This issue is festering for so many years in Communist Russia..How come other religions are tolerated but Hindus hounded!
[h=1]Krishna yet to win Russianhearts [/h][h=2]Thelong-running feud over Moscow’s ISKCON temple shows the suspicion and hostilitythat the Hare Krishna movement, legalised in Russia in 1988, still evokes inthat country [/h]When Prime MinisterManmohan Singh visits Russia next month for the annual summit with Russia’sPresident Vladimir Putin he will be asked to wade into the long-runningstand-off between Moscow’s Krishna community and local authorities over thefate of the city’s only Krishna temple which is faced with a second evictionover the past decade.
“We are preparing aletter to our Prime Minister asking him for help in the temple controversy,”said Sadhu Priya Das of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness(ISKCON), Moscow.
Moscow ISKCON has alsoappealed to Mr Putin and hope for his positive response, he told The Hindu.
Bailiffs have warnedISKCON that the city’s only Krishna temple on Leningradsky Prospect may beforcefully evicted any time now that it missed the July 31 deadline forvacating the land.
Start of troubles
The Krishnacommunity’s ordeal began in 2004 when its temple on Begovaya Street wasdemolished to make way for high-rise construction under an urban developmentplan. The city government offered ISKCON a patch of land for templeconstruction on Leningradsky Prospect, but two years later tore up theagreement following strong protests from the Russian Orthodox Church.
Orthodox hierarchsobjected to the large size of the proposed Krishna temple and its location onthe site where thousands of Muscovites had been trampled to death during thecoronation of Tsar Nicholas II in 1896.
ISKCON was offeredanother plot of land on the sparsely populated outskirts of Moscow, but thatwas again taken away earlier this year just as the Krishna community was aboutto launch the construction.
“We spent about 70million roubles ($2.5 million) donated by our followers on preparing theproject, but the Moscow government withdrew its permission just as we completedthe long-winding project clearance procedure,” said Sergei Andreyev, who is incharge of the temple construction at Moscow ISKCON.
In their terse writtenresponse to questions from The Hindu, the Moscow Mayor’s Office cited“mass protests by residents” as a reason for cancelling the allocation of landfor the Krishna temple.
This argument raisedeyebrows at ISKCON.
“The nearest apartmenthouses are about one kilometre away from where our temple was to be built,”said Mr. Andreyev.
Yet, protests did takeplace a year ago when hundreds of Orthodox Christians and Muslims picketed thesite of the would-be Krishna temple to protest the foundation stone layingceremony.
The Moscow governmentis now promising to find another site for an ISKCON temple, but is yet to comeup with a concrete offer. Meanwhile, the threat of eviction is still hangingover the temporary Krishna temple on Leningradsky Prospect.
“Bailiffs have givenus a respite, but they may be back any time, so we’re moving out our stuff,”Mr. Andreyev said. “However, we have no place where to move the temple.”
ISKCON devotees arguethat the Krishna temple in Moscow has not only religious, but also culturalvalue for Hindus living in the Russian capital.
“Our temple is theonly place to fulfil not only the religious, but also the cultural and socialneeds of Indians, Sri Lankans, Bangladeshis, Mauritians and Nepalese,” PriyaDas said. “This also helps their children to keep in touch with their cultureand religion.”
Translation ban
The ISKCON temple woescome two years after state prosecutors tried to ban a Russian translation of theBhagavad-Gita As It Is, accusing the Krishnaites’ sacred book of inspiring“religious hatred” and being “extremist in nature.” After months of hearings, acourt in the Siberian city of Tomsk threw out the case, but the trial left abad aftertaste in the Krishna community.
“It is difficult tosay whether there is some persecution or somebody is against Hinduism inRussia, but if you think logically, you come to the conclusion that there maybe some ideological reason behind it,” Priya Das said.
Although the HareKrishna movement was legalised in Russia in 1988 it is still looked upon withsuspicion and hostility by many Russians.
Ruffling feathers
Many priests andtheologians of the Russian Orthodox Church, such as leading anti-sect activistAlexander Dvorkin, who heads the Expert Council for Religious Studies at theRussian Ministry of Justice, have branded the Hare Krishna movement as a“totalitarian sect” that has nothing to do with mainstream Hinduism.
Critics accuse RussianKrishnaites of pursing an aggressive campaign to recruit new worshippers amongfollowers of Russia’s “traditional” religions — the Russian Orthodox Church,Islam, Buddhism and Judaism.
They say the scale ofISKCON activity in Russia is incomparable with the size of the Indian diasporaestimated at about 15,000 people, including several thousand students. ISKCONoperates 120 centres across Russia, runs schools for children, publishes dozensof book titles in Russian and distributes free food to the poor and victims ofnatural disasters.
Christian and Muslimactivists have repeatedly protested against ratha yatra rituals, held byISKCON across Russia every year “under the guise” of a festival of Indianculture.
“They obtainpermission to have a cultural event, but instead engage in shameless propagandaof their religious teachings,” fumed Father Rafail of the Iveron Monastery inVorkuta, a city of coalminers in Russia’s Arctic region. “They hand outreligious books, sing the glory of Krishna and offer people prasada,which is consecrated food.”
The priest comparedHare Krishna to Aum Shinrikyo, a Japanese doomsday cult.
Religion expertMikhail Sitnikov denounced the campaign unleashed by the Russian OrthodoxChurch against ISKCON as a case of “Christian fundamentalism.”
“The Russian OrthodoxChurch sees the Society for Krishna Consciousness as a strong competitor and istrying to oust it from Russia in the same way as it is trying to suppress thenon-Orthodox Christian denominations,” the expert said.
Vladimir Radyuhin
Krishna yet to win Russian hearts - The Hindu
[h=1]Krishna yet to win Russianhearts [/h][h=2]Thelong-running feud over Moscow’s ISKCON temple shows the suspicion and hostilitythat the Hare Krishna movement, legalised in Russia in 1988, still evokes inthat country [/h]When Prime MinisterManmohan Singh visits Russia next month for the annual summit with Russia’sPresident Vladimir Putin he will be asked to wade into the long-runningstand-off between Moscow’s Krishna community and local authorities over thefate of the city’s only Krishna temple which is faced with a second evictionover the past decade.
“We are preparing aletter to our Prime Minister asking him for help in the temple controversy,”said Sadhu Priya Das of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness(ISKCON), Moscow.
Moscow ISKCON has alsoappealed to Mr Putin and hope for his positive response, he told The Hindu.
Bailiffs have warnedISKCON that the city’s only Krishna temple on Leningradsky Prospect may beforcefully evicted any time now that it missed the July 31 deadline forvacating the land.
Start of troubles
The Krishnacommunity’s ordeal began in 2004 when its temple on Begovaya Street wasdemolished to make way for high-rise construction under an urban developmentplan. The city government offered ISKCON a patch of land for templeconstruction on Leningradsky Prospect, but two years later tore up theagreement following strong protests from the Russian Orthodox Church.
Orthodox hierarchsobjected to the large size of the proposed Krishna temple and its location onthe site where thousands of Muscovites had been trampled to death during thecoronation of Tsar Nicholas II in 1896.
ISKCON was offeredanother plot of land on the sparsely populated outskirts of Moscow, but thatwas again taken away earlier this year just as the Krishna community was aboutto launch the construction.
“We spent about 70million roubles ($2.5 million) donated by our followers on preparing theproject, but the Moscow government withdrew its permission just as we completedthe long-winding project clearance procedure,” said Sergei Andreyev, who is incharge of the temple construction at Moscow ISKCON.
In their terse writtenresponse to questions from The Hindu, the Moscow Mayor’s Office cited“mass protests by residents” as a reason for cancelling the allocation of landfor the Krishna temple.
This argument raisedeyebrows at ISKCON.
“The nearest apartmenthouses are about one kilometre away from where our temple was to be built,”said Mr. Andreyev.
Yet, protests did takeplace a year ago when hundreds of Orthodox Christians and Muslims picketed thesite of the would-be Krishna temple to protest the foundation stone layingceremony.
The Moscow governmentis now promising to find another site for an ISKCON temple, but is yet to comeup with a concrete offer. Meanwhile, the threat of eviction is still hangingover the temporary Krishna temple on Leningradsky Prospect.
“Bailiffs have givenus a respite, but they may be back any time, so we’re moving out our stuff,”Mr. Andreyev said. “However, we have no place where to move the temple.”
ISKCON devotees arguethat the Krishna temple in Moscow has not only religious, but also culturalvalue for Hindus living in the Russian capital.
“Our temple is theonly place to fulfil not only the religious, but also the cultural and socialneeds of Indians, Sri Lankans, Bangladeshis, Mauritians and Nepalese,” PriyaDas said. “This also helps their children to keep in touch with their cultureand religion.”
Translation ban
The ISKCON temple woescome two years after state prosecutors tried to ban a Russian translation of theBhagavad-Gita As It Is, accusing the Krishnaites’ sacred book of inspiring“religious hatred” and being “extremist in nature.” After months of hearings, acourt in the Siberian city of Tomsk threw out the case, but the trial left abad aftertaste in the Krishna community.
“It is difficult tosay whether there is some persecution or somebody is against Hinduism inRussia, but if you think logically, you come to the conclusion that there maybe some ideological reason behind it,” Priya Das said.
Although the HareKrishna movement was legalised in Russia in 1988 it is still looked upon withsuspicion and hostility by many Russians.
Ruffling feathers
Many priests andtheologians of the Russian Orthodox Church, such as leading anti-sect activistAlexander Dvorkin, who heads the Expert Council for Religious Studies at theRussian Ministry of Justice, have branded the Hare Krishna movement as a“totalitarian sect” that has nothing to do with mainstream Hinduism.
Critics accuse RussianKrishnaites of pursing an aggressive campaign to recruit new worshippers amongfollowers of Russia’s “traditional” religions — the Russian Orthodox Church,Islam, Buddhism and Judaism.
They say the scale ofISKCON activity in Russia is incomparable with the size of the Indian diasporaestimated at about 15,000 people, including several thousand students. ISKCONoperates 120 centres across Russia, runs schools for children, publishes dozensof book titles in Russian and distributes free food to the poor and victims ofnatural disasters.
Christian and Muslimactivists have repeatedly protested against ratha yatra rituals, held byISKCON across Russia every year “under the guise” of a festival of Indianculture.
“They obtainpermission to have a cultural event, but instead engage in shameless propagandaof their religious teachings,” fumed Father Rafail of the Iveron Monastery inVorkuta, a city of coalminers in Russia’s Arctic region. “They hand outreligious books, sing the glory of Krishna and offer people prasada,which is consecrated food.”
The priest comparedHare Krishna to Aum Shinrikyo, a Japanese doomsday cult.
Religion expertMikhail Sitnikov denounced the campaign unleashed by the Russian OrthodoxChurch against ISKCON as a case of “Christian fundamentalism.”
“The Russian OrthodoxChurch sees the Society for Krishna Consciousness as a strong competitor and istrying to oust it from Russia in the same way as it is trying to suppress thenon-Orthodox Christian denominations,” the expert said.
Vladimir Radyuhin
Krishna yet to win Russian hearts - The Hindu
