By Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles

Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba, an Indian living sage venerated by millions across the globe, regardless of their ethnic origins or religious affiliations, has become the latest target for attack by the Sri Lankan separatist group, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

The LTTE’s daily electronic bulletin, the ‘Circle Digest’, in a vehement attack on the sage accused him of being a "false preacher" and appealed to the Tamils to "stop worshipping" him.

In its issue dated July 4, 2001 (V2001 #2457) of the ‘Circle Digest’ the appeal came to the Tamils of Sri Lanka, India and the rest of the world in a piece written by a LTTE scribe named, Thamilkaavalan, believed to be a pen name of a writer of the limited circle of Liberation Tigers writers, allowed in this publication.

Millions of Tamils across the globe are believed to be devotees of Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba and it is not known what kind of impact the LTTE’s appeal would have upon them.

The ‘Circle Digest’ said the latest tactics of "Singalas", meaning the Sinhalese, to infiltrate Tamils in overseas is by "Sai Baba" groups.

The Liberation Tigers electronic bulletin accused the saint, Sai Baba, as a "well known friend of the Singalas" like the Sinhalese leaders, "Ratwatte (sic), Daluwatte (sic), Sirimavo and Anura".

Sri Lanka’s Deputy Defense Minister Anuruddha Ratwatte, Army Chief Rohan Daluwatte, former Prime Minister, the late Sirimavo Bandaranaike and the Speaker Anura Bandaranaike are believed to be Sai Baba devotees.

The bulletin accused Sai Baba of getting maps for the (Sri Lanka) army from the Indian army and did not elaborate what these maps are about.

The pro-LTTE bulletin accused Sai Baba of using the "the latest tactic" of making his devotee groups to "turn Tamils against the (Tamil) struggle" by preaching "peaceful living with Singalas and not preaching same to Singalas."

It further said Sai Baba helped destroy Tamil "freedom fighters", meaning the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

The bulletin said, "Please stop worshipping this false preacher who....want(s) to destroy us all".

The bulletin also pointed out that all protest they made became useless when "Singala" High Commissioners like Janaka Perera becoming Sai worshippers and acting as friends of Tamils showed to the rest of the world that Tamils and Sinhalese are friends and only terrorists are killing everyone and so the army were compelled to kill the terrorists.

In a final note of advise the bulletin said, "Tamils, use your brains before it is too late."

According to one of the numerous web sites dedicated to Sai Baba and his teachings in the United States, "To millions of people spread over almost every country in the world, Shri Sathya Sai Baba is believed to be an avatar, an embodiment of God, divinity in human form."

In the same web site, Dr. John S. Hislop, a longtime devotee of Sai Baba is quoted of having said, "Baba’s wisdom, the love which is strongly felt, when one is in his presence, and his awesome power over the material elements and human circumstances, contribute to the extraordinary veneration in which he is held and to the almost inevitable attraction felt by people of all ages and races when they see him, or begin to give close attention to his teachings and to his life."

The web site says Sai Baba is for the protection of the virtuous, for the destruction of evil doers and for establishing righteousness on a firm footing.

It quotes Sai Baba as saying, "Whenever disharmony overwhelms the world the Lord will incarnate in human form to establish the modes of earning supreme peace and to re-educate the human community in the path of peace. I incarnate from age to age."