In this article I am going to
give you a rough sketch about ISKCON Bangalore vs ISKCON Mumbai case, backend
talks, GBC Meeting discussions and proposed peace agreement between Bangalore
group of entities and ISKCON Mumbai.
Bhakti Caitanya Swami (GBC Chairman)
As we all know about the ongoing
case against ISKCON Bangalore vs Mumbai on Hare Krishna hill property. There
are few things which are not visible to general public and even people within
ISKCON. Let me tell you briefly about some major twist and turns in this case.
As you all know the dispute began
with the team of devotees in Bangalore deciding to embrace the rtvik ideology
in late 1990s which later distilled into a property dispute with some of the
followers of Jayapataka Swami, trying to take over the temple in Bangalore and
the Bangalore devotees seeking court intervention and applying. IB filed a suit
seeking an injunction of noninterference in its affairs by ISKCON Mumbai. The
court battle lasted over a decade and had various twists and turns with the
civil court finally ruling in favour of ISKCON Bangalore. ISKCON Mumbai went on
appeal and High Court of Karnataka ruled in favour of ISKCON Mumbai. ISKCON
Bangalore filed its appeal before the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court
expressed its hope that both parties settle their differences and make serious
attempts to reconcile and protect the august institution of ISKCON. Based on
this a peace proposal is being discussed by both warring parties, lesser known
to even people who are closely associated with ISKCON. We got reports from some
of our genuine sources about this Peace Proposal with exclusive detail on the
contents of the Proposal and Some details on the backend talks between ISKCON Bangalore
and ISKCON Mumbai.
Let me give you a brief about the
contents of the Peace Proposal as given by the close sources of ISKCON
Bangalore and the GBC.
1. All
ISKCON Bangalore group of temples & trusts will be integrated with ISKCON
Mumbai and there will be one umbrella under which the entire preaching
activities will expand in India.
2. The
system of initiation for ISKCON Bangalore group of temples will be the rtvik
system of initiation.
3. No
gurus will be worshiped in ISKCON Bangalore temples other than Srila Prabhupada
4. Both
parties will bury all the animosities and work co-operatively.
5. Some
of the senior devotees of ISKCON Bangalore will also be made part of the ISKCON
Mumbai.
6. Madhu
Pandit Dasa and some of the senior leaders in Bangalore temple will not be part
of the management on Hare Krishna Hill but will take up in other temples of
their group as presidents.
These
are the few basic points which I got from my sources in ISKCON Bangalore and
Mumbai. These are the broad details, if one goes further micro details of the
proposal will only make too technical, but essence is this ISKCON Bangalore
group of devotees will be allowed to preach and expand the Krishna conscious
movement and they will have the freedom to practice their faith of accepting
Srila Prabhupada as their guru but will not be victimized for it. In effect
rtvik order will become part of ISKCON at least in India be it in the form of
an unwelcome guest.
GBC Meetings
The Strategic Planning midterm
meetings for the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) which
was held from October 21–26 in Tirupathi, India. This meeting covered almost
all points about Committees, Initiatives, Communications, Global Finance and
more but what’s not known is that the meetings also covered case of ISKCON
Bangalore and a discussion on the new peace proposal.
Discussion on the peace proposal was
held during the meeting held on 30th October. It was attended by 28
members including
Bhakti Caitanya Swami (GBC Chairman)
Tamohara Das (First Vice-Chairman)
Anuttama Das (Second Vice-Chairman)
Bhakti Purusottama Swami (GBC
Secretary)
Jayapataka Swami (Zonal Acharya of
Bangalore)
Sesa Das (Ministry of Justice)
ISKCON Dispute Resolution Committee
members
Dayaram das
And others members/ gurus
Sources from Mumbai stated that just
over 50% of them voted against the peace proposal, only one voted for and the
rest abstained. It seems that basically Ravindra Swarup Dasa and Badarinarayan
Dasa opposed this proposal and were not in favor of giving room for rtviks
within ISKCON. It is also learnt that some of the people Jai pataka Swami’s and
some from Radha Nath swami’s team rejected the peace proposal given by
Bangalore group.” The source also stated that “Members from within ISKCON GBC
wants this peace proposal to be taken into consideration but some of the Mumbai
devotees are not willing to give a chance to ISKCON Bangalore group.” However
one of the Bangalore sources said that “The Jai Pataka Swami demanded that he
will initiate devotees from Hare Krishna hill and that the devotees need not
worship him or place his picture on the altar but will have to accept him as
their diksha guru if the proposal were accepted. This proposal however was
rejected by ISKCON Bangalore devotees and even some members of the GBC.”
Bangalore sources also said that “Mumbai wants to change leader at ISKCON
Bangalore particularly the Hare Krishna hill which was accepted by Madhu Pandit
das”
International GBC is always hard on
any kind of peace proposal given by rtviks and they have proved it again by
voting against the proposal.
ISKCON TRUTH Analysis
1. Voting:
when the GBC voted on this issue in 1999, 90% of the votes was against rtvik
order, however this time only 50% had voiced their opposition and others abstained
(which means that either they were not clear or they were not having the
strength to fully oppose the motion to stop the peace proposal.) So there is
definite climb down in the GBC body in its stand against the rtvik although the
ground realities have not changed much.
2. However
ISKCON Mumbai which is independent legal body by itself can agree to not agree
with the GBC, whether they will take this hard step only time will tell.
3. If
ISKCON Bangalore group wins votes and this peace proposal does go through, then
it will be a historic win for ritviks and ISKCON Bangalore will become the
first ritvik temple officially recognized within ISKCON, but chances are bleak
and court battle looms large.
