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| By: Radhapran Dasa, Malaysia |
It gives me much grief to see what appears to be a concerted effort by the ISKCON GBC to smear the good name of His Grace Madhu Pandit Prabhu whom I have had the fortune to know personally since 1999. His association has been a stark contrast to that of the thuggish bogus gurus whom I have had the misfortune of encountering in my early association with ISKCON.
Having understood and accepted the authentic position of Srila Prabhupada as the sole diksha guru for ISKCON through contact with other like-minded devotees and evidence related to Srila Prabhupada’s books on Guru tattva and the principal documents pertaining to the process of initiation such as the May 28th conversation, July 9th letter and the Official Will, my team of devotees initially faced an uphill task of disengaging ourselves from the deviation-ridden GBC-led setup in Malaysia. We have faced both direct harassment and indirect plots to undermine our existence since 1999. Attempts ranging from vilification of our sincere efforts amongst the congregation, regular donors and supporters, to intimidation by way of competing centres within close proximity of our preaching bases, created an early flux in the struggle to establish a separate legal entity to carry out the instructions and processes as given by Srila Prabhupada. Inspiration however came in the form of the devotees of ISKCON Bangalore led by His Grace Madhu Pandit Prabhu who have given their support all these years in various ways towards our vision of realizing a proper Prabhupada-centred devotee community. As of today, many of our critical services such as travelling sankirtana, Food for Life, Youth cultivation through the Friends of Lord Krishna (FOLK) programme, etc. are going on at full pace through the inspiration given by the devotees of ISKCON Bangalore.
If not for the unwavering encouragement of His Grace. Madhu Pandit Prabhu, it would not have been possible for my team of devotees to push on amidst an atmosphere that has only brought us pain for the simple and straightforward act of accepting Srila Prabhupada’s system and rejecting unauthorized substitutes. One could not even come close to imagining the heavy-handed persecution, evil-minded and vicious harassments that the devotees have had to experience since our declaration of allegiance to Srila Prabhupada as the sole diksha guru of ISKCON in 1999. The sad and shocking reality is that the systematic and premeditated hounding that we have faced in Malaysia (up till this very day!) is very consistent with and comparable to those carried out by the GBC-endorsed “gurus” throughout the world. Those to me are the undeniable proofs of “similar-facts evidence”, legally speaking.
7th August 2011 marked a significant chapter in our preaching efforts in Malaysia. Over 40 devotees took official shelter at the lotus feet of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada through the bona fide ritvik system of initiation which His Divine Grace has personally instituted. The initiation ceremony marks a key milestone in the 12-year struggle of our devotees in Malaysia to oppose the unauthorised “guru” system that at one time monopolised the preaching exertions in the Southeast Asian state. Many of the devotees who accepted initiation have waited patiently for years to formalise their commitments. With the expansion of the yatra, more devotees would eventually strengthen their dedication in a similar manner in the future.
At this critical juncture of the tussle between ISKCON Mumbai and ISKCON Bangalore, I together with the devotees here in Malaysia, pledge support for His Grace Madhu Pandit Prabhu and the devotees of ISKCON Bangalore. Knowing only too well the many similar tribulations experienced in Malaysia over the last decade, it is obvious that the same demeaning tactics magnified manifold are at work to disrepute the good work accomplished by the devotees of ISKCON Bangalore. The inspiration and help rendered in Malaysia by His Grace Madhu Pandit Prabhu, Stoka Krishna Prabhu, Chitranga Chaitanya Prabhu and Sridham Krishna Prabhu amongst many others, has been most valuable in inspiring a generation of Prabhupadanugas to carry the mission forward.
On this glorious festive occasion of Sri Radhashtami, we pray at the lotus feet of our worshipable Deities of Sri Sri Radha Gopinatha and Srila Prabhupada to provide strength to His Grace Madhu Pandit Prabhu and the devotees of ISKCON Bangalore to practice, preach and overcome all obstacles planted on their path by agencies antagonistic to the realization of a Prabhupada-centric Krishna Consciousness movement.
Radhapran Das,
Temple President,
Hare Krishna Ashram Malaysia
