|
Message from Adridharana Dasa,
Temple President
ISKCON Calcutta:
Welcome to the 13th edition of our
newsletter, which deals with a sensational development in the ongoing court
case that has been filed against the GBC and all the Gurus in the Calcutta
High Court. We also give evidence of our determination to spread legal
action to the USA if necessary to defend Srila Prabhupada's movement.
Please read on:
1. GBC Facing Perjury Charge in Calcutta
High Court
2. IRM Devotees Ready For Court Action in USA
|
1.
GBC Facing Perjury Charge in Calcutta High Court
|
As you know we currently have a landmark
court case filed against the GBC and all ISKCON Gurus in the Calcutta High
court, where we are calling for the re-introduction of Srila Prabhupada's
final July 9th directive. As part of that case, we had submitted our
affidavit with documents such as Srila Prabhupada's Last Will and Testament
etc., in support. The GBC had also tried to reply by submitting their
affidavit-in-opposition supported by various documents. One of the documents
the GBC submitted in support for their case was ISKCON's Memorandum of
Association and Rules and Regulations.
It was attached to their affidavit as 'Annexure E'. Unfortunately the
document they submitted differs in one very significant respect from the
actual Memorandum of Association which is filed by ISKCON in the Charity
Commissioner's office in Bombay. In the original Memorandum of Association,
clause 5 states the following:
"5: The full
management and control of the affairs of the society shall be
entrusted to and vest in the Bureau of the Society."
(Original Memorandum of Association) |
However in the version filed by the GBC, this
clause 5 has now mysteriously disappeared. Instead it has been replaced with
the following:
"5A
:The Acharya shall mean HDG A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada,
ordained minister and founder Acharya of the society and persons or
person appointed by His Divine Grace A C Bhaktivedanta Swami
Prabhupada."
(Memorandum of Association filed by GBC) |
What makes this fabrication even more
significant of course is that the clause which they have added, directly
allows for the possibility that Srila Prabhupada could and would 'appoint
acharyas'. This of course has direct relevance to the case in hand, since it
supports the GBC's defence that Srila Prabhupada set up 'Guru/acharyas' to
replace him, rather than having the July 9th directive continue. However
luckily for the cause of truth, this forgery was spotted by Madhu Pandit
prabhu, who as the former secretary of the ISKCON Bureau, as well as being
the legal officer for the whole of ISKCON Bureau's affairs in India, was
well equipped to catch this deviation from the actual documents which are
filed in the Charity Commissioner's office. (The Bureau is the vehicle by
which ISKCON is *legally* governed).
This fabrication has very serious implications for the GBC, since by
submitting false documents the GBC have actually committed a CRIMINAL
offence. And the case we have filed against them calls for appropriate
criminal punishment to be meted out. Thus whilst they were struggling to
handle our original case, having lost the preliminary rounds, they are now
faced with another case, which has even more serious implications. And as we
reported in our previous Newsletter, they will now have to also do without
the help of their star 'defender of truth', the child rapist,
Satydhanya Das.
The relevant clauses from our petition to the court are as follows:
10. It
would be evident from a comparative study of the copy of ISKCON's
Memorandum of Association as produced by your petitioners herein and
the copy of the alleged Memorandum of Association of ISKCON as
produced and relied upon by the respondents that clause 5A in the copy
of ISKCON's alleged Memorandum of Association produced by the
respondents is an unauthorised addition and /or interpolation. In
other words, the said purported copy of the alleged Memorandum of
Association of ISKCON as produced by the respondents is a forged and
/or manufactured document.
11. Your petitioner obtained a certified copy of ISKCON's Memorandum
of Association on or about August 1, 1999 and only thereupon your
petitioners came to realise that the purported copy of the alleged
Memorandum of Association of ISKCON produced and relied upon by the
respondents before this Hon'ble Court was is a forged and /or
fabricated document.
12. The aforesaid forged document was produced and was sought to be
relied upon by the respondents obviously to try and sustain their
wrongful contention that the "Ritviks" appointed by Srila
Prabhupada can claim to be or set as "Acharyas" or
"Guru" in their own right and /or that such ritviks can
initiate disciples to ISKCON's order as their own disciples.
13. Your petitioners reiterate that Clause 5A contained in the
purported copy of the alleged Memorandum of Association of ISKCON as
produced and relied upon by the respondents is the result of forgery,
fabrication and /or interpolation and the said Clause does not find
place in the actual and authentic copy of the real Memorandum of
Association of ISKCON.
14. From the facts and circumstances aforesaid, it would be evident
that the concerned respondents have given false evidence by way of,
interalia, Annexure "E" to the said affidavit affirmed on
their behalf on 30th April, 1999 and filed before this Hon'ble Court.
The concerned respondents have given such false evidence knowing or
believing the same to be false and touching on material points in
issue in the instant proceeding.
19. In the premises, the said respondents have committed offences,
inter alia, within the meaning of sections 193, 196, 199, 200 and 209
of the Indian Penal Code and the said respondents are liable to be
prosecuted under Section 195 (1)(b) read with Section 340 of the Code
of Criminal Procedure, 1973.
20. Your petitioners state and submit that it is expedient in the
interest of justice that an enquiry be made into the offences
committed by the concerned respondents in and or in relation to the
present proceeding and this Hon'ble Court be please to record a
finding to that effect and direct the Registrar, Original Side of this
Hon'ble Court to lodge a complaint in writing and send it to the
Metropolitan Magistrate, Calcutta having jurisdiction to try the
offences so that the said respondents may be punished for committing
the said offences.
23. The orders prayed for herein are necessary not only for the
purpose of punishing the concerned respondents for having committed
the aforesaid offences within the meaning of the Indian Penal Code but
also for the purpose of upholding and preserving the dignity, majesty
and sanctity of this Hon'ble Court and of the proceedings before it.
No litigant should be allowed to get away with impunity after having
given false evidence on oath before this Hon'ble Court deliberately
and intentionally as the said respondents have done in the instant
case.
Your petitioner, therefore humbly prays to Your Lordships for the
following orders :
a) An enquiry be made into the offences committed by the concerned
respondents within the meaning of the provisions of the Code of
Criminal Procedure, 1973 in relation to the above suit.
b) After such enquiry as mentioned in prayer (a) above, this Hon'ble
Court be pleased to record a finding that an enquiry should be made as
to the offences committed by the concerned respondents within the
meaning of the Indian Penal Code as stated in this petition.
c) A written complaint be lodged or directed to be lodged by this
Hon'ble Court in respect of the aforesaid criminal offences committed
by the concerned respondents to the Magistrate having jurisdiction in
the matter with a direction to institute appropriate criminal
proceedings against the said respondents.
d) Sufficient security be taken by this Hon'ble court for ensuring
appearance of the concerned respondents before the Learned Magistrate.
e) An order be passed binding over the concerned respondents to appear
and give evidence before the Learned Judge.
f) An order be passed sending the concerned respondents (including the
principal officers of the respondent No. 1) in custody of the Learned
Magistrate (Extracts From the
Petition Submitted to the Court) |
If found guilty the GBC will now be facing
imprisonment.
Of course the GBC may have some legitimate reason why the Memorandum of
Association that they have submitted differs from that registered in the
Charity Commissioner's office. They may try argue that Srila Prabhupada
sanctioned such an amendment to be made. However this would then only raise
further problems. Since then they would be guilty of having registered the
society all these years with a false registration document - which would
then give rise to another court case, which would have implications for the
whole of ISKCON.
Either way the chances that the GBC will prevail in this court case, and
thereby continue to defy Srila Prabhupada's final orders, are receding
daily. We will keep you updated on further developments.
|
2.
IRM Devotees Ready For Court Action in USA
|
We have reported in the past about the
intimidation and threats that our New York devotees have received from the
'official' ISKCON temple in Brooklyn (Please see story 'Showdown in
Brooklyn', Newsletter No. 4).
However we also reported that our IRM (ISKCON
Revival Movement) devotees were undeterred and continued to visit the temple
in Brooklyn, and openly speak to anyone who wished to hear, about Srila
Prabhupada's Final Order. Being unable to silence them, this campaign of
harassment by the temple authorities culminated last year with the Temple
President of New York, Romabhadra Das, issuing the following threatening
letter to the IRM devotees:
International
Society for Krishna Consciousness
305 Schermerhorn St.
Brooklyn, New York 11217 Tele/Fax 718-875-6127 October 31, 1999 Re:
Warning Letter of Proponents of the ISKCON Outlawed Deviant
"Ritvikism"
theory.
Brahma Bhuta das, Vani dasi, Jayananda das, Bhakta Avatar das.
Dear Brahma Bhuta das, Vani dasi, Jayananda das Bhakta Avatar das
Please accept my respects.
This is a final warning letter concerning your propagation of the
deviant "Ritvik" theory at the Hare Krishna Temple. This
deviant "Ritvik" theory has been outlawed in ISKCON and is a
danger to our many loyal and devoted congregation members.
Unless all of you cease and desist to propagate this outlawed deviant
philosophy here at the temple we will have to revoke your membership
and prohibit you from attending any temple functions.
Please cooperate and behave according to the rules of ISKCON.
I hope this meets you in the best of health.
Your insignificant servant,
Romabadra das President |
Of course this warning letter is nothing new
in the pattern of violence and harassment that the GBC and its agents have
perpetrated in order to maintain their defiance of Srila Prabhupada's Final
Order.
However what was completely new and unprecedented, was what was to come
next. Normally devotees are forced to give in to these bully boy tactics.
However as we have shown with our court case in India, the IRM will fight
back every inch of the way, and are not going to passively allow such
intimidation to scare us. We immediately hit back by having the
following letter from our New York attorneys served upon the whole board of
the Brooklyn temple:
Gary
Edward Hanna,
Attorney at Law,
225 Broadway Suite 2700,
New York,
New York 10007
November 12, 1999
International Society for Krishna
Consciousness
305 Schermerhorn Street
Brooklyn,
New York 11217
Re: Warning letter
Dear Ramabhadra das a/k/a David P.
Britten,
President:
Please allow this letter to serve as formal notice of our
representation of Brahma Buta, Jayananda Dasa, Vani Devi Dasi, and
Bhakta Avatar, also known respectively as Bill Wulfhoop, John Joseph,
Bonnie Oshuns and Bhikhabhai Patel, who are all members of the temple.
Pursuant to your warning letter of October 31, 1999 and the defamatory
statements made to temple members concerning the above individuals on
the same date, you are hereby placed on formal notice to immediately
CEASE and DESIST from any behaviour or communication which seek to
harass or infringe on the religious freedoms and individuals liberties
of these members.
In addition, any repeat of threats of physical violence against these
members, which were in fact made by one Arthur Cussee, a/k/a Adi-deva,
at the temple on September 12, 1999 will be met with the swiftest
reaction to the appropriate authorities.
You DO NOT have the authority to prohibit these law abiding members
from expressing their constitutionally protected rights of free speech
or to prohibit anyone from attending temple functions, regardless of
whether those views deviate from your own, or are considered in your
opinion, to be "dangerous".
In the spirit of conciliation, this office would be happy to speak
with you regarding these differences. However, please do not
underestimate our intentions to protect the constitutional rights of
our clients. If necessary, we will seek an immediate restraining order
and will follow with a Federal lawsuit in the Eastern District of New
York for damages based on your illegal practices.
Please do not make this course of action necessary.
Very truly yours,
Gary E. Hannah E. Hanna |
Suffice it to say that since this letter was
received, we have not had any more threats from the New York Temple, and to
the contrary the board members have treated our devotees very well.
The moral of the story is that as everyone knows, the simplest way to deal
with bullies is to stand up to them. For 20 years, the GBC have had it easy,
with no united and organised opposition to fight them. The official
formation of the IRM in October 1999, has put paid to this state of affairs.
We have organisation, men and money ready for the long fight ahead. As we
said before, we will not rest until Srila Prabhupada's movement is returned
back to Srila Prabhupada, brick by brick. We are not going anywhere. We are
here to stay until the REAL and ORIGINAL Hare Krishna Movement, registered
by Srila Prabhupada as ISKCON in 1966, will rise again like a phoenix from
the ashes, with ONLY Srila Prabhupada at the helm. The notice has been
served. Time is running out for the pretenders to Srila Prabhupada's throne.
Thank you for taking the time to read this newsletter, and please keep your
letters, and e-mail addresses of other devotees who should be added to our
list, flowing in. A hard copy of our main position paper 'The Final Order'
is available on request. All other IRM papers can be accessed through the
EDITORIAL SECTION of the IRM website at http://come.to/irm
If you would like to receive any of the back
issues of the Newsletter please let me know.
No
1. Invitation to Srila Prabhupada's Vyasa Puja
No 2. GBC Lose First Round of Court Case
No 3. The Story VNN Refused to Publish
No 4. Poison Theorists Accuse Adri of Complicity
No 5. Iskcon Continues to Promote Child Abusers
No 6. Invitation to Malaysia
No 7. United World Body Formed
No 8. Does Srila Prabhupada Support Poisoning Theory?
No 9. PADA Attacks IRM Position
No 10. PADA Continues to Present False Evidence
No 11. GBC Funded Video says Ritvik Spiritual
No 12. Child Rapist Selected by Gurus to Defend their Legitimacy
Your comments, questions and feedback are
appreciated. Please write to me at adri@cwcom.net
Your Servant,
Adridharan das
|