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WORLD March 24, 1999 VNN3407 See Related VNN Stories Latest News About The Lawsuit BY PRATYATOSA DASA USA, Mar 24 (VNN) — Dear Prabhus, please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada! 1) News from the Law Offices of Windle Turley, P.C. Pam Reeves (pamr@wturley.com) at the Law Offices of Windle Turley, P.C. (800-692-4025.) informed me yesterday that victims of sexual child abuse in ISKCON, who are interested in joining a lawsuit against the perpetrators of these horrible crimes, have contacted her from all over the country. She said that her law firm is considering individual suits, a class-action suit, and even a maha large class-action suit against all of ISKCON using "The International Court of Justice at the Hague" which is associated with the United Nations. A suit through the "World Court" would allow the perpetrators in other countries, including India to be gone after. She further stated that they are currently looking very closely at the assets of ISKCON Dallas, and are planning to examine the assets of other ISKCON properties as well. One indication that this law firm is interested in justice for the victims, and not just money, is that they are requesting that anyone, man, woman, or child, who has suffered any kind of injustice at the hands of anyone associated with ISKCON please contact them. This includes anyone who has ever been unjustly kicked out of a temple, and anyone who suffered any kind of emotional, physical, or sexual abuse at the hands of anyone associated with ISKCON or on ISKCON property. 2) ISKCON Detroit In Detroit, I am currently living with two ex-gurukulis who both claim to have been the victims of physical and/or sexual abuse on ISKCON property by full-time ISKCON members. Some devotees are saying that I am ungrateful for the hospitality which I am being afforded at ISKCON Detroit by contacting this law firm. One point is that the original contact that I made with this law firm was 1 1/2 years ago when I was living in the ISKCON St. Louis Temple. Badrinarayan and Romapada Swami, the GBCs of ISKCON St. Louis, were trying to kick me out of the temple for purely political reasons. They finally succeeded in doing this, after they installed a "grand disciple" from Poland as the new temple president. This "devotee" was depending upon them to secure his green card, which seems to be the only way that they can make new "devotees" nowadays. Another point is that the only contact that I have with the Detroit temple is to do some voluntary service, give some donations, chant some of my rounds there, and take prasadam there. Now, in direct retaliation for this lawsuit, the temple authorities have decreased the amount of prasadam being cooked, and are having plates made up for all of the devotees who are doing "full-time service" before it is brought out for the other devotees. The direct result of this, is that women, children, ex-gurukulis, guests and old men, such as myself, are not getting enough prasadam. This is in direct violation of Srila Prabhupada's order that the women, children, and guests be served first, and that if there is not enough prasadam being cooked, then the cooks must fast. One Detroit devotee, Sri Nandanandana Dasa, who just got through putting up Bhakti Tirtha Maharaj, a local GBC/"guru"/sannyasi, in his temple owned apartment, who has no children of his own, and who has never done anything for ISKCON's children, seems to be encouraging devotees to sue ISKCON Detroit for abuses which allegedly took place during the 80s in ISKCON Detroit's gurukula. He recently posted a letter to this effect on Raghu's email gurukula alumni newsletter (Anudasa@aol.com). He is apparently talking about the time when the ISKCON Detroit "Zonal Gurus"/GBC men/"sannyasis" were Ramaswara and Bhavananda, who ran things using the "Gestapo tactics" which Sri Nandanandan mentions. If I am called upon to testify in any of these cases, I will certainly try my best to do my duty to help these alleged victims. I will tell the truth, just as I will be sworn to do, and will not hide anything. 3) ISKCON's Policy of Attacking the Victims and Letting the Perpetrators Go Free I've been informed by a GBC man that there are at least two other lawsuits pending, these being put together by ex-gurukulis. Please remember that a law suit is the legal right of the victim. Anyone who interferes with that right is a criminal. The ISKCON leaders are still using their demoniac tactics of trying to make the victims feel guilty, and trying to blame the lawsuits on the victims, instead of the perpetrators of the crimes. ISKCON's bogus gurus were a direct cause of my son's being sexually molested in the Vrindavan, India gurukula. After Srila Prabhupada's physical departure in 1977, the highly qualified men whom Prabhupada personally put in charge of the Vrindavan gurukula were removed because they didn't go along with what the GBC now calls the "Zonal Guru deviation". These "Zonal Gurus" then proceeded to put unqualified "yes men" in charge of the Vrindavan gurukula. These were the men who allowed all of the abuse to take place, and kept the tuition money coming in by keeping the abuse secret from the parents. Another point is that in Detroit, when my wife and I were in charge of the ISKCON Detroit gurukula, Bhavananda, one of the two GBCs/"Zonal Gurus" for Detroit, ordered his disciples to take all of my son's friends out of our gurukula, and to send them to the Lake Huntington gurukula, where they were sexually molested. He did this without saying anything to my wife or to myself! Because my son no longer had any boys his age in the gurukula in Detroit, we sent him to the Vrindavan gurukula where he was also sexually molested! 4) Conclusion and Contact Information I agree with Bahudak Prabhu, the former temple president of Vancouver, Canada, who said in a recent post to the VNN Forum (http://vaishnava-news-network.org/ubb/Forum1/HTML/000109.html), "I wonder if it may be Krishna's plan to strip ISKCON of it's pride and big burdensome properties by giving it's wealth to the children who were abused while the wealth was being accumulated. Isn't the Lord expert at accomplishing all things for good?". While the demoniac "empire builders" were living high on the hog, and building their extravagant temples and living quarters, the children were not even being given proper nourishment, what to speak of their being abused emotionally, physically, and sexually. No money was being spent on gurukula curriculum development, and this is still the case today after 33 years! Many of the persons who were put in charge of the children had the dubious qualification of not being good for anything else! Isn't it obvious that the Supreme Lord, Sri Krishna's unfailing method of justice in this case is that this opulence, gotten at the expense of the helpless children, is destined to be turned over to these same children, most of whom are now grown up?" Any man, woman, or child, who has suffered any kind of injustice at the hands of anyone associated with ISKCON, who is interested in trying to insure that justice be done, please call Pam Reeves, Law Offices of Windle Turley, P.C., at 800-692-4025. Her e-mail address is pamr@wturley.com. Ms. Reeves has again assured me of the strictest of confidentiality. Your servant, Pratyatosa Dasa pratyatosa@hotmail.com http://www.com.org/hb/ptd/ See Related VNN Stories | Comment on this Story This story URL: http://vaishnava-news-network.org/world/WD9903/WD24-3407.html
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