daughter was there, they were allowed to occasionally use the pottery studio and nothing else. Contrast that with Helena’s nursery which is reportedly using Brockwood’s outdoor facilities without any issues [she also used the outside classroom built in the woods. It was a timber construction]. That’s how it should be. It’s crazy not to. It doesn’t surprise me that it’s easier for Helena now because she’s Antonio’s wife and Brockwood doesn’t have to worry about looking hypocritical if they allow Helena’s school kids use the facilities but restrict Inwoods’ under HEADTEACHER’s direction because of the management strange motives.”

Impressions of Nasser Shamim

Any impressions of Nasser? “Not good, if I’m honest. In the meeting he was quite defensive and non-forthcoming with information and a bit rude.” She had a one on one with Nasser early on because they were considering living at Brockwood. She met with Gopal who was welcoming the fact that she worked at Winchester University. Gopal felt it would be good for Brockwood to have more links. “I was shocked when I joined a group of staff at Winchester University who were really interested in contemplative pedagogy” and they had never heard of Brockwood Park which is but ten minutes away! That’s what happens when you run a school as an isolated shell!

“I was shocked to learn Brockwood was its own little universe and not linked to the local community!! Gopal was trying to change all that. When I met with Nasser, he was very unwelcoming!”

A repeated theme as expressed by so many witnesses: “There was no sense of curiosity, interest or shared respect. I felt really put off and decided I didn’t want to live at Brockwood. That was a pivotal meeting for me. I felt I don’t like this guy. I don’t often not like people.”

“I really disliked this guy. I thought maybe it’s a cultural difference but then I realized it’s much more than a cultural difference. I can attest having come from the same culture as Nasser and Mina that is absolutely the contrary. Iranian/Persian culture is very welcoming, warm, affectionate, caring, considerate, respectful, humble, grateful…”

“He was very condescending and a bit patronizing, actually. They didn’t want families there because one parent has to take care of a child, and that's one resource less for Brockwood. It's a speculation.” See section "Primary School at Brockwood" below for a related discussion.

Lady DD’s teacher was a friend of Krishnamurti and was considering sending his kids to Brockwood, but he heard that “the place had really changed and gone off on a slight bad direction so that's why he didn't send his kids there as teenagers. I thought that’s kind of sad, but it confirmed my gut feeling.”

Brockwood felt like a bubble to Lady DD, disconnected from the people who live in that area. “I don’t think it’s healthy. Then you get into danger of becoming a cult…with no link to local community”.

Impressions of Mina Masoumian

Allegedly, “Mina and Nasser were both hated by many. I tried not to [hate them], but it was hard because they were clearly acting in some not wholesome ways. I met Mina a few times. I felt uncomfortable around her.”

Lady DD said there was a rumor that someone at the accounting department showed up to work one day; Mina was allegedly sitting at her desk and said, this is my desk now, and that was the end of her job. Lady DD didn’t have direct experience of this, so this may be inaccurate – however, similar things have been reported by others where people’s roles were undermined by going around them, or they would come back from holiday and their office is gone. These were direct witnesses so not hearsay.

TESTIMONY OF MR. S

“Last time I saw her [staff member] she couldn't wait to get out of Brockwood because of the way she was treated by management.”

Mr. S. was witness to all that happened during the disastrous management of Raman, Nasser, Mina, Derek, Antonio, Bill that culminated in the implosion of Inwoods.

It’s All About Ego, Power, Control

“You can’t have got further away from K’s teachings than where we are at Brockwood now. It’s all about people’s egos, power, control”.

Mr. S resembled Brockwood to “something like Dianetics in the way people are manipulated, quietened, moved on [fired], sanctioned, etc. - that’s the reality at Brockwood now. There’s no openness, compassion, truth, love, etc., and Raman has a very big part in making that happen.” [This interview took place before Raman becomes even more powerful and assumes the official role of head of KFT].

“There's a lot of need to control involved in Nasser and Mina's movements. Anybody who confronted the issue or didn't go along with it was targeted or ousted altogether. There's certainly a need to control everything”.

Dishonesty

Mr. S. said, “When they target somebody and move that person on, the truth of it is not told”. They bring excuses and make up stories until the person driven out reveals the reality of how he or she was mistreated, pressured to sign an agreement, etc. which usually clashed with the version Brockwood management had made up. It’s unknown if reports of such pressures crossed the lines of laws such as the UK’s coercive controlling behaviour laws. Those who signed NDAs ended up being quiet, so we do not know details unless the NDAs are undone by the Charity Commission should that become necessary.

Wicked Lack of Transparency & Weak Trustees

“If Trustees are wishy washy and weak, people will do what they want.”

Before Nasser and Mina’s time, for the trustee meetings, a packet was prepared including reports from various divisions, and the final compiled report was available at least to people who contributed to who often presented their section to the trustees. Nasser and Mina changed that. “After about a year that completely stopped so nobody was going to the trustee meetings to give any kind of opinion”, and even the contributors were not allowed to get a copy of the final report, which probably means Nasser and Mina manipulated it to say what they wanted to say, and lack of personal presentation removed risk of truth coming out.

It was indeed the trustees’ fault for accepting such a behavior. They could have demanded that the presentations continue. But being as passive as they reportedly are, it’s no surprise that here again, the trustees failed the Trust, and management overpowered the trustees.

Dictatorships Don’t Like Transparency

A lawyer we were discussing this subject with immediately noticed that the names of KFT trustees are not on their website. They used to be because transparency used to be a good thing there! Exact same story as KFA after apparently Grohe’s influence negatively impacted the place. One of the things the Executive Director Grohe’s “soldier” brought in did was to remove the names of the trustees from the website. Dictatorships don’t like transparency.

Dialogue Isn’t Their Way

“They never had dialogue in the [many] years I was there. They never part-took in dialogue with anybody whom they ousted. They push them out, they cut the rope, they're finished. It's a real shame. Dialogue isn't their way. because then the truth can come out. It seemed dialogue within the organization wasn't there, let alone dialogue with people outside. It all gets shut down. If they open up the dialogue the facts will emerge and then you have to act on what's best - not what you want. That was not their way of operation. An important decision requires conversation and arriving at an answer -- in dialogue you'd explore the options and possibilities. I believe even that was lacking.”

Nasser Allegedly Memorizing K and Abusing it to Fortify his Authority

Mr. S. said a part of the problem is that Nasser who is running the show is “memorizing K and uses it like a weapon to push an agenda, a view, a situation…K is used as a tool.: K warned about this for decades and also the problem of authority, including alleged abuse of his teachings as Nasser has reportedly and allegedly used for authoritarian purposes.

"Nasser using K as a tool for fortifying his authority” goes extremely against K's teachings. He specifically did not want that and warned against it, especially in his schools. Look up the letters to schools from the two books with the same title. K was a wise man, saw this coming, and warned against it.

Mr. S. commented on a Trustee who walked out because of the way Nasser/Mina/Raman regime were acting. “He was one of the ones who came from the real world. He understood about the energy of the place. I was sad that he left. He was one of the good guys.”

Another Sign of Weak Management

He also recalled, “I've watched these guys operate. What they do is to put the hatches down* and ignore, ignore till it goes away. They do nothing until reality moves on. They hide until it goes away.” It is a clear sign of weak management-by-ignorance. But this is so contrary to Krishnamurti’s teachings who teaches to pay attention to everything. What you ignore comes back to haunt you. It’s only through dealing with things they can resolve. From a management science standpoint, Nasser/Mina/Raman’s alleged approach by ignorance or management-by-blocking is inept for a K foundation/school. It was never intended to be a dictatorship.

*Hatches is a nautical term for the door between the outside and inside of a ship to be put down when there’s perception of storm. It is the same phrase as “batten down the hatches” – which is psychologically blocking, suppressing, avoiding, escaping, hiding, and all that Krishnamurti was so much against. Deal with it! The man who started KFT spent a lifetime teaching to deal with it, look at it, understand it, and let it tell its story. But if you’re burning in anxiety, insufficiency, egotism, search for psychological security. If you’re confused, insecure, miserable, pathetic, petty, power hungry, tribal, then you block, avoid, suppress, escape, etc. – which seems to be the way Brockwood management has been operating at times. Again, it is so contrary to K’s teachings; therefore, they should resign, and the Trustees who have enabled these ways of operation should be ousted as well. Krishnamurti deserves better than to be bogged down in mediocrity: he dreaded mediocrity and spoke at length about it.

This style of management-by-ignorance follows KFA’s path. In fact, KFA instituted this lame, irresponsible way of management a while back to ignore and discredit views that called out its shortcomings. In doing so, it engaged in the worst of what K so-called “cunning animals” do: discredit the messenger in order to discard the message. The ugly behaviors in the K foundations are not often seen in the corporate world. Poor Krishnamurti!

Someone was obsessively hitting my website looking at the letters to Nasser and also Raman. I guess that it was Nasser. In their world, they can choose to block someone because they are so incompetent in dealing with the topic while in the background not only don’t they ignore the person, but they obsessively and repeatedly read what the person wrote. They are probably making images of those who may be reading the letters. Hypocritical at best.

Mr. S. said, “They're not used to people saying no or to say I am not happy with that answer – the nonsense answers they give to avoid the issue. They're not used to anyone confronting and challenging them.” Now think of what K said about challenging authority! He viewed most of the trustees as passive and gentle and overrun by "very strong, forceful characters" like Nasser and Mina.

Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDA) / Cults

Mr. S said, “The way Brockwood is being run is very similar to how you would run a cult. The way the cults control the people is very similar to Brockwood. Use of gagging orders (NDAs) is also similar. At some point the international trustees or somebody [charity commission] has to say how many NDAs are there, why were they issued, and let’s talk to people and see what really happened.”

We already know the situation around some of these NDAs and reportedly some were signed in strange circumstances and questionable ways. “They’re using NDAs to help them stay in power,” Mr. S contends. People who signed NDAs talked about their grievances to others before signing, and KFT could not control what people told others (who told others and told us) before the NDAs were signed.

The Trustees themselves allegedly seem somewhat "gagged" by Nasser and Mina's legal talk: things are purported as a "legal issue", therefore, keep quiet.

Cult-like Management

"The techniques they've been using are recognized cultish type means to control information. Like the oppression. The technique is used in places like the Scientology cult.

The September 2021 Inspection

We talked about the inspection that happened in September. The results were out recently. Management did not get a good grade. It could have been the reason Raman has replaced Nasser recently, essentially the same thing as before: “meet the new boss, the same as the old boss” as the song goes… I won’t get fooled again! But the aim is to make it seem that there’s been a change while the power structure remains the same.

Mr. S: “I’m really surprised this happened because Raman always works in the shadows, he always has – he just says, oh, I’m just here to say hello to the students – but he’s been termed as the most powerful man at Brockwood/KFT by several people.”

I am surprised too that Raman likes to be in the background. The fact that he’s moved to the forefront gives me the opinion that this may have been a desperate move: he was reportedly behind the mess, and sugar hit the fan. Given the weak Board and Raman’s power (gained from Grohe’s influence), things had to be kept under control and handled by insiders. But there’s no fundamental change in the mindset, power structure, and approach that resulted from the current mess. A much bigger change is needed, and it’s probably not possible without intervention from the Charity Commission. The status quo can’t reinvent itself.

Is Raman still on Friedrich Grohe’s payroll as well as serving as head of KFT? Perhaps contractually that poses no issues, but for a large donor to have so much power may be an issue.

“They feel there is no accountability. Who are they accountable to?” The trustees. But several people have reported their impression that the Trustees appear weak compared to the “management team”, which often gets a rubber stamp approval from Trustees. The Old Boys’ Derek Hook is part of the Trustee team as well, and reportedly and allegedly an empowerer of Nasser and Mina. Gary Primrose is very close to Derek and has lived and still lives in the same house in the Lake District. Raman is allegedly tremendously influential on the Trustees. Gisele Balleys’ close affiliation with the Grohe team is well known.

Nasser (Mr. Enlightened)'s K-Quoting, Alleged Shouting At People

Allegedly, “she got shouted at by Nasser and cried”, Mr. S recalls of Lady U. who came to Brockwood as a prospective chef.

Lady W. is a world-class chef who was fired. “She is the most amazing chef ever and has worked all over the world for top clients. She is a really lovely lady and also a Yoga instructor.”

Mr. S stated that many come to Brockwood “with a certain expectation based on their reading of the teachings. And they get disappointed to see how the place is run so contrary to it.”

“I know how these guys operate. They're very clever at boxing off, shutting doors, stonewalling, and when there’s an inspection moving things so they don't appear as they are. They tidy it up tight.”

It reminds me of similar movement at KFA by another Grohe lineage installed manager, Jacob Sluijter or “Jaap”, who had the same modus operandi (probably still does). He was caught telling volunteer and staff to “look busy” to impress donors and show that a lot is happening, as one insider testified. K challenged people to explore the power and beauty of living without a psychological image. It is yet another case of contradiction between the heads of these foundations and K’s philosophy.

When I wrote to ask Nasser to get his point of view on the Inwoods implosion, he cowardly blocked me, and applied the block for the entire organization! A silly thing to do because I have many email addresses, should I try to reach my friends at their Brockwood address.

Allegedly, “they are very, very cunning”, Mr. S said. It reminded me of K’s expression, “cunning animals”.

Raman Patel

"I saw Raman very much involved in the day-to-day decision making and essentially the strategies behind things. And even down to being at meetings, at the Center, about work that needed to be done at the Center; he was involved in those decisions. At the time he wasn't even employed"!

“All the time the Trustees are backing them. Raman is backing them.” Mr. S ,who knows the place inside out, clearly stated that Raman Patel is a central pole of power - not because of any spiritual or moral greatness but because he's on Friedrich Grohe's payroll. There's no way anyone else with the exact same profile would have had so much power and influence if he didn't have the clout of Big Money.

Raman Patel at the time held no official role except for being Mr. Grohe’s man. The central pole of power should be the Board of Trustees. But real power lies somewhere else. And since these interviews, Raman took on official role of head of KFT, which is mind-boggling given his profile.

“With the support of Raman, it's impossible to have any effect on them.” This is how powerful Mr. Grohe’s man has become. Backed by big money, maintaining a guru image, pulling strings in the background, an all-powerful figure with no official role for a long time, and unqualified in our opinion to be the head of KFT, which he’s recently become.

Perhaps an indication of the Trustees’ weakness is a trustee’s statement to Mr. S that they “don't like any kind of confrontation.” It included confronting the mismanagement. “If they are not going to confront any issues then nothing ever is going to change.”

"Hi Reza. I walked with <a lady> just after the incident and she was still crying. Nasser had shouted at her as in his mind she could not do the job and had to go. I witnessed that side of him once and described him as having the face of a contorted thug."

Wall of Silence

Mr. S’s employer received a job application from an ex-Brockwood staff member who had left her role after six months of working for Mina. Mr. S was asked to obtain a reference. He placed a call to a long-term friend who worked in the same department at Brockwood Park. Apparently Mina found out that this inquiry is being made. Mr. S’s friend “was shaking out of fear” that on Monday Mina’s going to ask her about it and she didn't know what she needs to tell her. She's a 45-year-old chartered accountant and tough as nails. She was “shaking in fear” that the management would be chastising her for prospects of provided a reference for someone.

She was told that she was not allowed to talk with Mr. S! “There's a wall of silence. Nobody is talking to me. We've been very close friends for five years. And they told her that she cannot talk to me. I'm okay with that but it's awful that they're controlling to that extent.”

Several people have reported similar behavior and the spirit of fear at Brockwood, which is so contradictory to Krishnamurti’s ideas. Their closest friends stopped talking to them because it was reportedly mandated by management with the apparently dishonest excuse / threat that it’s a legal issue. They found this very difficult and psychologically painful. “I can't have lunch with an old friend or even a cup of tea. Because they're so paranoid. Because of what's going on with Inwoods…”

Mr. S. recalls, “Even people like my administrative assistant who was sitting next to me for years is not allowed to talk to me.”

Mr. S. said about Nasser and Mina, allegedly, “they brought a business view where bottom line is the most important thing…Anybody who stood up against this approach [of treating Brockwood as a business], was targeted and got rid of…They only retain yes people whom they could control…using K as an excuse while K would have been very much against some very questionable ways of conduct of the dictators.” It’s questionable whether their motive is even purely financial for the well-being of KFT/Brockwood, which is not an issue with millions in the bank. A main driver / motive appears to be a craving for absolutely control, power, ego, security for themselves – all contrary to K’s teachings, in our opinion.

Our Responsibility

“We have to think about the people who come afterwards. They're going to find something that isn't what it should be because our generation just let it slip away.” Wise words by an ex-staff member who is extremely alienated and disturbed by Raman/Nasser/Mina allegedly running KFT/Brockwood down. Think of "the man from Seattle" story that K told!

Another Raman Recruit

Mr. S: “He kind of treats everybody like servants…it was things like that over and over where he treats people badly; his energy I can see why he and Raman get on. It’s not a nice energy.” Mr. S had to approve expenditures since he was the head of procurement (to make sure they’re getting value, quality, competitive offers, etc.), but the guy was buying things without going through the official approval process. So Mr. S asked him and he never got an answer. Mr. S: “I guess if Raman is backing him, he can do whatever he wants.” He resembled it to something too risky to publish.

They put him in a key role that meant full access for the management team.

Tribalism / Division

"The emphasis was to narrow the place down to residential people who they can control and monitor very closely. It's become like Dianetics, which is a cult. Very similar working practices." Most people were for having everyone as one team regardless if they were residential or non-residential. Nasser allegedly changed this so that the outside people were kept outside and the residential people are tightly controlled.

A picture at the time of this interview on the Brockwood website did not include any of the outside staff! Seems egotistic and tribal, and a managerial shortcoming. I reflect back to my professional project management experience and the importance of building a performant team, which is only possible when there’s internal oneness. It’s right up K’s alley: fragmentation, division, loss of energy.

Mr. S found it “terrible” that Mr. Grohe does favors for his extended inner circle and the favorites chosen by them, and not for others who'd been there for decades and are so dedicated. Mr. S thinks there should be no favoritism when it comes to benefits like taking trips abroad. I totally agree. These are benefits that should be spread to all staff equitably and not just to “favorites”, which gives rise to a tribal, divisive attitude which is at the heart of these scandals.

Management's Competence Issues

"As soon as it became clear that Nasser had his eyes on my department, and was trying to make decisions on operations which he knew nothing about, I decided to resign". He couldn't handle working for management that aside from many other relationship issues was trying to control areas they had no competence in. That's how a place gets ruined. Same story with Mina as another witness noted, coming across as clueless in certain areas due to her lack of expertise in field of education, yet being the most powerful person at the School.

Nasser Taking Jerome Blanche’s Role

Jerome Blanche has been at the Trust for 26 years (since 1996). He was the executive director. Mr. S recalls: “Jerome was at all the trustee meetings, he was a high-level member of the staff (executive director), everybody loved him. He was very well respected. Suddenly an email went around. But it didn't say who had written it. It said just to let you know Jerome is no longer the director of the foundation. It is now Nasser. It was worded in not such a nice way. I told Bill that this is disgusting. who wrote it? I want to get to the bottom of this. Bill said I don't know. It seemed nobody wanted to take responsibility for that statement.”

“The way they just dumped him as though he was nothing. After all that good work he had done. He was treated very badly.”

Question arose as we had this discussion with the team, why did Jerome stay on? Someone familiar with the topic said Brockwood is home to some long-term staff, and they love the place and love Krishnamurti and the Centre. “It wouldn't be fair to think that everybody who was mistreated would just leave. Some people think they should hold their ground.”

We cannot speak for Jerome because we have not spoken with him, though we are friends with him but due to the sensitivity of the subject and him being an employee we didn’t want to put him in a precarious position.

“I understand some of these people are very gentle people.” This theme kept coming up. Many people who are attracted to this work and this place are gentle, kind, sensitive people – the opposite of the behavior the Trust’s management has exhibited.

Image Making

Nasser was adamant about hiding how old the Center building looks like, trying to hide its age. Anybody can find out by Googling it, and age of a building is not a bad thing, unless Nasser is planning to sell the Center's building :-) Nasser ruled against the opinion of two experts, including the famous architect of the Center, Professor Keith Critchlow, without having any expertise in the subject matter!

Nasser seemed to be making an image of people's image of the building (if he has that level of empathy, which I doubt, but image making and empathy are not necessarily the same as empathy requires sensitivity, which doesn't seem to be a strength of Nasser or else he wouldn't have acted in the way so many witnesses have reported).

Similarly, KFA's head, Jaap Sluijter, is of the same mindset, which is contrary to Krishnamurti's teachings. K spoke at length about the perils of image making, understanding the process of making psychological images, and freedom from that process, which is a dominant one. But Nasser and Jaap both have made images of others' images, which seems to be a driving force in their management style. In fact, Jaap told a group of volunteers and staff at KFA, to "look busy" to impress the public. Nasser allegedly went around the experts so that people wouldn't get the impression of the K Center building as being "old". “Everyone knows how old it is, or can look it up", one expert said. Plus, what difference does it make? England has beautiful buildings that are almost 900 years old. And the Center was built in the 1980's, hello!

Abuse

Someone mentioned: “A lot of people gave their life to this place. Their lives, integrity, gentleness; which has been abused.” We debated the meaning of the term “abuse”. Is it abusive to shout at an employee which made her cry for example? We believe it is the right word.

One alleged victim of mistreatment at the Trust said for a long time he felt shy to speak up. We cannot say what the mistreatment was but we can say it was not sexual. Someone commented: “A lot of people who are abused are too shy to speak up. You may feel embarrassed that you could have done something different.”

TESTIMONY OF Mr. GG

No Trust in Management

“I was never able to trust Nasser…There was so much unexplained as they were explaining what they had in mind and how they wanted to transform the place – it felt so untruthful…To this day, I don’t understand how the Trustees gave them so much power and entrusted them…"

Mr. GG joined Brockwood because of his long-term study of and interest in Krishnamurti’s teachings. He left Brockwood disillusioned because of Nasser and Mina’s alleged mismanagement.

He said he tried not to take sides. He became “very distrustful to people who were running the place [Nasser, Mina, et al]” because of “the way Nasser and Mina maneuvered themselves into this position of power...and the way people were treated and sidelined…”

He said that Nasser and Mina ended up in a most beautiful flat at Brockwood after firing Yannick who lived there with his family (see below).

Authoritarian Antonio

Another witness said that Yannick asked Antonio why he had to move out of his flat. Antonio's answer was because he's the Director! Not even the courtesy of giving a reason to a man who was there for almost 20 years!! It makes sense because the reason would have been "because Nasser and Mina told me to evict you." Why? Because they want to move into your flat. So instead of saying, "Yannick you need to move out because Nasser and Mina want your flat", Antonio's answer was effectively, "Because I'm the director and I say so."

“Antonio became more authoritarian.” That’s interesting because I always felt an authoritarian flair to Antonio; and when his bosses are suddenly extremely authoritarianism, that gives him license to become even more authoritarian. Krishnamurti talked about this at length and even has a whole book named after it. You are the world, and the world is you. Management science scholars and professionals also know very well that the CEO sets the tone/culture for the entire organization.

Also, a witness mentioned another staff member in Nasser and Mina’s camp who treated her brutally. Their attitude reverberates in the organization and might send the implicit message that if you like your job, be like us or we will reward similar behavior.

There were factions within the organization, as Mr. GG said, who were accusing each other of corruption and taking advantage of the place.

Terms of the New Employment Contracts

Mr. GG is aware of human resources topics. He condemns the way Nasser and Mina were allegedly treating people. He found the new work contracts as outrageous. He contends that the new employment contract effectively stipulated that "people could be fired for any reason, at any time, without explanation, without recourse"!

Nasser, A Krishnamurti Authority Wannabe

During group dialogues, when "Nasser came in, he made it sound like he was Telling us about K. That he had understood the teachings, he had changed, and he's talking to us from a superior position".

Nasser was "quoting Krishnamurti left and right". Nasser told Mr. GG how he had "changed". Mr. GG pushed back that "you're still comparing the old me with the current me" -- the "me", sense of self is still there in you obviously, judging by your behavior! "Nasser got really really angry, irritated, defensive" (proof of Mr. GG's remark!).

Nasser, Raman, Gopal, Gossip

Part of his distrust in management was he could also not figure out what motivated Nasser and Mina. Early on, he said, Nasser seemed "to want to pull me into his inner circle". Nasser invited him for dinner and he went to Nasser's place. Mina was also there. Mr. GG was shocked how Nasser and his inner circle, including Raman and Gopal, were allegedly gossiping about people -- putting people down -- back biting -- and Nasser was allegedly showing a lot of hostility towards a lot of people. "I had very bad feeling about him in the beginning".

"Raman seems to be one of the main influences behind the whole thing" and that it would have been impossible for Nasser and Mina to have so much power without Raman's backing. At that dinner Mr. GG "didn't say anything. I guess they felt I wasn't going to be one of them". Mr. GG wasn't into gossip and finding unity with others by gossiping behind absent 3rd parties' backs. Having lived in the UK, this behavior unfortunately is tolerated in the UK. I can't stand it, and never seen it as such anywhere else. But I also know many British people who are too noble to get engaged in backstabbing others for fun.

Eleanor Roosevelt wrote: "Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people." A small minded, tabloid-grade exchange at Krishnamurti’s place, doesn’t do him justice! He spent a lifetime promoting noble ideas.

Raman, Gopal and Nasser were reportedly of the same gossipy mindset that evening, according to Mr. GG. I know this well, having been with Gopal in similar situations where I saw he got a kick out of gossiping about people -- which felt so awkward.

I have also had allergic reactions being around that kind of discussion where some of the same people were badmouthing others -- as a way of finding a common ground in the light of the opposite, and getting some kind of creepy joy out of it. Part of the shallowness of it is that when X gossips about Y in front of you to get a kick out of it -- it's likely that X will gossip behind your back too.

Tribalism

"People could not speak their minds freely because they were afraid of getting fired".

"There were some health issues with Nasser. My feeling was he was looking for a place to live quietly and not work too hard." This topic has been brought up by other witnesses as well but given it's a private topic, we will not elaborate on it.

Nasser's camp included Mina, Gopal, Antonio, etc., Mr. GG said.

Nasser and Mina Allegedly Wanted Yannick and Fazila's Home

Mr. GG became good friends with Yannick and Fazila, who I also know and highly respect as really genuine people. They had become arch enemies of Nasser and Mina. Why? Mr. GG said it could have been that N & M were worried that Fazila may have wanted to become the co-principal, and "they were scared of that." Or could it be that they thought Yannick had mishandled the budget or something like that, in which case, it would have been an upper management issue if it applies to the duty of oversight. "Or, if it was simply that Nasser and Mina had their eyes set on that bloody flat where Fazila and Yannick were living with their family."

Yannick and his wife, both senior staff members, were brutally fired. Mina told Yannick's wife, Fazila, that they needed to move out of their flat. No reason was given. Reportedly Nasser and Mina allegedly had their eyes set on that flat for themselves. But they didn't say anything to Yannick - only to his wife.

Their flat was renovated and refurnished, costing thousands of pounds, and Brockwood paid for the furniture they chose, before Nasser and Mina moved in. They have "a massive old style Victorian bath" which Krishnamurti used. "Some of their flat was used by K also." Anecdotally, there was also even a bigger bath there before another remodeling, after K died.

"I organized the complete renovation of this area of the main house [after Yannick was fired], it is by far the best accommodation at BP... Soon after completion Mina and Nass moved into the area." Ex-staff

Reportedly Yannick was allegedly threatened by Nasser/Mina via Gopal to make him resign. He eventually bowed to the pressure and resigned. He wasn't the first. Except for Antonio and Bill and Carvallo (who passed away) and one lady, all the staff from pre-Nasser/Mina era are reportedly gone. Derek Hook was another alleged enabler of Nasser and Mina (he and Raman are part of the Old Boys clan).

Nasser and Mina were supposed to do a review of the place, including the facilities, which was Yannick's area. But a review of them was never done. The decision to fire Yannick was done without a review of his department (a review that would have involved talking to the department head, so he'd know).

See more on some firing practices of the Nasser/Mina regime in the section titled, BOGUS "GROSS MISCONDUCT" ALLEGED THREAT

Sect-like Management

"I had a feeling the whole organization is turning like a sect". They're using K as a doctrine without deeply understanding or living it -- just quoting it to assert their authority.

TESTIMONY OF Mr. UU

“I would not send my child to Brockwood at the moment”

Mr. UU provided a lot of important information, which is used in multiple places in this document, as it helps to connect important dots. Today, he mentioned to me that people ask him about sending their children to Brockwood, but he does not recommend Brockwood Park School presently. He was a long term staff member and knows the place very well. "I wouldn't send my child to Brockwood at the moment" because of his disappointment with the management he experienced first-hand.

TESTIMONY OF LADY Q

Lady Q said that the Inwoods scandal was very upsetting and quite shocking. She was proposed as a trustee and went to a Trustee meeting. She has known several of them for many years, and she talked to Nasser. But she had a strange feeling and declined to become a Trustee.

Management Filters Prospective Trustees To Pick Weak Trustees It Can Control

There was another case where a prospective trustee was reportedly interviewed by the dictators before being considered by the trustees. The dictators were reportedly involved in filtering prospective trustees, which should not be the case. Theoretically, the Board needs to decide for itself who is qualified or not because the dictators should be accountable to the trustees. But this does not seem to be the case.

Lady Q was not pre-vetted by the Dictators as she was proposed by one of the Trustees, and she has known many of the others for years.

Nasser’s False Narrative About Inwoods

The reason that Nasser allegedly gave about the Inwoods situation was money. “He didn't see why he should absorb so much money.” But that’s apparently and allegedly a manipulated, cunning, or preposterous idea of Nasser’s. See section on Inwoods’ finances. It came up in several interviews that Inwoods was self-sufficient financially and it was in fact profitable. It had such a tight supportive community of parents and supporters such that if it needed money, it would have been able to raise it itself.

Lady Q said that she's sure that Inwoods could have done lots of things in terms of fundraising options instead of relying on KFT for funding the entire project. “If they had the will they could have found other solutions.” She spoke about it with Trustee, Gary Primrose, who said, “We've decided not to talk about it.” Or rather, “We were told by Nasser not to talk about it.”

Money seemed to be a facade. The real reason seems to be control because the dictators are control freaks. There are many testimonies, as well as circumstantial evidence which indicate that they wanted to have control over everything, even the Swiss Gathering! They apparently felt threatened by the flourishing Inwoods, which was managed in line with Krishnamurti’s teachings and very out of line with the dictators’ negation of K’s teachings as evidenced in their conduct.

Nasser & Mina Got Credit For Mr. Alluri’s Efforts

Lady Q referred to the video project as a Nasser and Mina accomplishment while, in fact, it was an ex-trustee of KFT who was instrumental in funding and managing the video effort. Nonetheless, Nasser and Mina ended up taking credit for it somehow.

Nasser’s Frustration For Not Making More Money

Lady Q spoke with Nasser and said she believes that “he's extremely frustrated not to make more money.” Allegedly, Nasser reportedly told her, why should he give money to Inwoods when his salary is so low! Comparing himself with Inwoods! Anyway, Inwoods was financially self-sufficient; it attracted donors (which Nasser viewed as competition, despite fact that Brockwood and Inwoods shares the same bank account). Any plans for building projects were to be discussed, and Inwoods had good options for self-funding, but dialogue was not part of the Trust’s problematic culture under the current regime.

Reminder: KFT is a non-profit charitable organization, tax exempt, and people are there for a cause/ they're willing to accept the fact that their remuneration is not comparable with working for industry, for example. This may be yet another indication that Nasser may be at the wrong place.

Nasser’s Alleged Fear & Anxiety

“This frustration is converted into [longing for] power, control, etc.” She said that she believes based on her interactions with Nasser that he has a lot of anxiety, and he reportedly has said to more than one person that he has deep fears and anxieties. Nasser told her, “I don't think why we should spend this sum of money on Inwoods while I make so little money.” She believes that the negative traits that people have reported are because of Nasser’s alleged frustrations. “So, one day he will have to go.”

“They lost track of balance and…the way they treated Inwoods was losing track of something that's right.”

One former staff member expressed her opinion: “I think Nasser spent most of his hours worrying rather than doing anything. He doesn’t have any experience with challenging parents - something all schools have to deal with.”

TESTIMONY OF MR. AA

In the opinion of Mr. AA, allegedly Nasser possesses inferior people and relationship skills (a milder version of what he said about "the way he relates to outside world").

Allegedly, “it’s the general feeling of a lot of people. When they meet Nasser, they don’t know what to say.”

“When Mina emailed me, she expected me to respond very quickly. When I emailed her, she just ignored my email. Brockwood was not like this before. When I emailed people from management, they would respond. Nasser and Mina just ignore [my] emails.” More indication of ignorance in their management style, as also reported by others.

Mr. AA met “the woodwork guy” at the Southampton Airport. “He was so upset with the management of Brockwood. He told me that he had been threatened when he was fired.” It is a familiar theme various witnesses have stated: allegedly getting threatened in the process of getting fired by Nasser and Mina.

“At first they make the person do something that would reveal if he or she has 100% allegiance” to the dictators or not. And if not, the person is fired.

"They want to control the place. They don’t want anybody to think for themselves and have their own mind."

Mina Spying on HEADTEACHER by Secretly Reading HEADTEACHER’s Emails

Mina allegedly wanted to look into HEADTEACHER’s emails. The person responsible for IT felt uncomfortable with this request, thinking, “this is spying” and it is improper to look at an employee’s emails without their knowledge. It may also be against UK privacy law, which apparently (we have not looked into it in detail) requires advanced notice to an employee. He had no choice but to give Mina access because she was the boss. Mina reportedly wanted to look at HEADTEACHER’s communications with parents. She was trying to dig dirt on HEADTEACHER to justify the brutal and preposterous act of dismissing her, apparently in the absence of any valid, decent, rational excuse – which led to the collapse of a great K school.

We researched this a bit and got the impression that Mina’s action was not ok because there was no suspicion of criminal activity such as fraud; and there was no agreement in the contract as far we are told that would allow Mina to do this. We also obtained the following information:

“If your employer is going to monitor your email and web use, you must be clearly informed of this in advance and of the reasons for such monitoring. This is normally done through a policy or the employment contract. Also this is covered by Data protection laws.

In summary, if you need to monitor employees’ communications, you should consider the following:

·       Can you establish a clear business need for the monitoring?

·       Is the extent of the monitoring reasonable? E.g, do you actually need to read the emails to determine whether or not they are personal. It may be enough simply to look at the recipient’s name.

·       Do you have a written policy stating that monitoring may take place?

In addition, under the General Data Protection Regulation, the employer should conduct a privacy impact assessment before introducing any intrusive policy such as covert monitoring of internet and email use.

One  also have rights under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 which bans the intentional “interception” of emails without lawful authority. This prohibits an employer from deliberately reading the content of emails that are obviously private, even if sent using the employer’s email system, unless there is an exceptional reason (e.g. to investigate a suspected crime).”

Lack of Professional Communication

Raman’s new man, Abhijit Padte, told Mr. AA that Mr. AA has to handover his duties to him and have regular meetings to make the handover happen. Mr. AA was shocked that nothing was said to him by management. If true, and there’s no motive for Mr. AA to lie, this is allegedly incompetent on Nasser/Mina’s part not to even have the courtesy, let alone the professional responsibility, to inform Mr. AA that his time is almost over and he needs to do a handover / knowledge transfer.

Control Freaks

“If you want to be on good terms with Nasser and Mina don't contradict them.”

Like several other witnesses, he believes Nasser and Mina are allegedly control freaks, probably rooted in insecurity, greed, and perhaps a subconscious knowledge that they’ve messed up but want the mess to continue as well as the fear of losing their grip on a dream place, the “baby” of Krishnamurti, which they’ve thrown away with the bath water with their greed and mismanagement.

Perhaps Raman had a talk with Nasser saying, well, “sugar” is hitting the fan. The inspection found serious management shortcomings (e.g., incompetence, an deficient complaint process). The number of alienated people is growing, and they are now networking. There's a task force taking testimonies, and at some point, the mess will come to light. Let’s be proactive: you step down, I will take over.

They probably fed Grohe a story to get his blessing. But Raman as the head of KFT will absolutely not change anything because he was allegedly heavily involved with the things Nasser did and enabled him, politically. The result has been the devastation of Inwoods, the alienation of so many people, and several close friends of K becoming very upset. Now the task force may get the charity Commission involved, along with the Department of Education. Nasser should step down and maybe a new boss will quell the opposition that the dictators created with their mismanagement.

Nasser and/or Mina allegedly prevented Mr. AA and a close friend who was a long-term staff member (now deceased), from going to the Center to have tea together. Mind you, the Center’s sitting room is spacious and much of the time is empty. So what’s wrong with two dedicated staff members having tea together there? They may even engage in a philosophical dialogue in such a setting, and informal dialogues are often more fruitful than official ones.

Mr. AA took it as another sign of their desire to control everything and alleged “will to power” as Friedrich Nietzsche put it. Even two people coming together for tea may be viewed as a threat to dictators allegedly utilizing a “divide and conquer” approach. Being control freaks at a K foundation / K school is totally contrary to K’s teachings. He spoke at length about the topic. Nasser finds convenient quotes to help him assert his power. But love, freedom, intelligence go much further than control. The spirit of the place for years has been described as kind and gentle by many witnesses – a spirit they feel has been replaced by a heavy-handed management style.

Of course, control has its practical necessities, but the testimonies we’ve heard about Nasser and Mina’s alleged thirst for power and control go far beyond the practical need of e.g. controls on the IT system for the sake of cyber security for example, or assuring the safety of children. Their need to control is at a different level: it seems psychological and related to obtaining and maintaining power, which otherwise is an issue of insecurity.

Rude Teachers

Mr. AA said, “There were some very rude teachers. In public schools, they have much better teachers much more polite than some of the staff members of Brockwood. And those who were the rude ones they were the ones who had so-called complete blessing of management. So it's all connected.” One example came when a teacher in Nasser’s camp had computer problems that Mr. AA helped resolve. Not only he didn’t thank Mr. AA, but he complained that he was being disturbed! Mr. AA thought such an attitude doesn’t belong in a K school.

Nasser & More

Mr. AA said he “always had a strange feeling when I talked to Nasser.” Earlier, he felt more connection with them, but later he “felt I had nothing to say to them. No connection.”

Mr. AA said Nasser was “always” [often] quoting Krishnamurti, trying to impress others, but once he realized Mr. AA had studied K deeply and could push back on Nasser’s claims about K, he gave up.

“Raman, he is everywhere...I don't trust him…Raman has a strong influence on the place, although he's not [officially] part of the place…I know that Raman is behind all that.”

Mr. AA is not impressed with the new IT guy, Abhijit Padte, who Raman brought in. He thinks it’s a Donald Trump type of mentality about loyalty: “I brought you here so you have loyalty to me.” He views it as particularly sensitive around IT because they’ve spied on people before. “Especially when it comes to IT because it can be used to spy on people.”

One staff member “was very angry” at the way management handled the dismissal of Yannick, saying that he quit. Mr. AA echoed the same thing many other witnesses have stated that the Trust’s Trustees are weak and mostly rubber stamped the decisions made from before by Raman, Nasser et al.

Adrian, a co-principal who was allegedly fired by Nasser and Mina, reportedly was in a talk with Nasser at the library when Nasser reportedly and allegedly told him that you’re either with me or you’re against me. These early recollections provide insight into how Nasser and Mina allegedly paved the way to full power by getting anyone on their side they perceived as a threat, nonconforming to their authority, and disloyal. That included almost all old timers at the school except Antonio and Carvalho, who died not long ago.

Mr. AA talked about one of the old timers who is not happy with how the place is being managed but “he can’t talk”, as expressing discontent equals getting axed, as several witnesses reported. Contrast this with Krishnamurti’s idea that discontent can be healthy and set a creative fire. The Nasser/Mina/Raman regime doesn’t seem interested in those things: the topic seems out of their league in terms of motive, understanding, experience, etc.

“It’s a culture of hush hush…there’s nobody to talk to…” Speak up and you’re gone.

Mr. AA pointed out another recurring theme. While he was in charge of maintaining the website, suddenly someone else was doing it without coordination with the first person!! Undermining people by circumventing them without communication is so unprofessional. “They took it away without telling me.” The proper, professional way is to inform someone that their role is being given to someone else. But allegedly not according to Nasser and Mina’s management style.

Mr. AA talked to Bill Taylor about it. Bill said they’ll need to talk about it, which didn’t happen “and he didn’t do anything”. Mr. AA then asked Mina, who said it was just a temporary thing and Mr. AA will maintain the website. Mr. AA said, “She lied. How can you trust them?” Even if it was temporary, they should have informed Mr. AA. “I took it as a lack of courtesy. I took pride in my job”. These incompetent management failures are demoralizing. And, “it turned out that it wasn’t temporary”, contrary to Mina’s alleged lie.

Hypocrisy

When the coronavirus / Covid-19 pandemic hit, an order was reportedly issued by Nasser that nobody should leave Brockwood. Even one person outside couldn’t get back in easily because of that policy. At the same time, Mr. AA, who lived outside Brockwood, went to town and “saw Raman and Nasser having coffee” at a cafe. “They left quickly after I was there.” Nasser behaved hypocritically. “They say one thing and they do the opposite!” Mr. AA remarked.

Someone mentioned in January 2022 that Nasser is still not vaccinated.

Someone wrote in March 2022: “Hi Réza. Just saw Nasser and Raman sitting on bench by the Cathedral next to my school.”

Genotoxic Routers Everywhere

Raman’s recruit, Abhijit Padte, allegedly wants to put Wi-Fi routers all over the campus. A very preposterous wrong decision as thousands of studies show the genotoxic effect of pulsed microwave radiation: it’s especially harmful for younger people. The right thing to do is to have a local area network cable in every student resident so devices (including phones) can be used with wired internet and zero harmful radiation.

Microwaved “Quiet Room”

Even the Krishnamurti Center has Wi-Fi routers. The Quiet Room has Wi-Fi radiation given how close it is to the kitchen. It’s supposed to be a place of meditation, where you don’t take your problems and just sit in peace and quiet, but now your cells are being zapped by ultra-fast microwave radiation, which damages the DNA, and causes oxidative stress and a slew of other psychosomatic issues. The Center is mainly comprised of guest rooms. There should be wired internet in every room, and guests can do without internet during meals. The resident flats upstairs should also have wired internet connection. It’s faster, more secure, and not unhealthy.

Management was informed that putting wireless routers and repeaters in the student accommodations was harmful and having wired internet makes much more sense; especially in a pandemic when students spend a lot of time in their rooms with their computers, it’s wise to have wired connection. “They knew this is a problem I had informed them. But they have ignored it.”

TESTIMONY OF LADY CC

We've been friends for many years. She was at the reunion last year and talked to a couple of current students. Her impression was that the counseling wasn't adequate. A student was told that Brockwood was not a place to heal. Lady CC disagrees and says that "I don't think it was Krishnamurti's intention to only take care of kids who had perfect childhoods."

Management Style’s Impact on Kids

At the reunion, "I found it strange that the kids were not mixing." This is the fourth witness who's been to the reunion since the Nasser/Mina/Raman regime has been in power, who has had the same observation as the others. In her words, "I found it strange that they [current Brockwood students] were not mixing with the crowds" while in the past, current students always mixed with past students.

Leadership matters. A tone set by leaders reverberates in the whole organization. The founder spoke at length about the depth of the problems of isolation. Every bit of the problem can be seen in the way Nasser/Mina/Raman manage the place and the culture they set.

TESTIMONY OF LADY WW

Lady WW recalls when Nasser and Mina came to Muerren the first time. Mina talked about Nasser's illness and took food for him to his room. Another person who was at Muerren felt he was avoiding people because he didn't want to be "read". At Brockwood, some people have reported that he sometimes avoids groups and is more of a loner.

More than one person who met them during their first showing stated they didn’t like Nasser but Grohe was very impressed by him. It doesn’t take a lot to impress Grohe. They were invited by Grohe. “Invited” in this context in German also means the invitee’s travel expenses may be paid by the inviter.

Lady WW has had contacts with Nasser and Mina and said she always felt a distance and they were not candid with her. She said at Muerren, some old-timers including Gisele Balleys and Rita Zampese were not happy that Nasser and Mina were going to be given so much power by Grohe. Reportedly, they had managed to impress Grohe (not a hard thing to do because he appears as simplistic and unsophisticated). He's a very good man, but people like Nasser, Mina, Raman, Rabindra draw circles around him while he thinks "everything is great."

Friedrich Grohe Recruited Nasser and Mina

"Friedrich Grohe decided to take Nasser and Mina to Brockwood."

At the time, Brockwood needed some help as it was poorly managed under Gopal and Adrian's leadership. So Nasser and Mina went in and made some changes, but they didn't stop there. The field was wide open, as Grohe was smiling in support from his rose colored information bunker, where he gets everything-is-great reports. It appears that Raman was allegedly on the grounds knowingly or ignorantly paving the way for Nasser and Mina to take total control, with blessing from Derek, Antonio, and Bill. The rest is history and the unfortunate mismanagement fiascos documented in this paper.

Lady WW is among the many who think it's important to find out why HEADTEACHER was fired, which led to the collapse of Inwoods. This document pretty much answers the question that the management failed to answer honestly and clearly. KFTrust/Brockwood apparently tried to bury the facts, but truth has a funny way of getting out, and it has tremendous power.

TESTIMONY OF MR. O

Management’s Growing Power Over Trustees

"Management acquired more and more power by filtering what was being said to the Trustees.”

Mr. O was as a senior teacher / staff member at Brockwood Park School. In his senior role, he participated in trustee presentations and noticed that the Inwoods’ time-slot in the trustee meeting agenda was being shrunk.

“There was a centralization of information to Trustees. Presenters’ times were reduced more and more. This can be seen in the Trustee agenda. So management acquired more and more power by filtering what was being said to the Trustees.”

"The amount of power that these two people have is very unhealthy – an unhealthy management environment." The entities who gave them so much power are responsible for that: apparently Raman Patel and Derek Hook.

He recalls that the head of Inwoods “went from being a very senior person within the organization to being completely marginalized” on Nasser and Mina’s watch, and it was done in a cunning manner. It seemed that Nasser and Mina allegedly had already decided on a set of conclusions and they were going around asking people loaded questions in order to get the answers they wanted to support the conclusions they had already made. So the questioning itself was dubious and not a sincere inquiry by any means.

Think about all the years Krishnamurti, the founder of Brockwood Park, spent talking about the importance of inquiry, finding truth, suspending the known, the traps of conclusions, image making process, etc. the approach employed with Inwoods was very contrary to the true spirit of inquiry that K talked about, which was not to start with a conclusion and work it backwards. That’s a scandal and not an inquiry.

Management Tried To Build a Fake Case Against Inwoods

In this case, the scandal seemed to be that they wanted the head of Inwoods out, and not for legitimate reasons; otherwise they wouldn’t need to go around asking people loaded questions to prompt the answers they wanted to hear to build a case. And in the end, the case is a sand castle built on lies.

Both Mr. O and his wife, Lady P, were subject to such cunning questioning by Nasser and or Mina. Mr. O said he would never give them the answer they wanted. He had to be honest and express how he truly felt about the ex-Inwoods’ Director, HEADTEACHER. It was very positive! She was doing a fantastic job, and the result of her fantastic job spoke for itself: a flourishing, amazing school with full engagement of stakeholders, except that the upper tops at KFT, under the direction of Nasser and Mina, were apparently trying to pull the plug on HEADTEACHER, assuming in their naïve minds that the show would go on as usual without her.

They should have known if they had enough management experience, to use common sense or a fraction of the wisdom they portray to have while quoting Krishnamurti, that it does not work that way. Their scandalous ousting of HEADTEACHER led to the implosion of the school because the parents and students loved her, appreciated what she’d done, and they did not like the preposterous or no answers they were getting from Nasser/Mina/Raman regime.

Nobody ever explained rationally to the parents why HEADTEACHER was ousted. The only real reason for wanting to oust HEADTEACHER appeared to be Nasser and Mina’s alleged control-freak attitude which has shown itself in so many instances.

Nasser & Mina’s Alleged Craving for Power From Day 1: Take Swiss Mountain Gathering to UK!!

Soon after Nasser and Mina went to the Swiss mountain gathering (invited and probably paid for by Grohe) for the first time, they reportedly allegedly talked about taking control of it and running it in England. "What do you do with the mountains?" a shocked long-term organizer asked herself! "I thought I was falling off my chair. Gisele didn't trust them at all. But they had Grohe's backing, so Gisele fell for it." The organizer, Gisele Balleys, reportedly faced the shock of her assistants over this, but softened up because Nasser and Mina had the backing of Friedrich Grohe, and Gisele is part of the Grohe circle - and a Trustee of KFT!

Their excuse seems to be to “change management” and “law”. I’ve worked with change management experts in world-class organizations and have been a professional management consultant, and I know a few things about law, having studied it and grown up around lawyers and judges all my life. My dad had a stellar career in law, including being a judge of judges and a Supreme Court Justice. My mom’s father was a great lawyer who focused mostly on pro-bono work. They both dedicated their lives to helping people.

So Nasser and Mina can’t fool some people about change management and law. Brockwood may have needed some changes initially, but never in his wildest dream, would K have imagined his beloved Brockwood be pushed to this level.

Inwoods' Director had everything the Dictators didn’t

The Director of Inwoods, HEADTEACHER, was a threat to Mina and Nasser’s apparent and alleged egotistic, control-freak mentality. HEADTEACHER had everything the dictators didn’t. She was a free-thinker, open, fearless, glowing, beautiful, happy, who was wise, clear, fulfilled, humble, driven by love, successful in building a great school, admired and adored by students and parents, living K’s wise pointers and applying his great educational philosophy in possibly the closest setting ever to what K had in mind as a school full of love, wisdom, and giving.

On the other hand, Nasser and Mina’s behavior, alleged cunning ways, apparently cluttered ideas, and questionable handling of certain situations as reported by a number of people, are well documented in these interviews. HEADTEACHER was apparently the next target of their alleged control-freak bulldozing, on their way to ultimate power.

Mina’s Idea of Inquiry

Mr. O. continued: “Mina was looking for evidence to align with whatever decision that they had made.” They were looking for evidence to enable that removal. So the real reason for that removal was not the evidence that they were looking for. The reason for the removal was something else, and it was not genuine. Otherwise, they wouldn’t try to go around solicit opinions with manipulative, loaded questions in order to fabricate evidence.

Mr. O, stated that Lady P, his wife, was also asked similar loaded questions about HEADTEACHER on a number of occasions. There seemed to have been a shortage of bogus gossip about HEADTEACHER. “Definitely there was a preferred answer in one direction.”

Again we can rely on trends. But hypothesis is that these are power hungry, control freak dictators who want to be on top of everything. But not through effective management which is the way to obtain respect, but through cunning means.

“They had decided already that they didn't want HEADTEACHER running Inwoods. And one way to achieve that would be to go around trying to solicit negative opinions about HEADTEACHER,” which was hard to harvest since HEADTEACHER was loved and appreciated by so many people.

It's only a vain, small gossiping mind that goes around asking others for their opinions, but this was not done to help her form her opinion. It was done with total prejudice. She had already made up her mind and was just looking for support. She started with a conclusion so her questioning was not an inquiry; it was a creepy attempt and harmful to HEADTEACHER, meant to give her a bad rap.

Gopal

Mr. O was close to the dismissal situation of Gopal, who was upset at Nasser and Mina and their method of operation, although he had been a part of the same kind of power/political current that had brought Nasser and Mina in. Gopal felt stonewalled, and they were reportedly not listening to him. They may have viewed Gopal as a threat in their power game. Gopal had political ties to centers of power like Grohe and his man, Raman, who had brought Gopal in, which would not be an obstacle to ultimate power. There were probably other reasons/motives as well.

"Nasser stepped in to sort it out! Because Nasser has a very high opinion of his own interpersonal management skills! I think he's actually very naïve in that regard”. Gopal explained to Mr. O later about his meeting with Nasser and how he was upset at Nasser afterwards. Mr. O referred to how Nasser had reportedly handled it: "I thought that's a really bad way of doing it and a really bad way of working with somebody”.

Later Nasser allegedly talked to Mr. O. for 45 minutes in a meeting that Mr. O thought would be a catch up one-on-one, but it turned out that “he spent pretty much the entire meeting trying to justify his role in Gopal's departure. He clearly felt insecure, which is a form of fear, and was desperate to have external approval [and vindication] for his role. It was a pointless meeting, absolutely pointless.”

Non Residential Staff

At that point, non-residents comprised some 50% of the staff. The goal was to replace as many as possible with resident staff. The reasons were not always good. Mr. O. recalls a lot of fear and the feeling of intimidation among non-residents; they felt they were being watched very closely and could get fired at any time.

In one incident, it was decided that it made sense for a non-resident staff member to run an errand related to a document drop off which was optimized, intelligent, and the right thing to do in the opinion of people involved. It meant the staff member would be half an hour late to work. Mina came in and made a drama out of what Mr. O. considers to have been a trivial, petty topic. Mina’s reaction was “of course, the accounts assistant was very upset and distressed.” She'd been asked to do something, which was perfectly reasonable, by a senior, yet there was a strong aggressive response saying “no, you cannot do that.”

Mr. O. concluded that the issue was one of control. A good manager doesn’t need to “control” everything. In fact, control is out the window as an intelligent team does what’s right. Good management leads to that attitude. I know it first-hand. The Brockwood dictators’ control-freak attitude was totally unnecessary. I’ve spent much time at Brockwood and have seen the place operate smoothly without a bossy control-freak in charge. I’d say that attitude is a negation of K’s intention as I understood it.

No Complaint Handling Process

Mr. O said, “I spoke to at least three staff members who expressed this experience to me, and they felt afraid to speak up about it because of Mina; there was no process by which they could escalate their concern.” Mr. O wrote to the head Trustee, who said it will be considered, but nothing came of it.

Grohe Has Huge Influence Over Two Of Three Krishnamurti Foundations

Reminds me of Jaap (Jacob) Sluijter of KFA, who was brought in by Grohe’s “soldier” Rabindra Singh, who said KFA trustees will do whatever he wants. Also the complaint handling process he instituted was a total joke and disgrace to any serious professional management. The escalation path of complaints were back to him. So he handled the complaints and the escalation of complaints, and the trustees played no role since they were apparently more or less mere figureheads than parties in charge of oversight and other important duties trustees of a non-profit trust are entrusted with.

Same story as the UK Trust, under the same stream of Grohe influence, via another Grohe “soldier”, Raman Patel. So those who believe Grohe via his clout of big money has effectively taken over two of the three Krishnamurti foundations and then in utter ineptness in many areas – are not off. These organizations instead, are supposed to be non-profit, tax-exempt, charitable, public-service trusts governed by responsible, competent, independent trustees.

Several people said the KFT Trustees rubberstamp what the management team puts in front of them. True or false, that the trustees are not doing anything about Mina’s attitude is not surprising.

Management Disaster: External Staff Viewed As Inferior

While there might have been some legitimate reason for the changing of the internal/external landscape, the reality of today’s organizations is a mix of internal and external. I’ve managed many such teams. The key is to be one team and work as one team.

Allegedly, Nasser and Mina’s drive towards most - if not all-internal staff - was first questionable in terms of motive, and whether it was for egotistic purposes of control, tribalism, etc. and secondly, it was executed poorly. Lady P, for example, who was a seasoned teacher, was replaced by someone without any experience in that subject. Quality was totally sacrificed. It reminds me of banks who do crazy things to pinch a penny. But cost saving didn’t seem to be the main motive: it was apparently about control.

One witness stated that that external staff were not allowed in weekly staff meetings, and they were even controlling the internals, e.g., the IT manager who was an internal was not allowed to attend the weekly staff meeting.

As a management professional I can confidently say that their attitude towards this subject was a management disaster. Even in high security environments that I’ve worked in, e.g. large banks, internal and external staff are not distinguished beyond the color of the badge. External people are vetted well, and then, everyone is treated as one team. That’s the intelligent approach endorsed by management science, and it is in line with the spirit Krishnamurti seemed to have wanted.

"Don’t Tell Your Wife We Want To Fire Her"

The ridicule got worse when Mina allegedly told Mr. O. about the potential firing of Lady P, but she told him to not tell Lady P, who is his wife!!! You read it correctly!!! Not only is this gross naïveté and lame, but it puts Mr. O in the kind of moral dilemma that management team should never subject an employees to.

Then Lady P. was asked to train the incoming replacement who was not a qualified teacher in the subject matter.

Devastating Consequences

“It was really tough for Lady P. She developed quite a significant depression following that. She felt worthless.”

“It was completely unprofessional to inform somebody's husband that they're being fired” and to tell the husband not to tell the wife…

She was so upset that instead of getting laid off, which would carry benefits, she quit her job. “I'm gonna make this decision rather than you."

Various

Regarding the issue of intimate contact as reported by some witnesses, Mr. O said that some of the staff members put themselves in a position that could be interpreted as crossing the line with female students.

Mr. O thinks Nasser and Mina didn’t start wanting ultimate power, but “things ultimately began to turn that way.” A ripe landscape in a holistic school built on peace and love, trust and learning together was in the hands of egotistic, power-hungry, control-freaks. It became an anxious and fearful atmosphere that, reportedly, naturally promoted that negative spirit. “You are the world, and the world is you,” as K used to say.

TESTIMONY OF LADY C, MR. G

She remembers clearly K speaking to them in person – as documented in K’s biographies - that K did not want the martial arts taught at Brockwood; but against his wishes, it is presently taught there. This disrespect for K’s wish allegedly came about after Nasser and Mina took over. For years, before their time, this wish had been respected.

Negative Impact of Management Style on Students

She went to the last reunion (summer of 2019), the first since Nasser and Mina had taken over (the previous one was in 2014). She and her spouse, also an ex-student, felt that the students were not engaging and didn’t want to look at you and mix with others. They found it strange since for years they had gone to reunions and knew the spirit of the place. A few years into Nasser and Mina’s dictatorial rule, the students seemed to have been negatively affected.

Their past experience was that there had always been good interactions between the alumni and current students. “But with these ones there was absolutely none. They didn’t even look at you.”. “These ones” refers to the kids educated at Brockwood under Nasser and Mina’s problematic régime.

Lady RR saw the same thing / had the same impression.

Trustees’ Ignorance of Facts

“And the trustees don’t see that?” No, because they’re spoon fed by the Management Team / Old Boys.

Management By Ignorance

A staff member friend of Lady C and Mr. G said that Nasser had blocked someone’s email from the entire school after the person had sent a message. Just as it happens in a dictatorship, the same thing happened to me. Read about it in the file: Letters to Nasser Shamim https://www.rezamusic.com/writings/on-j-krishnamurtis-work/letters-to-nasser-shamim-about-his-cowardly-behavior

It’s so silly in this day and age for Nasser to engage in such small-minded action because there are many other ways to get through the imaginary fence of Nasser/Raman’s Kingdom, should one wish to write to Brockwood staff. Nasser's action is yet another indication of what has come out of the testimonials, and which Krishnamurti's teachings clearly illustrate: a divisive approach which leads to isolation. This attitude is also at the heart of the mismanagement that led to Inwoods' collapse: Nasser, Mina, Raman, Antonio, Bill, et al., who were reportedly behind the chaos, did not like Inwoods' engagement with the parents and community; they reportedly prefer Brockwood to be an isolated capsule. See Lady D's testimony, for example.

This report has been received from more than one person. It’s a dictator’s habit to block the “opposition”, usually those who speak the truth about the apparently dictatorial, fanatical, egotistic, inept, cunning way of running KFT, which is no different under Raman - since the changing of roles was apparently a superficial move to save face, while the core of power remains in the same hands that got KFT into this alleged crisis.

"They make up the facts after the fact."

Ugly Power Games Polluted a K Foundation

"Gopal was an insider – part of Grohe’s extended circle (the inner circle calls itself the Gang). First they used Gopal to get info about others' and for him to tell others how great Nasser and Mina were (promote themselves to others, get others to cooperate with them)."

Eventually, as is typical in ugly power games, “they started circumventing him and didn’t inform him - similar to what happened in other cases (e.g. IT manager whose website maintenance task was taken away without him knowing). They eventually neutralized him till they tried to get him to go on sabbatical (allegedly a favorite ploy of Mina and Nasser as the precursor to a firing).

“It took a while for Gopal to realize Mina was being manipulative...If there’s no 100% allegiance the person is out...The moral dilemma they put the person in is a form of mugging.”

TESTIMONY OF MR. H

Management has Damaged Core Values of the Trust

Mr. H was at the center of the scandal that KFT allegedly pulled off at Inwoods. His life was directly affected since it meant "possibly becoming homeless" after the Inwoods implosion. He has been associated with Brockwood for over 35 years. He was a student in the 1980’s, a parent, and staff member at Brockwood Park and still feels committed to the wisdom that led to the existence of Brockwood. Having been at Brockwood for over 20 years, and around Inwoods since its inception, he believes that the current management team has damaged some of the core values and objectives which Brockwood was built on.

Blocked Criticism, Communication

He finds it particularly sad that KFT’s management team and Trustees did everything possible to create a firewall to block criticism and communication. They stonewalled communication, even from the most knowledgeable insiders like Mr. H., who was living this topic every day.

Blocking off feedback is a typical characteristic of dictatorships. A dictator builds his/her (or their) own version of reality, which they insist on and want to enforce. Any challenge to that paradigm is sternly blocked. I’ve seen this done at KFA as well, which went down the same path of irrelevance and mediocrity. KFT/Brockwood are apparently being fast-tracked in this way by current management.

The lame approach is to shut down communication with anyone whose criticism they consider as a threat. When Mr. H refers to the “firewall” they created, it clearly denotes “management by ignorance”, as I call it. Ignorance is not bliss: it’s a prescription for corruption and being encapsulated in one’s own delusions, which may serve selfish goals of power, control, money, etc., but it is out of line with the greater objectives of a place like Brockwood: transparency, affection, truth, caring, nurturing, and other such noble values.

A common excuse for this “firewall” is “legal reasons”. Mr. H was given the same nonsense, which I bet the Trustees themselves did not understand as they were just parroting a favorite line of Nasser and Mina who have apparently and allegedly might have used (or perhaps abused?) the legal background of Nasser to apparently direct the Trustees to firewall any comment or dissent.

Gagging Trustees

I have had contact with Gisele Balleys for many years. We’re friends and have talked and walked and met many times and I've also visited her at her mountain house. I call her from time to time to see how she is doing.

Sometime after my communication with Nasser (which Nasser handled utmost unprofessionally and cowardly – details explained here: https://www.rezamusic.com/writings/on-j-krishnamurtis-work/letters-to-nasser-shamim-about-his-cowardly-behavior ), I called trustee and old friend, Gisele Balleys and out of the blue she said she can’t talk to me about Brockwood in a tone that gave me the impression that she and other trustees were allegedly instructed by Nasser to not to talk to me, or anyone about Inwoods, etc. – for the same lame reason Mr. H. was stonewalled.

I don’t think any of the trustees has the knowledge, courage or will to ask Nasser why and challenge him on it. For the Trustees to have gotten Mr. H’s feedback, which he adamantly and sincerely wanted to pass on to them would have absolutely caused no legal issues whatsoever. So the real problem appears not to be “legal reasons” but allegedly Nasser’s insecurity.

Dictators are insecure, especially when they are the new kid on the block, and there are some old timers who see right through them and their lame inappropriate acts. It’s painful to hear Mr. H’s account because, again, it’s a replay of what happened at KFA, where the same streams were responsible for it drifting into mediocrity. Mr. H had made it very clear to the Trustees that there would not be a lawsuit and all he wanted was direct communication and dialogue.

Requesting a dialogue with the Trustees was not too much to ask. They were likely afraid because they had to stand up for a dictatorial regime with all its viciousness – as illustrated by various witnesses – and bring excuses for the inexcusable. Nasser probably blocked any such dialogue because in an earnest dialogue truth can come out, and truth can shatter delusions.

Mr. H’s request was totally reasonable: to hear each other and see if there could be a possibility for another approach. This was the kind of spirit Krishnamurti promoted. Shut-the-door-in-their-face was never part of K’s idea for these schools and foundations.

Also ,the management team reportedly never communicated its motives clearly. Just as it didn’t when it decided to fire a lady by telling her to improve but not what to improve; when she gave them a multiple choice, they ignored her.

That kind of lame communication fits a dictatorship: transparency is not their thing. While K’s educational philosophy is all about openness, transparency, truthfulness, and sincerity. K called people engaged in deception, manipulation, etc. cunning animals.

K talked about Supreme Intelligence, but there are increasing signs that KFT is following KFA’s path, which is crowded with supreme stupidity.

KFT under Grohe’s Influence is a replay of KFA under Grohe Influence

A disturbing trend has appeared, in the spirit of ignorance that infiltration of K foundations by Friedrich Grohe & Gang has instituted. Krishnamurti himself was all about paying attention to everything. Both KFA and KFT veered into an inept and inappropriate spirit of ignoring things hoping they go away. It doesn’t work like that especially when you bring about disorder and you’re in the best position to bring order to the disorder you made. But KFT and KFA don’t operate like that. They make disorder and then withdraw. That came up in several testimonies about KFT where the Trustee totally ignore a problem they created which adds to the frustration of the public who was engaged in the disorder KFT created. Same exact thing at KFA as documented here: https://www.rezamusic.com/writings/on-j-krishnamurtis-work/History-KFA-Krishnamurti-Foundation-Friedrich-Grohe-Gang-Jaap-Sluijter-KFT

TESTIMONIES OF MR. Z

The Whole Thing Was Run Outside The Trustee Meetings

Mr. Z regarding Trustee meetings: "The whole thing was run outside the Trustee meetings". Raman, Derek, Nasser, and Mina worked it out to go to the other Trustees for rubber stamping. Mr. Z said Mina and Nasser's presentations were not good. Why were they given so much power is unknown to him, method of operation as well as to others.

Raman Patel

The answer is probably that they were not given power; they took power with backing from Raman whom himself is in a precarious position of deriving his power from being on Grohe's payroll, and not any credentials, significant accomplishments or impressive education of his own - and associated desire to maintain power, preferably unofficially, until recently when truth started coming out regarding his recruits who had become even more powerful than himself and had made a mess. By taking an official role, Raman seemed to want to mitigate and cover up the mess he's allegedly been a part of, but unofficially. Note his email to Reza Ganjavi at the onset of this reportage: https://www.rezamusic.com/writings/on-j-krishnamurtis-work/letters-to-raman-patel-regarding-his-role-at-brockwood-park-school-krishn

Raman Patel: "I have no official role at brockwood in any capacity, organisationally or otherwise. However, when requested, I do happen to meet with individuals who may want to explore issues of life." That's a big lie, since in that period there were several witnesses who had seen Raman involved in many key decisions and far beyond his purported role as a resident guru -- and official or unofficial didn't seem to matter at the loose management of the Trust which seems to being run like a private club.

Derek's role is more of a mystery. He's a businessman and was aligned with Mina and Nasser's alleged heavy-handed approach to running Brockwood and KFT like a for-profit or private entity, while apparently some key K values/teachings were thrown out the window. "Raman, Derek, Mina, Antonio are very good friends."

“They [Grohe’s gang] were all aware of it, but they said let’s tell Friedrich something else!”

Gopal Krishnamurthy

“Gopal was very much involved but then it turned against him.” “He’s in the second [ ] circle” [first being the “gang”].“Gopal was in Ojai [at Oak Grove School] but <snipped>. After a while he came to Brockwood; They put him straight as Director (without relevant experience). Raman brought him to Brockwood. He had a lot of backing from Grohe/Raman so he could do whatever he wanted.”

Making Gopal the Director of Brockwood was another bad move by Grohe/Raman. Gopal is well educated, but he did not have the experience to run a school. Experience counts. And part of it is the art of relating, where experience polishes a person and teaches what goes and what doesn’t go…

“Adrian and Gopal were Co-Directors, but after a while they weren’t speaking to each other at all. They were supposed to run a school together but they were not talking to each other!” at a Krishnamurti school, where K spoke so much about the art of relating. Adrian was more senior than Gopal and had been a co-principal before him. “Gopal had a lot of good ideas but he was no good at implementing them and he was not able to explain them clearly.”

As a new staff, you rely on senior staff to explain things – no senior staff is around for mentoring because Mina and Nasser allegedly got rid of most people who were there before their time!

He confirmed some others' impressions about Helena's apparent power over Antonio.

TESTIMONY OF LADY A, LADY B

Allegedly, "many people had problems with Nasser and Mina."

A staff member friend of Lady C and Mr. G said that Nasser had blocked someone’s email from the entire school after the person had sent a message. Just as it happens in a dictatorship. The same thing happened to me and probably others too. See Reza Ganjavi’s correspondence with Nasser Shamim: https://www.rezamusic.com/writings/on-j-krishnamurtis-work/letters-to-nasser-shamim-about-his-cowardly-behavior

It’s so silly in this day and age for KFT to engage in such small-minded action because there are many ways to reach Brockwood staff (if there’s ever a need to do so).

LADY “B”

Lady B applied for a job two weeks later. Nasser allegedly said she’s not the right person for the job and would she like to do housekeeping. She said, not really. Then Lady A was called in; within a very short time she was asked her opinion of Lady “B”, which she couldn’t comment on since she hadn’t had any experience with her. “What do you think of her?” is a common lame question in the circle of small-minded people who can’t think for themselves.

Then Lady B had a meeting with Nasser and reportedly came out crying. Lady A said Lady B is not a delicate person – she’s strong – but she broke down after meeting with Nasser. Lady B said Nasser had allegedly screamed at her. Lady A was shocked, saying this is a K school, how can that allegedly cultish behavior be tolerated. She felt Nasser had allegedly acted in a cultish way to put down someone by shouting.

Under Nasser’s Thumb

“I don’t like Raman, I think he’s a <snipped>.” “I don’t know what he is. What is he?” What is his role? Another bloody guru, that’s all we need! Lady A found a disparity between what the teachers said and how they acted. She alleged that at that time “the teachers weren’t allowed to be adults; they were under the thumb of Nasser; the spirit of trust is not there – people are complaining about being micromanaged even about their lunch break.”

The students asked her why Gopal and Sunsong had left. It was never revealed, and Lady A was not allowed to tell them. Management lied to the students about why people left, but Lady A said no, you should tell them the truth. In the email below, Lady A says that Antonio did the same with her.

“Lady A” thinks they move people around out of insecurity to have more control over them. In some societies, post office workers and bank branch managers who are moved around to build rapport can lead to corruption. But a K school is not a bank and catering to a leader’s insecurity is contrary to the spirit of the place.

Antonio Allegedly Lied About Reason Behind Firing Her

“Lady A” said she kept asking Antonio what was not okay with her job performance. She guessed various areas. He kept saying no. And when pressed, “he said it was very difficult to say, but I'd have to improve. What a bizarre situation. I came out of the meeting determined to discover the issue, so I breezed up to staff, and in the spirit of a survey asked what could be improved for them in the housekeeping department - towels arranged differently in the laundry room was about as drastic as it got."

"I was now upset, vexed, and went home, none the wiser to this day. I realised over the weekend that I shouldn't be working for an organisation which treated me like that. I was a reporter in the eighties, and I've had some old school, foulmouthed editors, and I'd rather work with them any day. How rude and worthy of a tribunal. Ego aside, it was clear also that if I stayed, I would become one of those Brockwood staff members who seemed frightened of their own shadows, always so eager to please. I understood how they had become what the teenagers these days call a "beg". Antonio was one of them, and I wasn't about to join them, so that Sunday I left a letter of resignation as housekeeper.”

“Dear Reza, first of all, I want to give you heartfelt thanks for helping Brockwood Park, which has clearly been abused for some time. There is a never ending stream of hopeful and talented people of all ages and backgrounds whom I have seen leave Brockwood, disappointed at the casual and cruel disregard of their skills and sensibilities.”

"Antonio lied," Lady A alleged.

"Dear Reza,

Yes, Antonio lied. Quitting was the last thing I wanted to do. I loved that job so much, the youngsters and the place! But following that meeting and X's follow up chat with Antonio, I knew it was the only way, or I would be one of those staff members forever anxious to please, and forever none the wiser. There were many there! That’s the only reason I quit, and I had to be persuaded, it was the last thing on my mind. To be honest, I would have carried on there like a mug as I loved the job, lol! Oh dear, but I had to accept that it was a done deal, and that they had someone else in the wings, and that's why Antonio couldn't give me a reason. That’s what they do, take the best from someone, and then find a submissive person for the role.

I'm sure that a boss is obliged to tell a worker the reason for sacking them. I didn't think of a tribunal before Carvalho mentioned it to me. Brockwood and tribunals just didn't go together in my mind...

Thank you so much again for all your efforts. I pray better times for Brockwood Park. Maybe this part of the school's journey, with Krishnamurti's warnings coming to pass, will be the making of it, if it's never allowed to happen again. Your work has shaken useless trustees from their comfy slumber, Reza.

Warmly,

TESTIMONY OF LADY W

"I was very badly treated there, along with many others."

Chaotic Management

"There were so many different factions at the school that were not working well together. They were pulling in different directions." The management was chaotic: the same resource was being pulled in different directions because of a lack of cohesiveness and coordination at management level. Mina "made it uncomfortable being there, and eventually made me redundant". Similar strange way of relating and communications and (mis)management reported by several other witnesses, e.g., Lady W, went on vacation and allegedly when she came back she did not have an office anymore!

Is that Mina's idea of "Change Management"? I have a Master's in management and years of professional experience, including in change management. In my view, what these witnesses have reported, if true, is allegedly poor, inferior management skills / people skills / relationship skills. Poor K! He spent a lifetime talking about caring, love, attention, understanding, and unity.

Recalling the time she was there, she recalled / alleged: "It makes it difficult for people and everyone gets scared of what would happen to them... a terrible atmosphere at the school, and people don't say what they feel any more because they worry about their positions". She felt bad for the staff because allegedly "there was no structure, no guidance; people were left to their own devices”. If you're being given instructions / guidance, then you know if you're doing the right things. The absence of that combined with the feeling that you could be undermined rhetorically anytime Mina or Nasser got up on the wrong side of the bed, is not pleasant to say the least.

Non-Resident Staff Allegedly Treated As Inferior

Another grievance that's shared by several other witnesses: non-residential staff are not treated the same way as residential staff. They are allegedly viewed differently, perhaps as inferior, and there was apparently a persistent sense of division. Again, from a management science standpoint, this is No-go! K was clearly big on unity, of which he often described the merits. The division is due to tribal thinking: us vs. them. Good management knows how to utilize the synergies of using external staff to the benefit of the organization.

Such a division is not necessary. I know this from first-hand experience with many organizations that utilize internal and external resources. I’ve set up offshore teams, and had a variety of resources from different sources on my projects, but always with that sense of unity. That's how you can have a performant team; or else, it's the mediocre tribal mentality that dampens and ruins everything. K schools deserve better.

Mina’s Unprofessional Attitude

“Mina is a most charming woman and she has this way of pulling you into her confidence - then when things change there's a huge distancing - it's like you're being thrown out into the cold and snow; it's the most bizarre experience." Maybe you have experienced as a child, but not when you're working as an adult: it's juvenile, she implied, to go into a sulking mood in a professional environment. "I found that incredibly unprofessional and destabilizing."

Several people have reported sloppy, unprofessional management behavior (and contrary to K's philosophy) like allegedly taking some people's jobs away without even informing them properly, and allegedly implicitly promoting a spirit of fear, while the founder spent a lifetime challenging people to live without fear!

No Clear Communications

It was allegedly not communicated to Lady W. that Mina had issues with her. "There would just be these undermining things that would happen" like an office she had for 2.5 years that just disappeared with no communication! A new office was not set up for her. She had to set herself up in a "cubby hole” with no phone or computer or IT support. "I felt I was being punished for something but I had no idea that it was.” That was painful. When she inquired, she was just told that her office was better suited to somebody else. She was stunned at that rationalization and the poor way it was handled and (not) communicated.

She said they tell you that you can run it however you want, but you later find out that's not how they wanted it, resulting in stress. These management issues have simple solutions.

"Andy, who was my boss, would give me something to do in a certain way. Mina and Antonio, without talking to Andy" had a contrary idea. "So, I was put in this terrible situation of them trying to undermine my line manager”, and she felt disloyal to her line manager as a result, which was painful. Poor K! Poor Lady W!

Divide and Conquer

"They were creating difficulties between people by behaving that way." Think of K's discourses on problem of fragmentation. And the old wicked "divide and conquer" idea that I've seen used mainly by ineffective managers. It reminds me of the husband who was allegedly told by Mina, we want to fire your wife, but don't tell her!!

"Mina has this magnetic personality that you want to do your best for her” - it's her Persian warmth. “Then it comes as a shock when you find out she is trying to manipulate you." That's not a Persian side!

Talking about Inwoods, Lady W. said, “HEADTEACHER is the most wonderful, honest, engaging person. I was so upset to hear that she was let go.”

~~~

Someone recalled about Lady W: Before she came, “Brockwood [kitchen] was a mess in terms of safety, compliance – the food was crap. She brought the place up to date. She’s an expert, acclaimed chef; she cooked for royalty. She cooked the best food, but even then they kept saying that the food is too nice. She really changed the place for the better and she’s a lovely lovely person.”

“She got everything in order. That’s the way they function. [Sometimes] they get somebody when there’s chaos to fix things up and run everything beautifully, then they get rid of the person [who is a free thinker and creative] and bring in someone they can control. It’s all about control."

~~~

A witness told us that he can corroborate Lady W’s statements to be true.

TESTIMONY OF MR. EE

Inwood Collapse Was A Bombshell

Mr. EE said, “the real bomb dropping was when Inwoods collapsed.” In impolite terms, it’s when “shit hit the fan”. It was circulating, but when it hit the fan, people really felt it in their eyes – this is reality and something is seriously wrong. The collapse of Inwoods was a major factor for his decision to leave Brockwood. He verified as an Inwoods parent that almost all parents took their kids out of the school (he guesses about 36 out of 38 – certainly above 90%) because of the decision to remove HEADTEACHER.

Firing of HEADTEACHER was Unjustified

Some rumors were being spread against HEADTEACHER, which he could not verify: “that wasn’t the case”. A group of parents were angry because a group of people (Nasser, Mina, Antonio) who’d never shown up and had never shown any interest in Inwoods didn’t know the parents or the children. They’d never been to any of the classrooms or school meetings, but suddenly they came on the scene to fire HEADTEACHER who the children and parents adored, appreciated, and respected. HEADTEACHER “was very popular. She was the glue of that community. It was a good outlet for K’s teachings in the local community around Brockwood”, which as one witness reported, is disconnected from the community and not even known ten minutes away among education scholars!

“HEADTEACHER was very successful. The school was at its maximum capacity with almost 40 families. It was a total success story. At its peak, she was asked to leave. It just made no sense”.

Spirit of Fear

“There is a sense of fear there. People always said to me ‘be careful what you say.’” He thought, “why is it like that at a Krishnamurti school? They said, walls have ears here.” “You couldn’t air your grievances without feeling your livelihood would be threatened. I can’t live with that. That’s why I left.” It’s everything K dreaded and spoke against. Search his database for “fear” and see how it was a central part of his teachings (and common sense) which KFT management seems to have ignored.

Continuing Hard-line, Cut-Throat Approach

Initially, Nasser and Mina did some firings that helped the school financially, but “that hardline cut-throat approach didn’t relax.” The danger, according to Mr. EE, is that it becomes addictive and greed for power kicks in, and it becomes brutal. Before you know it, you forget and some of K’s core values are thrown out the window.

Mr. EE said that the parents had no interest in keeping their children in a school where the management showed no interest in their education because of some impasse they think they have with the principal (HEADTEACHER). That impasse itself seems fictitious. Also see other sections on the fake excuse: impasse.

“I felt very nervous around Nasser and Mina. I couldn’t trust them. There was some bolts loose. There were something missing there.”

Mr. EE witnessed two other people who were asked to leave “very very quickly and I couldn’t work out why.” One was the receptionist, Adoia, who was in tears. She was also a parent of one of the children in Inwoods, and her husband was a staff member.

Firing of HEADTEACHER had Nothing to do with her

Mr. EE believes the firing of HEADTEACHER had nothing to do with her. There were other motives that caused HEADTEACHER’s firing! The real reason was never put on the table – it was never clearly communicated. Why? It was probably wicked, fictitious, made up, fake, and/or the result of multiple streams of motives from Antonio/Helena to Nasser along with Mina’s alleged desire for ultimate power, control, etc. and all the other underlying potential psychological motives illustrated in this document.

“The parents left because they got rid of HEADTEACHER. Inwoods was working: very strong, very close. Every community has its challenges, but there was no reason why the management did what it did. Absolutely none at all, from the parents’ point of view.” This is an important observation because Nasser/Mina/Antonio, with backing from Raman, have reportedly and allegedly tried to bring excuses that point to HEADTEACHER as the cause of her firing. But every witness, parent or not, has denied it. The reason for the firing of HEADTEACHER had nothing to do with her personality, performance, attitude, etc. – it had everything to do with the mismanagement, which led to the collapse of a great school.

Contradictory Excuses (Lies) for firing HEADTEACHER

Even some Brockwood staff members at the time, who asked what happened to HEADTEACHER, didn’t get a straight answer. There were various excuses given, like the false accusation of cultist behavior (which is very defamatory and disparaging for HEADTEACHER, and very untrue), but there were no signs of it anywhere. Parents and students loving a principal does not make a place a cult. Mr. EE never observed any cult-like behavior at Inwoods. Just lies to cover up for their mismanagement. He said, “They just didn’t want to go there, didn’t want to answer the question” about Inwoods’ collapse.

In his resignation email, Mr. EE did mention “that I was disgusted with the decisions they made over Inwoods. I didn’t trust what Nasser and Mina were capable of doing to me. I felt Antonio was basically their puppet.”

Helena Was Allegedly Delighted HEADTEACHER was Fired

He also heard about the day Helena allegedly wasted no time in going through things at Inwoods. She now says she did to help restart it quickly while in reality, management had not illustrated any new vision for Inwoods. In fact, they had made the last vision collapse – and quickly. They supposedly were rushing to rebuild what had collapsed, but without a new vision. Why destroy a great school and then restart it? It’s like killing a fire and then struggling to start a new one.

It has reportedly been a struggle to get Inwoods going after it collapsed. Reportedly, a recent open day was not well received, not many people turned up, and still no clear vision was communicated.

The terrible KFT/Brockwood management team that led to Inwoods' collapse did not have the wisdom, foresight, intelligence to see it coming. It would have been obvious to anyone if they had bothered to understand the reality of what is, as the founder always emphasized. Or they saw it coming, but apparently their greed for more power knew not satiety or the moral implications of causing a great flourishing school to collapse.

Mr. EE, like many other interviewees, mentioned how counterproductive it was to have such a tangible sharp division between resident and non-resident staff, which has been explained at length in other sections of this document. He noted that non-resident staff were not invited to staff meetings.

A staff member who was at Brockwood for many years before Nasser/Mina/Raman, and also during the new regime, recalls that the policy towards meetings was much more inclusive before Nasser/Mina’s time, and there was not such rigid and tribal segregation between residential and non-residential staff. The KFT Trustees never answered the parents’ letter. Management by ignorance!

Nasser Using Krishnamurti Quotes To Assert Power

Mr.EE said, “Nasser often would quote Krishnamurti.” But he’s not well-versed in it. Someone I know who has studied K for years said he crushed Nasser (intellectually) when Nasser tried to impress him (and assert his own power) by quoting K.

If these reports are true, and they seem to be because they’re very consistent, we have a person (Nasser) who’s made his way to the top of an organization, trying to assert his power by quoting K and making claims around his teachings. This seems very contrary to K’s clear directive that nobody should set themselves up as an authority – implicitly or explicitly – and that includes the head of his foundation.

Guru Raman

Now the new head is Raman Patel. Before even becoming the head of KFA (which he must have reluctantly done because sugar might have hit the fan about alleged issues with Nasser and Mina), he was considered as a Guru by some – which is a disgusting idea and so contrary to K’s teachings. Perhaps his “missionary” role, funded by F. Grohe, and being on his payroll, was a factor in this “Guru” image. See this file for more info and evidence of Raman being called a Guru.

https://www.rezamusic.com/writings/on-j-krishnamurtis-work/letters-to-raman-patel-regarding-his-role-at-brockwood-park-school-krishn

The meeting with parents was scheduled for three different time slots with the same people from Brockwood/KFT. Most parents went to the first one. In one meeting with Inwoods parents, Nasser reportedly tried to authoritatively quote K, but one of the parents’ counter-quoted him, which put him in his place!

TESTIMONY OF MR. M

On paper it looked great. Mr. M. thought, “this is a place where K’s teachings can truly come to light, in a school setting…” By the time he made it to Brockwood, he said Gopal and Lady E were “kicked out”. It was shocking, everything was so strange, and Lady E was acting weird. Mr. M. said the list of horrible things he saw at Brockwood is long. We covered a few of them in our talk.

Antonio is a Fanatic

He views Antonio as someone who has made him feel in danger. Antonio reportedly called the internet “a great monster we will never be able to defeat” (almost exactly his words, Mr. M. said, who found it an authoritarian and fanatical statement). This totally fits with my experience with Antonio, who always came across on the fanatical side. A couple of other witnesses also felt Antonio is a fanatic.

What the students did after that meeting was “they went behind the administration’s back, they had to lie, deceive, cheat the system to get what they were going to get anyway.” They went to school management to have a dialogue and find a solution. They walked away having to cheat and lie.

Nasser and Mina’s Alleged Manipulative Conduct

Mr. M. holds the opinion that Nasser and Mina were allegedly manipulative and views Nasser as “totally operating under the radar”. He believes the time they initially spent as “observers”, they were [could have] allegedly “trying to figure out the loopholes and weak spots so they can totally take over”.

In a staff and volunteers meeting, a Trustee, Alastair Herron, showed up. Mr. M. asked him for the sake of transparency to explain his role and purpose of being in that meeting. Fair question. K also asked in the beginning of many of his public talks, why are you here?

Alistair reportedly puffed up his chest. He took a step towards Mr. M. who reportedly told him, “I have to walk away from you right now because I feel unsafe.” Mr. M. felt it was an “abuse of power” for someone in that position not to be willing to explain his role and why he was in that meeting. I wasn’t there but, in my view, questioning is very much in the spirit of K – he promoted stringent inquiry into truth.

Questioning is Discouraged; Don’t Question Things (vs. K: Question Everything)

One theme which recurred repeatedly in these interviews was how questioning is allegedly discouraged by KFT. Several people have reported that several insiders feel inhibited to question things due to the fear of getting shouted at in their faces, getting on the wrong side of the dictator, getting fired, etc.

Close Physical Proximity to some Female Students

Mr. M. said that when he was there, he “saw unnecessary close physical proximity between attractive male teachers with some female students." Brockwood is already a place where students are lying on top of each other often – they’re very touchy, feely, and there’s a lot of close physical contact.

Mr. M said he believes some staff members took advantage of it, the ones on Nasser’s side. Another witness spoke about alleged favoritism and being in the Nasser/Mina camp or not. Nasser allegedly himself told someone you're effectively in his camp or you're against him (direct quote provided elsewhere in this document).

Inquiry Blocked

Mr. M initially hit it off with Nasser, but then realized that when Mr. M asked questions, Nasser would step back. “He didn’t want anyone asking questions.” This has been reported by a number of people. “Mina is the same thing,” Mr. M believes. “Blocking inquiry is the dominant power structure at Brockwood, and at KFA. There is no real inquiry happening there.”

Nasser’s Alleged Cunning Diversion Technique

Mr. M said on a Brockwood Facebook group that a student complained about being mistreated. There was a long discussion about that topic. Then Nasser posted a picture of ducks on that thread, apparently to divert attention. Mr. M. alleged Nasser and Mina are very good at cunningly diverting attention and shutting down when questioned.

That’s probably a bad habit Nasser inherited from his law experience. Diversion is a well-known, cunning, deceptive tactic in litigation.

Lots of Fear; Lots of Shaming

His last point in describing Brockwood as he saw it was “lots of fear. Lots of shaming using stigmas.” And he was sad that they were not yielding to the land.

Students And Alcohol

He said there was alcohol drinking among students. Multiple people have reported this. Mr. M thinks that the spirit of fear makes such a problem worse because there’s no space to talk about it.

Another Ex-staff member wrote "I was often told of students sneaking out at night and drinking or even going to the pub, this was an everyday occurrence as I understood it."

TESTIMONY OF MR. T

Alienated Donors

"X told me months ago she's not going to give her house to Brockwood [when she dies] because of Nasser and Mina." ~ Ex Staff

Nasser and Mina Moved Into X’s Topnotch Apartment

Was X a scapegoat? Was he fired so Nasser and Mina could take over his wonderful residence that included Krishnamurti's Victorian bath? It seems he would have been fired anyway since he was an old-timer, and most other old-timers were fired as Nasser and Mina allegedly paved the way to full control. Why such an obsession with control? K challenged us to live without the division of controller and controlled, psychologically. A person not craving for security is acting wholly, with love, freedom and intelligence. Insecure control freaks and micromanagers are disastrous.

Fake Threat of Gross Misconduct

They reportedly and allegedly threatened more than one person by accusing them of gross misconduct in relation to signing a release but never told them what that gross misconduct was – which probably means it was a lie. It’s cowardly, low, and backhanded not to tell a person what you’re accusing them of.

Reportedly there weren’t any misconduct, so the threat by KFT management was allegedly bogus.

The Old Boys Clan

The “old boys” go on holiday together: Raman, Derek, Bill, Antonio, and Nasser joined them later.” According to Mr. T, Derek is supposed to be in charge of oversight for the Board of Trustees and has failed the duty badly as evidenced by the disasters illustrated in this report, such as the collapse of Inwoods.

“Julian left because he didn't agree with the management style of the new regime. The top down approach."

In November 2019, they told HEADTEACHER she has to step down by the end of the school year – no reasons were given. “The decision was already made by August 2019 as there were rumors spreading around. In November the trustees rubber stamped it.” There’s a beautiful video of MAA speaking at the reunion in August 2019.

Management’s Intent to Deceive Inwoods Parents

“They wanted Inwoods staff to communicate this to the parents and make it look like HEADTEACHER was part of the decision; but she said that was impossible. Because she was not a part of the decision and absolutely did not support the decision or understand it. The whole thing seemed so very awkward, wrong and unethical.”

HEADTEACHER told some parents that she was leaving, and the parents wanted to know why. “They wanted to meet with the management team [Nasser, Mina, Antonio, Bill, with Raman and Derek in the background] and with the Trustees.” The trustees were chickening out, hiding, and referred them to the management team. “But the parents insisted to know what the reason was.”

Management allegedly gave some wishy washy, inconsistent excuses that didn’t add up, according to people familiar with the situation. Even more different and inconsistent things were said to different people. “That there was an impasse according to Antonio. It was their version without any substantiation, and they never gave HEADTEACHER a voice.” Nasser allegedly blamed HEADTEACHER for the impasse, which was not true. Also see other sections on the fake excuse: impasse.

Friedrich Grohe’s gang was saying the same things as management because they’re part of the same scandal via their man, Raman, who some people blame for this mess because of his role in taking Nasser and Mina to Brockwood and then allegedly helping them achieve so much power, while being part of many of their decisions without being a staff or Trustee. Most of KFT Trustee Board and Grohe’s gang seem to be cut from the same cloth.

“Was there friction between HEADTEACHER and the management team? Answer: there was friction from their part but not from HEADTEACHER’s part.” In fact, HEADTEACHER tried hard to work things out but was repeatedly stonewalled. Some witnesses believe Antonio wanted HEADTEACHER gone because she was the force behind Inwoods’ success, which Antonio and his wife Helena (who runs an adjacent kindergarten) allegedly disliked and were possibly jealous of. Nasser and Mina must have allegedly loved the idea of conquering this last area – which was still flourishing purely in the spirit of K’s educational philosophy and teachings, with the engagement of parents, etc. (as discussed in more detail herein). So, between Antonio/Helena’s alleged push as some people believe, and Mina/Nasser’s alleged greed for control and power, axing HEADTEACHER became a reality.

It’s sad how the Trustees couldn’t see through this and failed to predict their decision would lead to such collapse. Their statements as well as Nasser’s statements clearly show their level of delusional ignorance regarding this subject (and likely other subjects).

TESTIMONIES: LADY C AND MR. N.

LADY C spoke with Gopal, who was a student in the old days and became a co-principal of Brockwood Park School. He was part of Friedrich Grohe’s “extended gang” in terms of closeness to the core circle who call themselves a gang. The "gang"'s key member, Raman Patel, at Brockwood who many see as a key figure behind much of the problems there. Raman Patel via the political and financial power he has had being backed by Friedrich Grohe, and possibly another large donor, managed to bring Nasser and Mina to Brockwood. There’s no way for Nasser and Mina to have gained so much power without that political support.

The brutalities of tribal and seemingly cultist mentalities eventually apply to and starts eating at itself. It ate Gopal, once part of the tribal circle, who had engaged in group thought and tribal, divisive attitudes. The tables turned and divisive tribes morphed into further divisions such that insiders became outsiders. K dreaded the entire concept. In fact, Gopal was the first person who came up with the phrase, “K world”, as far as I remember by writing an article in the 90’s called “The key to the K’s world” – a concept that felt strange back then and it still does. Of course, at the center of that so-called “world” was Mr. Grohe whom Gopal sent his article to, and the surrounding tribe.

Reportedly, Gopal's spouse, Lady E, didn’t want to stay at Brockwood after Mina and Nasser had gained power because of her perception of their reported, alleged manipulative, double-faced behavior, and other strange actions as reported by so many witnesses in this investigation. The sequence of events and dynamics are not exactly clear, but Gopal was allegedly a target of Nasser and Mina for being ousted as they had axed so many others before and after that time.

Nasser and Mina’s Yes-People

Apparently and allegedly, Nasser and Mina liked to gain total control of Brockwood by filling it with their “yes” men and women. They also sent some people on sabbatical, which would turn into axing them. They reportedly wanted to employ the same approach – sending Gopal on sabbatical while Lady E would stay.

This trend (appearing in a few interviews) seems to first make the person do something that would reveal if he or she has 100% allegiance to the dictators, and if not, the person was axed. They did the same with Mr. G. when he failed the allegiance test. They reportedly used Gopal to tell people how great the dictators were. Remember that Gopal was part of the inner circle and brought to Brockwood by Raman, who also brought Nasser and Mina. So they reportedly used Gopal to get information about others (e.g. triangulation) and as a marketing tool for themselves. But Gopal must have seen through this that even for the inner-circle, something was too fishy.

Nasser Tried to Exonerate Himself In Gopal’s Departure

In 2018 Nasser had a meeting with a staff member who was part of school management in the past. Mr. N. said Nasser reportedly babbled for around 45 minutes, allegedly trying to acquit himself – that he had handled a case correctly of yet another alienated senior staff who left the place allegedly because of mismanagement.

Mr. N., said after 45 minutes, he had gotten nothing out of it. It was just Nasser “dumping his dirty laundry” on him, trying to justify how he had handled the Gopal saga. [That's the second person with whom Nasser had a long talk to vindicate himself in this matter.]

Nasser: You’re Either With Me or Against Me

Mr. N. alleges that Nasser also told him, “you’re either with me or you’re against me.” This sheds light into the apparently divisive, thought-dominated, tribal, egotistic attitude of Nasser at the time, which is contradictory to what K’s challenges called for. Perhaps Nasser learned this chilling message from Donald Trump’s dogmatic line to media.

“They Make Up The Facts After The Facts”

“They make up the facts after the facts” said Mr. G, who was close to Gopal. Mr. G recalls that Nasser and Mina started circumventing Gopal, who had a senior role at the school, allegedly telling people, please don’t inform Gopal (yet another unbelievably unprofessional attitude of Nasser and Mina’s management that was reported in other testimonies as well). They reportedly made the decision to neutralize and oust Gopal, and by the time Gopal realized it, it was too late.

After Gopal left Brockwood, reportedly he was no longer engaged in the activity he would have done at KFA. KFA is ahead of Brockwood on its path to decadence and mediocrity, and the same streams of power are responsible for KFA’s deterioration and movement away from K’s objectives. KFT and KFA seem to work closely together in that their managements are tied at the hip, and that hip is not Krishnamurti. It’s Grohe’s influence and that of his gang. Of note, KFA via Rabindra brought Jaap, KFA’s executive director, and KFT via Raman brought Nasser and Mina.

Some say Grohe is distanced from all this and allegedly lives in an “information bunker” (a beautiful Swiss chalet) shielded from some facts by his gang (we have evidence of this being true) – but as the saying goes, “the buck stops at the top”.

Raman and Rabindra as two of the members of Grohe’s gang. They used to travel together as some kind of K missionary funded by Grohe. One close friend of Grohe told me that they spent a lot of money. The gang has cost him a lot of money over the years to the point that a multi-millionaire has talked about the possibility of funds running out! So, Gopal who was once in the Grohe circle but apparently later had a falling out with Mina and Nasser and the power structure behind them.

As a matter of background, some time ago around the time I was doing some IT projects at Oak Grove, there was political upheaval around a new principal, and Gopal was at the opposite end of the stick and let go. Reportedly, Raman took Gopal to Brockwood subsequently.

TESTIMONY OF INWOODS PARENT

Lack of Transparency

“I was there when it all happened. I have stayed with the family who organized the whole protest from the parents’ side. I have been at the parent's meetings… The main point is: complete lack of transparency and no reasons given. HEADTEACHER would have won the case had she gone to a work Tribunal.”

Ultra-Passive, Ineffective Trustees Empowered Nasser/Mina/Raman

“The parent's delegation was very outraged about the [KFT/Brockwood] Management Team, but in particular about the couple [Nasser and Mina] and how they responded to the parents’ queries. And the very weak role that the Trustees played. They hardly reacted and left it all up to the Management Team.”

“How much is it legal that a Management Team of 4 people is composed of a couple who always retain a 50 % majority????? That is extremely questionable. A Management Team of 4 people of which 2 of them are a couple - that is - in my eyes - very, very wrong. And the Trustees should play a stronger role in the oversight of decision making in Brockwood.”

TESTIMONY OF LADY RR

[Edited text mostly composed by Lady RR, and from our phone call which she reviewed and edited and sent me the text below. English is not her main language and I didn't do much correction due to lack of time].

Tragic Atmosphere of Fear

Long term staff member, Lady RR visited Brockwood for the first time since Nasser and Mina had taken over the place. She was shocked at how incredibly badly it had change… friendliness , happiness , welcoming where mostly gone.

She arrived at the reception to register. "There was a former staff member / friend who welcomed me. Nice to meet again! And share friendship! ……it did not last! Nasser walked by …. She grabbed her papers in panic, turned around , left, not a word. Nasser was allegedly the person who ignited the fear! (he was the only person who walked through the corridor!). I never saw such a reaction in BP before, a shock, it was so new in the school."

This is absolutely tragic for any organization, minus maybe the military. Krishnamurti spent decades challenging people to live without fear!

More Signs of Brockwood's Cultural Deterioration

Lady RR said:

"Regarding Antonio saying: “the happiest they've ever been." This is hilarious, but coming from a director it’s unacceptable, unbelievable, totally irresponsible, dangerous, and this is what education is NOT. Antonio never met Krishnaji. Had he done so, he might have had a better feel for Krishnaji's attitude, vision and affection for Brockwood.

I also was surprised that none of the new staff members (and they’re all new) talked to me or said hello except one who told me it's movement it's not martial arts [which another witness said they intentionally renamed it because they knew Krishnamurti didn't want martial arts to be taught at Brockwood -- and Lady RR heard that directly from K].

I was disappointed to see that in the sitting room there was a staff member there but he ignored the students who had their shoes on the couch. This would not have been tolerated before Nasser & Mina’s time.

And the piano was totally stained. The beautiful piano. They put their cup of tea right on the top of the piano and there were lots of stain. But before that was not allowed and people were told not to do that. Everything was left to the students. Nobody would care.

I was disappointed to see students kissing each other on the lips in the sitting room. This was not allowed in the whole Brockwood history before Nasser & Mina’s time.

The new culture of Brockwood seems to be that students can do anything they want, which is not what Krishnaji wanted. He spoke at depth about why that is not freedom. Also it seems that the education at Brockwood is promoting a self-centered attitude. Both these are contrary to what Krishnaji had in mind for Brockwood (based on my experience there as a student during Krishnaji’s time, and later, as a staff member for many years).

Regarding Raman, I was on his kitchen team when he was a cook at Brockwood. Observing him in different situations I found him to be double faced. When in presence of someone he was very friendly with them, but behind their back, he’d show a totally different face."

Visit to the Grove

Krishnamurti considered the Grove as the most sacred place at Brockwood. She found "something different this time: the space, the atmosphere had been negatively impacted. Surprise, on the left side of the Grove, where a meander of trees bushes and flowers where hiding this side of the Grove. A hidden space where one could discover a mysterious aspect of the Grove, to sit quietly…. Now, a small path is opening up this space, to get to the fence of the Grove, partly gone, to give access to a small school [Helena's]. Too closes to the Grove."

Lady RR found out that martial arts are part of the curriculum at Brockwood; it is offered in the Academics, but it is called: “movement" (because Krishnamurti did not want martial arts taught in his schools). At first she was told it's not martial arts! A teacher confirmed “movements” ! "No, it is martial arts, the school leaders told her, as though she had not seen for her own eyes people doing martial arts!!! As for the trustees ...silence... they do not know what is going on." Another witness admitted that they intentionally renamed Martial Arts to "Movement" because they knew K didn't want Martial Arts there.

How is it possible? It seems that some people who know K's intentions [e.g. students like Lady RR who were there when K told them this directly] are not so happy about it. But it is offered. It's listed in the Academic Advising Manual for Students and Teachers 2018/19. So now, one has to meet “Lying as part of the school education at BP“.

"A few people – staff and students who were there when K was around, remembered clearly that K did not want martial arts taught in his school Krishnamurti wanted two required classes: Yoga and relationships with Nature. A school without authority, fear, violence….An Education where care, friendships, love, are the foundations. Learning about oneself... a spiritual development, to meet life..."

Another staff member: "It is true the land, woods and outbuildings Helene uses for her nursery are right next to the Grove."

“Torture Room”

In the Reunion she "noticed people doing martial arts under the majestic cedar tree on the South Lawn. I walked into the area where there used to be a ping-pong table. Now it's loaded with heavy weights and equipment for body building... An ex-student from the 70s walked in and was horrified and said: 'This is the torture room!' Another ex-student walked in and said the same sarcastic remark: 'This is a torture room!'.

"The school was a place where Krishnaji for years tried to bring beauty humanity, friendship, affection,….. CARE for everybody, nature, everything around us …….that was the responsibility for all the people, staff, students, guests in the place, …... care for life. I still feel responsible for BP and that is why I care sharing these observations."

TESTIMONY OF CURRENT STAFF MEMBER

Inwoods Collapse was Deeply Sad

Dear Reza

I think that all BP staff were affected by the situation with Inwoods and HEADTEACHER. For me, it is deeply sad that the thriving little school is no longer there, and HEADTEACHER and her family are no longer a part of Brockwood.

... it seems that nobody wanted the situation to end as it did. [actions have consequences. Only weak management cannot predict the consequences of its actions -- especially when you play with people's livelihood]. The process somehow took its own momentum and the situation escalated into a huge conflict with the Inwoods parents and with HEADTEACHER [and that is a direct result of mismanagement of the situation -- there's no mystery to it].

I do wish that it were possible for human beings to resolve conflicts and not hurt each other. I certainly wish it were possible at Brockwood. Perhaps, it will be...one day. [The school was set up to bring about a different kind of human than you find in the ugly society -- but now the ugly society and its ugly cunning brutal ways have been imported into Brockwood and in my opinion corrupted it].

...Warm wishes

Lady JJ

TESTIMONY OF LADY TT

Grohe’s Takeover

Lady TT is very concerned about Brockwood/KFT. “Brockwood is important. It is the only Krishnamurti place in Europe and it's a fantastic place to come study. It has to subsist”.

She pointed out that Mr. Jean-Michel Maroger stepped down as a Trustee because Friedrich Grohe told him Trustees over 70 should resign! Mr. Maroger was a good friend of Krishnamurti and he’s a great gentleman who possesses all noble qualities. He’s one of the many friends of K who are very concerned about KFT and Brockwood’s state of affairs.

Pity that Mr. Grohe asked Mr. Maroger to Resign as Trustee

“He stepped out because of Grohe telling him when you're over 70 you shouldn't be a Trustee any more. It was stupid to listen to Grohe. He told me that himself. He was a serious Trustee for many many years.” Mr. Maroger would have never let KFT get captured by Grohe influence and go down as it has; think Inwoods, think boys and girls in bed together in middle of day, think the spirit of fear, authority, lies, and so on -- everything K dreaded.

One might argue that persuading Mr. Maroger to resign was the beginning of a strategic move which eventually led to Grohe's ultimate power which we witness today - via his gang - at both KFT and KFA. Grohe wanting power and control over the foundations via his “gang” is not a strange idea. He had all the money, so why not have power too?

Regarding the subject of age, today, Grohe's allies on the Board are mostly over 70 years old, with Gisele Balleys being 86. If Mr. Grohe's criteria is used 4 of the Board members should soon resign due to age: Wendy is 69, Derek is 73, Gisele is 86, Gary is 71. But the body's age seems irrelevant as long as the mind is in good shape. KFI has some trustees who are much older. What's far more important is clear thinking, independent thinking, and standing up for what's right instead of rubber stamping what's put in front of you and being bulldozed by attitudes of people like Nasser, Mina and Raman.

Alleged Gag Orders

She’s been friends with Gisele Balleys for 40 years she said but when she asks her about the situation Gisele says she can’t talk. “This is so strange”, lady TT said in despair.

Ex-Trustee has been friends with Gisele Balleys for decades but he said Gisele stopped talking to him.

Ex-staff member, who’s helped Gisele a lot and been friends with her for decades are upset because Gisele is not talking to him (because of the situation at Brockwood, it seems trustees are told not to talk to anyone, and some just cut off all ties it seems instead distinguishing what they can and cannot say).

Some witnesses have said Nasser allegedly gags people saying that they can’t talk because it’s a legal issue. For Nasser even giving students a certificate for completion of a flight SIMULATOR workshop is allegedly an issue! But not wanting Trustees to talk to even their old friend, may be paranoia or insecurity because

Nasser/Mina/Raman/Antonio etc. together with the trustees have allegedly caused a mess (e.g. Inwoods collapse) so they’re not allowed to talk about anything related to KFT because it’s purported as a legal issue. A trustee should be free to talk to people about matters of the Trust, as long as s/he is not divulging confidential or secret information.

I experienced the same with Gisele whom I’ve known for many years. I call her from time to time to chat. After the Inwoods fiasco, I called and she said off the bat, but I can’t talk to you about Brockwood. Ok! I didn’t even ask that we talk about Brockwood – so it was obvious she was instructed.

TESTIMONY OF EX-STAFF REGARDING GOVERNANCE

A couple of old-timers who have had a long history with Brockwood wrote:

The Trustees are Not Doing Their Job

The KFT trustees are not holding up their end of the bargain to be a balancing power to the Management. From the outside, we see no expression of strategic vision, no critical evaluation, no return on voiced concerns. It appears that they settle for a good financial management of the place at the bare minimum but not critical leadership to question the potentially rogue activities of the executive branch. Worse, the renewal of their body is under the control and prior validation of the Management Team (that unofficially includes Friedrich Grohe's employee, Raman Patel) -- which might potentially be a conflict of interest.

Twisted Governance: Trustees Under the Thumbs of the Management

The KFT trustees seem to be dominated and maneuvered by the Management Team which has the backing of a big donor, Friedrich Grohe that might mean, feeding them pre-digested and oriented scenarios for rubber stamping approval. All this with the different parties pulling their interests in the background. No transparency at all. In the new paradigm of the corporate world (if the BP corporation could evolve - wishful thinking) transparency and communication should be at the center. This is severely lacking here and there is no incentive to do so from the Trustees.

Mutual Backscratching

There is a real problem with powerful members of an organisation being around so long and forming close strong bonds with each other to the point that they look after each other's privileged positions – one loses an objective perspective. It would be interesting if the Management Team members experienced working in the kitchen or garden for a year to see if their commitment is still there.

Reportedly a senior staff member who suggested a prospective trustee to be presented to the Board -- someone with a long interest in K who had attended his talks and was around since Brockwood started – but Nasser and Mina allegedly insisted on meeting her before she's presented to the Trustees. So it's fair to say the Management Team has a lot of say/influence on who the Trustee should be and it only selects those it can control.

TESTIMONY OF INWOODS' STAFF, MR. VV

Nasser: “Everyone is an educator!” = everyone’s a lawyer, everyone’s a carpenter!

"Everyone is an educator!" Nasser Shamim allegedly, ignorantly said.

Mr. VV has been a teacher for 20 years, and taught at Inwoods for 3 years before it collapsed after HEADTEACHER was fired. Firing HEADTEACHER was like shooting Inwoods in its forehead. He found Nasser's statement "naive and laughable", and it shows how little appreciation and understanding Nasser allegedly has for the sacred field of education, and how little respect he has for the field. It's as stupid and false as saying "everyone is a guitar player" or "everyone is a medical doctor".

Mina’s Omnipotent Role

"Mina eventually seemed to have more job titles to her name than the list of vegetables in the garden".

He wrote an email to management during the drama that led to Inwoods' collapse, to voice his concerns. Antonio told Mr. VV he will get a response, but that never happened.

"Inwoods was a wonderful school for our son. We spent several years looking in various places for the ideal school for him and literally within an hour of meeting HEADTEACHER we decided that Inwoods was the place for our son... Inwoods was a wonderful place for our son and family. We were lucky to find it."

Mr. VV eventually started teaching at Inwoods. Mr. VV was considering sending his son to Brockwood Park but decided not to because of his lack of trust in the management.

Pastoral Supervisor!

We have information from other sources (presented in this section in the context of Mina’s multiple roles) that Mina has at times had the role of pastoral supervisor and according to information we have she was perceived as arrogant and ineffective in that role at least in one case. Looking at her resume (see resume walkthrough section below), she had no education, training, qualification, for such a role prior to joining Brockwood. Whether she obtained such qualifications while she’s been at Brockwood is not known to us but we doubt it and believe it was probably a case of on the job training, which is risky when dealing with teenagers living away from home.

Needless to say, pastoral duties when dealing with teenagers is of utmost importance. Krishnamurti spoke at length about dealing with the young, to help the young flower, in affection, intelligence, goodness…

Mina’s Another Title / Filtering Trustee Communications

Among many other titles of herself, Mina claimed to be “Clerk to the Governors”. She wrote that to someone when she was not happy that that person had written to the trustees, and she demanded that communication to trustees is done via herself. It’s conceivable that any communication Mina/Nasser/Raman didn’t like would not be delivered to the trustees.

As an example, a letter was sent to the trustees to their KFT emails. “Bill and Antonio, walking in the car park at Inwoods days later, stated verbally that I would get a response. No response ever received. No direct response, that is. I say this because over the course of Nov 2019 I did receive a message below from Mina, which could possibly have been in response to further emails that I sent. It said "contact with the trustees should go via me as clerk to the governors" Mina was allegedly successful at creating new job roles and titles - for herself.

“Nasser Had No Understanding or Interest in Education”

Once he had an hour long meeting with Nasser. Mr. VV said he realized "Nasser had no understanding or desire to build that understanding of what primary education or a primary school is like. It was a very strange thing to observe that the person with the most power and responsibility had so little apparent interest in one of the parts."

“Nasser is Highly Skilled at Concealing a lot”

Nasser allegedly tried to disguise that lack of understanding and fake it / pretend like he knows the topic. "Far more yes than no". "No doubt that sadly Nasser is highly skilled at concealing a lot and yet in the in the microcosms of our conversation he very clearly and clumsily demonstrated in my eyes that he had absolutely no feeling for or understanding or desire to acquire those things about Inwoods and the importance of educating young children which was quite amazing. I don't think he realized he was revealing that."

TESTIMONY OF MR HHH / TRUST’S HYPOCRISY AROUND SEXUALITY

Mr. HH recalls his time before the Raman/Nasser/Mina regime. Things have changed for the worse since then.

“Antonio kept saying you can't have sex at Brockwood but I didn't even have sex at Brockwood. We were kissing but not in front of everybody [like students do today at Brockwood]. They were very preoccupied that we wouldn't have sex [but now students are seen together in bed even during the day]. I was 17 - I was shy - he  put you on the spot - he made me feel guilty for something I hadn’t done. He assumed I was having sex but I wasn’t. Instead of asking me he kept repeating and reacting to his own assumption that was not true.”

Another witness, an old student of Brockwood said prior to the Grohe Revolution (bringing Mina, Nasser, and Raman rising to top position), in the old days, Antonio reportedly expelled two students who were in bed together. Now there’s open kissing, several reports of sexual encounters, and while management tells prospective parents that sexual relationships are not allowed.

Also see section: Anal Sex In The School Library

TESTIMONY OF LADY LLL

Lady LLL was an avid student of Krishnamurti and attended many of his public talks, and read many of his books. As an ex volunteer who helped KFT, she cares deeply about the place and is very concerned about what’s been going on.

Lady LLL is very fond of HEADTEACHER and how she was running Inwood, and found HEADTEACHER’s firing and collapse of Inwoods as a real tragedy. “HEADTEACHER was exemplary. Everything she does is out of compassion and kindness and she was treated deplorably.” “HEADTEACHER was doing an incredible job. And she’s an honest, open person… I think she should run the school [Brockwood Park].”

Other people have also suggested that HEADTEACHER should run Brockwood Park School but given her passion in educating small children it’s doubtful she would accept that role but perhaps she would accept an advisory role.

Nasser & Bill Filtering Prospective Trustees

It was suggested by some people who knew Ms. LLL that she should become a trustee at KFT. So she filled out an application, but the interview didn’t take place with trustees. Nasser and Bill interviewed her and offered her to be a volunteer (something she’s done in the past. Here was a busy professional who was being asked to work in the kitchen for example… while in reality they didn’t want her because she is a free-thinking, fearless woman – not the kind that could be controlled by them.

Nasser Disliked Being Questioned

Nasser allegedly asked her why she was interested in K. She explained why – a sound answer covering some of the core teachings of K such as his educational philosophy.

She finished her answer to Nasser by asking him the same question: “Why are you interested?” Nasser’s alleged negative reaction indicated he didn’t like the question – or the fact that someone he was supposedly interviewing was interviewing him (which is fair game – I’ve been to lots of professional interviews and they’re always two-way with aim of mutual understanding / vetting.

Other witnesses have also indicated, like dictators, Nasser didn’t like to be questioned.

He reportedly “gave a formulaic answer” to brush aside the question. Why? What is Nasser’s real interest in K, if any, aside from having ended up in a comfortable job, in a plush part of the world, living in the best home on the property, being in a powerful position, imposing his power (and a spirit of fear), etc. (see so many testimonies that speak about Nasser’s behavior). Has the perceived benefits of power and politics superseded any philosophical interest he may have had in K’s profound work?

She Doesn’t Trust Nasser

“Immediately, I sensed that I did not trust Nasser”.

They don’t like trustees who ask tough questions. They had a trustee who was asking tough questions and he was reportedly asked to leave. Think of K’s discourse about importance about asking tough questions, “impossible questions”…

The governance tragedy of the current status quo is that management team seems to filter/impact/ who becomes a trustee, and the current trustees are to blame for this very culture that has developed – a runaway culture where dynamics are governance seem to be twisted. It was the current trustees’ governance failure that the management team and Raman gained so much power (backed by trustee Derek Hook and apparently his business partner, trustee Gary Primrose who is/was supposed to be the lead trustee but in reality the Trust is/was run by ulterior centers of power like the “Old Boys” clan. So again, the facts point to the root cause of the issue being the Board of Trustees and the political / money / power influence of Grohe (via Raman) as illustrated herein.

Nasser Allegedly Broke His Word

Lady LLL was called in for a professional engagement. Once Lady LLL understood the requirements, she submitted a proposal that included her fee. It was very clear from the onset that this would not be a volunteer project and that KFT would have to pay for it, at a discounted rate given her goodwill towards K’s work, KFT and especially Inwoods which she viewed as a treasured school.

Her proposal was provided to Nasser, Bill and Andy. Nasser acknowledged receiving it via email. Nasser had some questions about it which were addressed so he had obviously seen the proposal, and the price tag attached to it. A meeting followed with the four of them plus HEADTEACHER. In that meeting, Nasser allegedly explicitly gave her the go-ahead to start work. That verbal order was supported by Bill and Andy. So Lady LLL had a clear mandate to start work, for a fee!

“In all my years of professional practice, I’ve always had verbal contracts” based on trust. A verbal contract is legally binding.

As the project progressed a meeting was organized with the trustees to brief them on the status. Just before Lady LLL enters the room Nasser informed everyone that the work is not of a professional basis and is being done out of generosity, and effectively, without charge.

HEADTEACHER reportedly corrected Nasser and reminded him of the fee proposal that was shared, and the go-ahead given for the work by Nasser himself!

Nasser reportedly didn’t like this pushback by HEADTEACHER. Several witnesses have indicated Nasser doesn’t seem to like being criticized or challenged.

Rumor started circulating, probably by Nasser, that HEADTEACHER had orchestrated her own plans without coordinating with KFT – a completely fake narrative, as the plans were approved by KFT management.

Someone familiar with the situation recalled: “It makes me sick [that Nasser allegedly implied she would do the work for free]. She produced huge amounts of excellent work for us [and we had agreed to pay her].”  Furthermore: “I remember it as if it were yesterday, towards the end of the meeting I looked at Nasser and said to him and Bill and HEADTEACHER so let us be absolutely clear, we are giving Lady LLL the go ahead to go away and come up with <>. I knew that I had to spell it out there and then so there was no denying it later, the answer from Nasser and Bill and me was yes please proceed. I wanted to tie it down tight because if you leave any room or ambiguity they will lie and change it later.”

TESTIMONY OF MR. ZZ ABOUT RAMAN PATEL

Mr. ZZ was a mature student at Brockwood and also visited the place over the years.

He said for a long time Raman Patel has had extraordinary, unofficial, undeserved power at Brockwood which he derived from being on Friedrich Grohe's payroll. This is how influential the Grohe Gang have been on Krishnamurti foundations. Same thing as in KFA. Mr. ZZ: "Even a long time ago Raman had a lot of power at Brockwood because he was feeling too much secure with Grohe".

"He came from Nairobi and worked as a cook in Brockwood. I don't think he has any diploma or anything".

The gardener and cook obtained enormous power and influence at KFT/Brockwood because he’s on Friedrich Grohe’s payroll. Now he's the Executive Director for the same reason. In our view, Raman running KFT is a failure of the Trustees in appointing the right executive management, just as it was their failure that Nasser and Mina (whom Raman brought and supported) ended up having so much power; and together with Raman, they were allegedly behind so much of the sagas reported by so many witnesses in this report.

“What About The Sperm?!”

Once at a gathering they were on a walk and Mr. ZZ came to a point where Raman was sitting. "Raman asked me bluntly what about the sperm". Mr. ZZ was shocked. "How can you ask me something like this? Do you want me to tell Grohe about this? Suddenly Raman got frightened. Really frightened. I said I'm going to tell Grohe about these things because it's unfair that you question me just like this and I got really angry with him. I still think about writing to Grohe about it sometimes. Or maybe you can put it in your report. I don't mind if you do." "How can you ask someone bluntly just like that 'what about the sperm'"-- I guess it was a guru-talk of Roman talking in his imaginary Koans.

This reminds me of when I shared a flat – as a guest of Friedrich in Rougemont (where he lives) – with a couple of his “gang” members at a Krishnamurti gathering. One of them was watching porn on TV late night. It felt tacky in an apartment with other people he does not know well, at a Krishnamurti gathering, to be watching porn in the living room.

I happened to be at the same gathering Mr. ZZ talks about and could see how some of Grohe's gang members were acting. Over the years, some of them were so incredibly arrogant, egotistic, and acted so much contrary to K's teachings – while setting themselves up on pedestals because they’re part of Grohe’s gang – including Raman Patel, Javier Gomez Rodriguez, and Rabindra Singh.

As it relates to this document, here's again an illustration that being part of the Grohe Gang -- having the unabated support of Friedrich Grohe / Big Money man -- got into some of these people's heads. Here's a letter to Javier Rodriguez: https://www.rezamusic.com/writings/on-j-krishnamurtis-work/Friedrich-Grohe-Gang-Member-Javier-Gomez-Rodriguez-Krishnamurti-Related

But as with the gurus who get corrupt, it's the followers who fall for them. In this case, it's people at these gatherings who look up to these chaps as some kind of a leader -- and the chaps are on Grohe's payroll -- and all this gets to their head. They only got their position because they managed to impress Grohe, which doesn’t take much!

Raman even admitted at the onset of this research that he effectively plays a guru-like role at KFT (without using those words) and none else, while in reality he played many roles at KFT without being a staff member or a trustee, and had more influence than anyone -- because he was and is Grohe's man. Krishnamurti spent a lifetime warning about that.

https://www.rezamusic.com/writings/on-j-krishnamurtis-work/letters-to-raman-patel-regarding-his-role-at-brockwood-park-school-krishn

Mr. ZZ stated he would be making a complaint to the Board of Trustees and the Charity Commission about Raman Patel, over an alleged incident at KFT. But that is outside the scope of this report, and he chose to make that report totally on his own without any influence from us.

TESTIMONY OF Lady NN

[This was partly written in English and partly in another language and it was translated]

Isolative Culture &Alleged Gross Management Shortcomings

"Suddenly dismissed 6 months later… What actually had put me in depression was to see the end of my dream, to observe all these persons absolutely not living as I imagined Krishnamurti propose to. It would be a very long story to write down... For example people who didn't look or say hello when they passed each other in the hallways in the morning because they were afraid of "having" to talk to each other. Or staff who were drinking wine and beer twice a week hidden in their flat.

Or a staff who went to London every week to have sex and, one night, bragged about it to a young female student on his way home from the station (this fact was reported to the management but they didn’t do anything about it). Or people who were obsessed by the vegan way of eating and letting lot of food put in the bin.

About Antonio and Mina’s mismanagement is that I was supposed to teach Physics and that I discovered in September 2018 my time table without any physics courses and any explanation about that! That was the straw that «broke the camel’s back» for me.

When I read my employment contract, it was written that I have to accept everything the management asked me even if it wasn’t my basic training. So I thought I had nothing to reclaim. I was only so happy to leave and not to be totally sick with depression. It seems like a so big mess…

I thank you for the great work you are doing.

My best regards.”

Crying From Relief That She’s Finally Being Heard (this testimony)

“Thank you Reza. It really warms my heart! And I'm crying now because it's like a huge relief to know that what I felt there is heard! Thank you 🙏

Thank you again with all my heart! Thank you Reza! I also want to share with you the joy I feel since I cried with relief.

I even imagine that I might be able to go back to work at Brockwood one day."

TESTIMONY OF MR. MM

Raman, a Local Guru