© 1999 VNN
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AMERICAS July 4, 1999 VNN4223 Comment on this story Nice Amigo Stumbles, Naive Amigo To The Rescue BY RADHA KRSNA DASA, MEXICO CITY MEXICO CITY, Jul 4 (VNN) — Recently Guru Prasad Swami tried to convince VNN readers that he never threatened the lives of his opponents in Mexico. However, the Nice Amigo has explained his statements in English and thus the clear meaning of the remarks as they were originally made (in Spanish) were lost. Certainly, the meaning of his Spanish words to Spanish speakers is what is at issue here, and therefore it is the opinions of Spanish speakers that really matter. To illustrate this point, upon reading GPS's statements my family found them sufficiently threatening to make preparations to legally prosecute both him and ISKCON. Also, the manager of ISKCON Mexico's incense business, who is a subordinate of Nice Amigo, stated that GPS's written remarks were so menacing that he could be liable for prosecution in Mexican courts. Finally, because Nice Amigo's remarks were directed at anyone who disagreed with him, one devotee was so alarmed he reported the incident to the police as a threat against his life. Unquestionably, the situation is not so innocent and harmless as Nice Amigo wishes everyone would believe. On top of this, Nice Amigo was caught "red-handed" making false statements to VNN. We had criticized his strong-arming the local board by threatening resignation should they not agree with him, a charge he denied pointblank in his VNN article: "... nor was I threatening to resign." But in a letter to Svavasa Prabhu he says: "I did write one letter to the 3 devotees mentioned above saying that I did not trust RKD or the way this whole thing was being conducted, and that it is high time to stop him from making certain statements, OTHERWISE I WOULD RESIGN." Ouch. Elsewhere Nice Amigo states: "But this whole political procedure used by RKD is only creating anxiety in the minds of so many devotees." According to Guru Prasad Swami it is all politics against a nice sadhu (himself), and because of it the innocent devotees are suffering. The fact is that Nice Amigo is being accused of gross mismanagement and a felony. He hasn't been able to prove his innocence to the GBC investigators, and odds are he won't be able to prove it to a Mexican judge either. Thus he deflects the real issues by claiming politics against him and undue anxiety to his followers. His tactics include trying to turn the tables and blame us for threatening him (thus the title of his article: "Who's Really Throwing Tantrums And Making Threats?") But we are not threatening, we are simply standing firm. As we stated in our paper to the GBC investigator: "In general, here the problem is one of impunity. ISKCON has been plagued with instances of impunity for more than two decades and we are all aware of them. We, the group promoting this cause, have decided not to tolerate the slightest degree of impunity in this case and are ready to do whatever is required to make sure that this terrible disease that has affected ISKCON for so long doesn't prevail this time. It is our small contribution to the reform of the Movement. This subject is non-negotiable. And we have become more militant about this now that we analyzed Guru Prasad Swami's irresponsible justifications and denials." At this point, we should briefly discuss Nice Amigo's newfound supporter, Naive Amigo. In a note to VNN Bahudak Prabhu (Naive Amigo) states that Guru Prasad Swami is such a nice guy he must be incapable of wrongdoing. He concludes: "I completely accept his explanation and believe him to be fully innocent of the accusations made by Radha Krishna prabhu." Wonderful sentiments, but sadly naive. Naive Amigo knows zero about the case at hand, and offers opinions without even waiting for the official investigation to conclude. What Naive Amigo refuses to acknowledge is the unlimited potential for mistakes, abuse and sometimes evil among GBC members due to a system that is flawed at every stage: 1) There is no proper selection of its members; 2) There is no proper training for its members; 3) There is no proper monitoring of its members; 4) There is no proper rectification for its members. In an environment like this even nice guys will end up committing blunders that will shock everyone. Haven't we learned anything? One GBC standard that has brought disastrous consequences to the Mission is the the lifetime appointment policy, where removal is contemplated only in extreme cases. There is no system to continuously recruit the best people and renew the GBC membership as changes, needs and opportunities arise within the Society, which has greatly contributed to the evident stagnation. Allowing new devotees to participate at the GBC level would put the Mission above the individuals and not the other way around. So far we have witnessed a series of failed experiments like the acarya system, the multiple delivering-gurus, GBC's for eternity, etc., all of which emphasize certain individuals at the expense of the Founder Acarya and the Mission. The alternative is to put the Mission and Srila Prabhupada above the individuals through a system that renews them continuously. In fact, back in 1970 Srila Prabhupada established this when he created the GBC: "The commissioners will serve for a period of 3 years, and they may be re-elected at the end of this period." Unfortunately the GBC decided not to follow this instruction, arguing that Srila Prabhupada didn't implement it during his lifetime. In other words, they propose "No Change." But this sounds so much like the rittvik principle that the GBC vehemently opposes. So, when to change and when not to change? The common denominator so far has been the perpetuation of power. If change helps to perpetuate power it's okay; if no-change helps to perpetuate it, then it's okay. But such self-serving interpretations of Srila Prabhupada's instructions have failed us, and thus the urgent need to implement the required changes in the structure of the Society. This incident with Guru Prasad Swami is a byproduct of greater imbalances in the Society. Nice Amigo should have never been GBC of Mexico in the first place, but the system not only permitted this, but permitted it without any program for training or monitoring him for twelve years. It is time to rectify these severe shortcomings in managing the Mission. If Bahudak Prabhu considers Nice Amigo so qualified then he should invite him to become GBC in his area. Maybe the local environment is great and Guru Prasad Swami will flourish. But the opinions of the devotees in Mexico are based on twelve years of direct experience, and we say without equivocation, change is required. Comment on this story  Contact VNN about this storySend this story to a friend
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