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EUROPE August 31, 2000 VNN6193 Comment on this story Bhaktivedanta Manor Incident Involving Pandava Sena BY PANDAVA SENA ENGLAND, Aug 31 (VNN) — An incident involving some followers of Narayan Maharaj and certain members of Pandava Sena and other Hindu youth took place outside Bhaktivedanta Manor's grounds on Sunday 27th August. Narayan Maharaj's followers stood outside the Manor's grounds holding banners and handing out leaflets accusing ISKCON and Bhaktivedanta Manor of continued child abuse. They also alleged (incorrectly) that Pandava Sena is banned from the Manor. Guests and many Hindu youth were very upset by this protest and spoke to some members of Pandava Sena, threatening violence to stop the protests. Some members of the Pandava Sena went to the gates with these Hindu boys to ensure that nothing drastic took place. As Narayan Maharaj's followers began handing out leaflets to cars, these Hindu boys and members of Pandava Sena began asking passengers of the cars to return the leaflets. This caused Narayan Maharaj's followers to become very upset. They began crying and shouting, accussing the boys of 'abuse' and 'assault', while at the same time tried to physically assault some of the boys. Since the protesters consisted primarily of women and children, none of the boys retaliated. The police were also called at this time. Once the protestors became violent, the boys withdrew back into the Manor grounds. There were approx. 10 boys involved. It was obvious that had they wished to become aggressive, the protestors would have received the worse end of it. However, since they continued distributing leaflets for another 2 hours after the incident, it goes to prove that leaflets and banners were still in their possession. Hence, the young men could not have assaulted them - else they would have removed all their propaganda. This was not a Pandava Sena incident - though members (out of their own independent actions) may have got involved. Nor was it a temple organised event. Individuals have to realise that Hindus can be very passionate about certain things. Distributing inciteful literature on a festival day can easily lead to this kind of backlash. After suffering the same kind of abuse from Muslims and the British for centuries, most Hindus are fed up and will no longer tolerate this kind of blasphemy of their religion. In conclusion, Pandava Sena would like to add, that contrary to rumour (spread by some unscrupulous persons) Pandava Sena is, and always will be loyal and affiliated absolutley to Srila Prabhupada's ISKCON. We have no interest in Narayan Maharaj or his followers - nor do we care about all the other persons trying to usurp ISKCON, like the ritviks. We would rather keep a great distance from all of these groups and get on with our service. But - if these groups continue to incite, provoke and target our members - then we cannot be held responsible for the independent action of members. Yours in the service of Srila Prabhupada, Pandava Sena. We welcome any responses to pandava_sena@hotmail.com Comment on this story  Contact VNN about this storySend this story to a friend
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