12/04/97 - 1314

Poison Investigation on Shoestring Budget

USA (VNN) - From the beginning of this controversy the VNN has called for an independent investigation into the poison allegations. That, even before the incriminating whispers were found later by Balavanta and other devotees in Alachua. The Vaishnava community must be careful to make sure that all questions regarding this investigation are answered satisfactory. In the interest of peace in the Vaishnava community for the next centuries to come it is highly recommended that this investigation will be done openly and conducted by a bipartisan group of Vaishnavas, and not by an ISKCON internal hush-hush secret affair, as it has happened so many times in the past.

Balavanta's role as independent investigator was called into question early on by many parties. Some have asked: How can he be considered independent if his investigation is funded and ordered by the ISKCON GBC?

Unfortunately recent developments give more weight to this question. Balavanta das had previously stated that he needed to be independent of the Independent Vaishnava Council (IVC) in order to prepare a legal case and he could therefore not share information openly with other members of the IVC in order not to jeopardize his legal case.

The question then arises: "Why is he sharing his initial findings with the GBC and not with the Independent Vaishnava Council (IVC). Balavanta's investigation seems to be compromised by the fact that he chooses to share his findings with the potential suspects before he shares his findings with the Independent Vaishnava Council.

How can he accept funding for his investigation from the potential suspects and still claim to be independent? How does he expect his investigation to have any credibility?

Based on information obtained by VNN the Perle lab test was seriously flawed from the beginning. VNN has learned that only one of the whispers was analyzed. It is at this point not clear which of the several whispers in question was analyzed. This is comparable to taking only 30% of the finger prints at a crime scene and try to base an investigation on that.

It also seems that a special bargain price was negotiated, way under the regular price of such an analysis. This was negotiated with the Perle Forensic Lab for a project that would normally cost $2500.00 down to $600.00, to analyze only one of the several whispers.

The question here is: Why is this investigation on a "shoestring budget"? Is there no money to have this properly investigated? Maybe Christmas is around the corner and Rolex watches are going on sale, so the GBC better not waste any money unnecessarily on an investigation into Srila Prabhupada's death?

To a large extent ISKCON leadership seems to be still in denial about this issue and there does not seem to be a serious commitment to this investigation. This is signified by an email received by one of the IVC members:

From: Jayadvaita.Swami@com.bbt.se (Jayadvaita Swami)
Date: 97-11-22 21:49:25 EST [Text 916269 from COM]

Dear Isa Prabhu,
Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

In brief: To me the entire topic seems silly beyond words, and I don't intend to waste my time with it.

Hare Krsna.
Hoping this finds you in good health,
Your servant,
Jayadvaita Swami
(end quote)

Another argument heard is: "Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati was poisoned and the Gaudiya Math did go on."

Seeing the lack of commitment and the information that has been forthcoming, it seems that Balavanta's investigation must be considered an "internal ISKCON investigation", since it is sponsored, financed and controlled by the GBC. Such an investigation will not be accepted by most of the Vaishnava community outside of ISKCON.

Therefore it is now time for the Independent Vaishnava Council to take complete charge of this investigation and establish itself in a formal manner. This will include raising it's own funds in order to complete lab tests of the tapes and to organize all necessary steps required to fully investigate this issue until all questions are answered.

Rocana das has volunteered to take a leading role in the Independent Vaishnava Council (IVC). Already extensive summaries of information is now available on HareKrsna.com at:

http://www.harekrsna.com/vada/poison/poison.htm

All Srila Prabhupada disciples and Vaishnavas are invited to participate and contribute to the IVC. For more information please visit the IVC page at:

http://www.harekrsna.com/vada/poison/council.htm

or email to:
rocana@harekrsna.com