Christian orthodox church plea to ban Bhagwat Gita thrown out

[Reverend DSouza]

Russian court refuses to ban Bhagvad Gita, followers cheer across the
world
PTI | Dec 28, 2011, 05.57PM IST



Russian court refuses to ban Bhagvad Gita, followers cheer
See photo
MOSCOW: A Russian court today rejected a petition, described by India
as "patently absurd", which had sought a ban on a translated version
of Bhagvad Gita, bringing cheers to followers here as well as those
across the world.

"We have won the case. The judge has rejected the petition," Sadhu
Priya Das of ISKCON, Moscow, who is also Chairman of newly formed
Hindu Council of Russia, told PTI.

External Affairs Minister S M Krishna welcomed the judgement and
thanked the Russian government for its support.

Prosecutors in the Siberian city of Tomsk had argued that the Russian
translation of "Bhagavad Gita As It Is" promotes "social discord" and
hatred towards non-believers.

The text is a combination of the Bhagvad Gita, one of Hinduism's
holiest scriptures, and commentary by A C Bhaktivedanta Swami
Prabhupada, founder of the International Society for Krishna
Consciousness, that is commonly known as the Hare Krishna movement,
ISKCON.

The prosecutors had asked the court to include the book on the Russian
Federal List of Extremist Materials, which bans more than 1,000 texts
including Adolf Hitler's "Mein Kampf" and books distributed by the
Jehovah's Witness and Scientology movements.

Reacting to the judgement that came at about 4:30 pm IST, ISKCON
spokesman Brajendra Nandan Das told PTI in New Delhi that, "We are
very happy".

ISKCON members have alleged that the Russian Orthodox Church was
behind the court case as it wanted to limit their activities.

The case had created a storm back in India and even the Parliamentary
proceedings had been affected by it.

Speaking in Parliament, Krishna had said the lawsuit was the work of
"ignorant and misdirected or motivated individuals."

He also called the complaint "patently absurd".

Krishna had summoned the Russian Ambassador in New Delhi, Alexander
Kadakin, yesterday and told him that Moscow should provide all
possible help to resolve the issue that has been in the court for the
last six months.

He had also conveyed to the top Russian diplomat the sensitivities
involved with the issue.

Kadakin had assured Krishna that the Russian Government will do all it
can within its power.

The trial began in June and was scheduled to conclude on December 19,
just after Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's two-day visit to
Russia.

However, officials in Tomsk agreed to hear further testimony from
experts and the Russian ombudsman for human rights and postponed the
court decision till today.

Russian lawyers Mikahil Fralov and Alexander Sakhav argued strongly
against the petition.

The judge, after reviewing the petition from the state prosecutors and
the responses against it, dismissed the plea.

The Russian Foreign Ministry had last week insisted that the Tomsk
court is not taking issue with core Hindu scripture itself, but rather
with the author's commentary and poor translation in "Bhagavad Gita As
It Is."

"I would like to emphasise that this is not about 'Bhagavad Gita,' a
religious philosophical poem, which forms part of the great Indian
epic Mahabharata and is one of the most famous pieces of the ancient
Hindu literature," ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich had said
at a briefing last week here, adding that the book was first published
in Russian in 1788.
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