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EDITORIAL March 28, 1999 VNN3439 Pratyatosha Completely Contradicts Sri Nandanandana BY SRI NANDANANDANA EDITORIAL, Mar 28 (VNN) — In light of the fact that Pratyatosha dasa has now posted an email saying that I, Sri Nandanandana, "seem to be encouraging devotees to sue Iskcon Detroit for abuses which allegedly took place during the 80s in Iskcon Detroit's gurukula," let me say that I have never encouraged anybody to sue Iskcon Detroit or any other temple. He has simply fabricated this. The letter I sent to him, which also was also posted on Raghu's email newsletter, to which he refers was my attempt to get him to reconsider his encouragement to sue all of Iskcon when he has also made some equally grave mistakes when he was a gurukula administrator. The following is the letter from which he contradicts what I was saying. Readers can decide for themselves what I was saying. March 21, 1999 Dear devotees and concerned friends, For those who are receiving emails from Pratyatosha dasa (Howard Best) about his idea to have the famous law firm from Dallas sue all of Iskcon for "billions" of dollars because of the incidents of child abuse that went on in this movement, there are some things you should know. Pratyatosha was also an administrator of a school here in Detroit for several years. (Can you hear where this is leading?) His wife Urmila was the teacher. Later they moved to North Carolina where she has remained, while Pratyatosha has now been wandering the country, and occasionally being forced to leave the temples he visits. He is presently again in Detroit, in the vicinity of one of the few temples that seems to tolerate him. Even when he returned to Detroit, he had no place to stay and had to depend on the temple for accommodations for a few months. Even now he still comes for noon lunch most weekdays. So I find it very interesting that he is proposing there should be a large legal case against all of Iskcon regarding child abuse when he is guilty of the same charges. I've been in Detroit since 1980, except for a few years in 1982-83. And I live only two houses down from where the school once was. I also remember the regular periods of controversy that took place whenever Pratyatosha had punched, hit or beat one of the kids. Of course, it wasn't the same child all the time. And every time the parents were made to take things lightly because he was a devotee. He may say that they were minor incidents, but some of the devotees that remember these things are still here in Detroit. And when you are young, no such incident is ever minor. Any child can relate to how long the hurt of such an incident will carry in one's memory. For example, on various occasions he had hit one of the daughters of Bhumadeva, one time which left a bruise. After one too many of such incidents, Bhumadeva took his kids out of that school. And now those girls want nothing to do with Iskcon, one reason because they can still remember the fear and atmosphere within the school. He also hit another little girl named Madirekshana. And, of course, the boys were no less vulnerable. A boy named Prahlada was also hit by Pratyatosha just because he did not want to drink his milk. And Prahlada and his father, Bhusaya, are still here in Detroit and remember the incident quite well. Others he abused in a like manner are only a phone call away. So even though Pratyatosh may not have molested any children, he could certainly use Gestapo tactics of brute force on the children when he thought they weren't doing what he wanted. I was a temple manager at the time and distinctly remember that Pratyatosha and his wife were so determined to do things their way and their way only that the temple had considered making Pratyatosha and his wife sign a document to "cease and desist" operating under the name of Iskcon gurukula so that if the school was ever sued, the lawsuit would remain separate from Iskcon. He has probably forgotten some of this. But that hardly makes him any less innocent of the mistreatment he showed to the students. So on a practical level, he is as guilty as those he wants to sue. So if there is a lawsuit, he should be included on the list of offenders. The law firm should also be notified that an investigation of Iskcon should include the history of Pratyatosha and what happened at his school, both in Detroit and in North Carolina. So the law firm he has contacted should also be told of his past. And if anyone is taking his letters seriously, you should know who you are dealing with and not be taken in by his one-sided stories. He has got plenty of his own skeletons to hide in his closet. That's why I think it's time he gives himself a reality check to remember the wrong and harm he has done, which he's so ready to accuse others of doing. This letter reflects nothing personal I've got against Pratyatosha, he's treated me fairly enough and I've tried to treat him the same, but if this is what he wants to do, then I believe the whole story and the truth should be known. And if he is making plans to do this, then let's put all the cards out on the table. Naturally, if he has a problem with some individuals in the GBC or in Iskcon (and I know few who don't, even I was unfairly kicked out of a temple by a local GBC and guru years ago, but I don't blame everyone in the whole movement for it), then he can take his problem up with them. But why try to create the complete destruction of Iskcon just to get some of the authorities out? What about all of the other devotees who are simply trying to mind their own business and engage in Krishna's service? Does he want them to suffer without a temple as well? And where is he going to take his free lunch prasadam if the temple must close over a lawsuit and there is no more temple? Is this what he really wants? Is this what anybody who is the least concerned about Srila Prabhupada's movement really wants? If it is, then he should be completely ashamed to come near an Iskcon temple, especially since he was initiated by Srila Prabhupada and considers himself a Prabhupada disciple. Sure, go for the molesters. (I shouldn't say what I would like to see happen to them.) They should have been disciplined and kicked out many years ago. But to try and destroy the whole movement financially and put sincere devotees out of place, what to speak of effecting the Deities and Srila Prabhupada's desire to save the conditioned souls, reflects a crazy mentality. Especially since Pratyatosha has done the same things he points his finger at others for doing. Sure, change Iskcon, but don't simply try to make it worse for everybody else or destroy the whole thing. Hare Krishna, Sri Nandanandana dasa [P.S. I must point out that I was wrong about one thing. When I said that he hit the devotee Prahlada. That did not happen that way. What really happened is that Pratyatosha actually threw Prahlada down the stairs, along with another boy, named Amburisha. Prahlada's father Bhusaya himself corrected me in this regard. So no matter whether you are Iskcon, IRG, Ritvics, or Prabhupadanugas, if this is the type of person you want to support or team up with--not very impressive, to put it mildly. Furthermore, the physical abuse Pratyatosha gave to the children of his school in the 80s would never be tolerated in 1999. He should be glad he was never sued.] Comment on this Story This story URL: http://www.vnn.org/editorials/ET9903/ET28-3439.html
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