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EDITORIAL December 18, 1999 VNN5099 Comment on this story On Behalf Of A Victim BY PAPAHARINI DEVI DASI EDITORIAL, Dec 18 (VNN) — (see also VNN sorty # 5075) The current PR fire-fighting by Hari Sauri prabhu and ISKCON Mayapura has me studying the report from a different perspective. I will leave out all of Adridharana's comments for easier reading. In a world where being 'in-debt' to merchants, institutions or governments is commonplace today, I find absolutely not one statement of true appropriate remorse for the devotee who's life ended under the watch of Mayapur management. Whether a suicide or homicide, this report attempts to paint the victim as black and the ISKCON Mayapur as lily white. Page after page of narrative where all the ISKCON "participants" have supplied information that describes the victim as an animal. The reason I say this is that most anyone knows that when someone speaks of suicide, they should be carefully watched, counseled and attended to. Even in prison, the inmate is moved to an infirmary where they are watched through windows. Very low quality and virtually absent public relations condolences to say the least. Describing the hanging or what was excreted from the victim's body does not prove it was a suicide. Your 'investigation" states: *He had placed the stool on the bed and stood on that.* And just how the hell do you know he did that? You weren't there. I would openly disagree with the officer who stated that because semen had been excreted, that meant it was definitely suicide. Not so. Ive had full police officer and paralegal training, and that is not necessarily always true. Funny thing, in America, the men you list namely: Dayarama dasa, Nitai prasad dasa, Jagadartiha dasa, Abirama dasa, Jayapataka Swami, Naresvar dasa- would not be off the hook even if it is deemed a suicide but would LIKELY face felony charges of conspiracy to kidnap, Kidnapping (binding hands with ropes), negligent homicide (he died under your watch) or wrongful death. We will never know how the victim felt about your men's treatment, as he is no longer with us to defend himself, (thus the 'state' would have to come to his defense) and, you're not in Kansas anymore there, so anything from British parliament to gunda roaming street thug law is possible in such a Holy outback. CALLING THE KETTLE BLACK? Such crimes as owing merchants money, taking a girl "for a ride", lying to impress her or others, lying about one's parental position so as to impress her or others, receiving airline tickets at an institution's expense so as to travel for one's own pleasure, or running up a phone bill- all take place at every moment of the day as a common occurrence in ISKCON and other societies, by the top-rung on the leadership ladder. We know Srila Prabhupada would at least state that our victim was a "rascal" and should be punished- no doubt, so what exactly would he say about the following behaviors? ISKCON Sydney still houses and seats one Bhavananda dasa as a respected senior member after serious criminal conduct against children in Mayapura and other locations. ISKCON Delhi still pays all homage and worship to Lokanath Swami, while he adorns guru/sanyasa clothing after molesting a young child in her home in North America. Why, just last year, your cohorts chose to give away MILLIONS of Srila Prabhupada's money to an organized crime group called a Russian mafia, befriended by one of your senior gbc/guru men, whom you also gave away millions to, in a what your men termed a severance package/retirement fund. Rather than having them each punished by legal standards·.the internal affairs of ISKCON, choosing once again to take the law into their own maverick hands, having done their usual "investigation" has simply re-confirmed that they are entirely unqualified to make any such investigations, and even more ludicrous, especially when those investigating are participants in the crimes investigated. Again, for clarity, it's called RICO (racketeering, influenced, corrupt organization). At this point I would like to call attention to an editorial I wrote many months ago titled: This is the Solution. Please take the time to read it again. So, this fellow, our latest casualty, admits he's a bum, admits he's in a desperate loss for how to handle his situation, may not be actually remorseful or repentant but has been caught, and all your report can do is dismiss his death as something you had nothing to do with, after tying him and locking him up, while he is to wait for-what treatment?- from those Delhi devotee 'marshals' you're sending for him. And you have the gall to state confidently, that *he was in no way threatened. * MORE POOR PUBLIC RELATIONS. I can understand how there may not have been refrigerated storage of the body available and thus a cremation needed to occur soon after, but were the victim's family contacted before or after you cremated? At all? In most cultures of the planet, most parents and specifically most mothers would want to know of the death of their son, no matter what his behavior or their relationship. How many times have we seen mothers show up at sentencings for sons who have murdered or raped and try to say 'what a good son' he always was? There is not one statement concerning any true regret that someone who had such a difficult mind and karma, didn't find the peace he needed in the philosophy and association of your devotees. Or that philosophically, 'there is no loss or diminution on this path, therefore he may take up bhakti in the next life'. He is characterized by the tone of your report as one whose actions were such that the loss of his association was appropriate through his DEATH. Worse, to any average shmoe outsider, the report is just an internal tug of war between two speculations over the facts (remember, all this is just 'hearsay', secondhand) and attempts at defending ISKCON Mayapur management from bad PR, rather than making any appropriate and necessary offering of condolences. Shall I have engraved on your "grave" or spoken at your eulogy- "here goes so and so and what a so and so he was"? Well, that's how your report comes off. Another statement your report makes: *One wonders how so many falsehoods can be misrepresented as "facts"* Do you really? In light of the history since Prabhupada's departure - do you REALLY? About the Author  Other Stories by this AuthorComment on this story Contact VNN about this storySend this story to a friend
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