There are many rumours in the press about Osho visiting the States, which he later refutes in press interviews:

Why did You leave India?

For health reasons. I never wanted to leave. India may be poor, may have its troubles and problems, but it has a beauty of its own. last101

I have denied the invitation to visit America for years. My first Western disciples were American. Mukta has been asking me to go to America, and she could manage it because she belongs to one of the richest families in the Greek world. But I said, “No, Mukta.” notes02

Didn’t you speak against India when you left India?

No, I have been speaking against the orthodoxy of India, the traditionalism of India, the caste system of India, the poverty of India. My whole life I have been speaking against these, because I love India and I want all these things to be immediately destroyed. It is my motherland and I would like it to be one of the best in the world–materially, spiritually, in every sense….

I hate poverty; not poor people.

In fact, I hate poverty because I love poor people. I don’t want them to be poor. last410

What about the income tax cases which have been pending against you when you left this country?

There has been no case against me because I have never been part of any organization, I had never been on any posts. There has been no case against me. There cannot be. I don’t earn anything. You cannot put income tax on me. I don’t move out of my house. What case can be against me. If freedom of speech is a crime, then I am the greatest criminal in the world. last410

There were stories at the time that You were forced out. Is that true?

That is nonsense. I can go back there. Nobody can force me out of anywhere….

Nobody forced me out of India. In India I was living with my commune, ten thousand sannyasins were living with me. It was my health that was getting worse and worse. last101

It has been said to me that You left Poona in the dead of night. Is this true?

Certainly true!

The implication being that You sneaked away, as opposed to announcing it….

That is wrong.

Can You explain for me how You left Poona?

I left in my Rolls Royce, and not in the dead of the night. I left Poona in the day, in the midday sun, with two Rolls Royces, three Mercedes Benz. With five cars I left in the middle of the day. I left Bombay at midnight, because the plane leaves at midnight. What could I do? last113