The remains of our cherished tirtha

A Suggested Delegation

August 13, 2012

All glories to Srila Gour Govinda Swami, Srila Gurudeva!

All glories to Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada!

Please accept my humble obeisances.

gm.iskconbbsr.ggs@pamho.net

Dear Dhruva Maharaj Das Prabhu,

We are extremely shocked and horrified to hear the news of demolition of ISKCON Founder Acarya A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupad’s bhajan kutir that was personally made with great effort by our beloved Srila Gurudeva.  We are surprised that many concerned devotees who would have helped have not heard about the severity of the matter.

I called the office of the President of India and was able to get an opportunity to talk to Mr. Mahapatra the head of the communication department. He was well aware of ISKCON and Srila Prabhupada.  He was very surprised that it came to the point where it had be demolished.  He informed me that various notices must have given before this action was taken.

In reference to the National highways, even though the land belongs to the government, government make exceptions based on people’s religious beliefs and he knew of various places throughout India where roads were designed differently to support various temples or other religious institutes that are place of worship for thousands and thousands of devotees of that area. Government is made by people, for people to support people.

Mr. Mahapatra suggested that a delegation of 100 plus people must immediately go the chief minister of Orissa and other ministers in charge of the  transportation and roads.

Petition with thousands of signatures (5-10,000) to the Prime Minster, President and transportation minister of India.

Sending personal letters to any minister or ministry is a waste of time. We must show public support.

Unfortunately, It was his assumption that we, ISKCON BBSR, did not handle this case properly.  If you get enough public support, media coverage and a good reasoning, they would have never touched Srila Prabhupada’s Bhajan Kutir. Govt. of India has made many exceptions when building national highways and this was a very reasonable request that impacts the faith, the trust and love of millions of devotees of  International society of Krishna Consciousness.

Srila Prabupada Stayed in that divine hut for 17 days, that is a historic place of worship for millions of people.  We need to show that support on paper and with people. This needs to be handled at International level with the people who have great experience in handling these situations. The devotees who are handling currently had this opportunity for the last about fifteen years and apparently this did not work.

Because the details of this information/matter was not made public, it was not possible for concerned devotees to help.

 It is unfortunate that right before Shree Krishna Janamashtami and Srila Prabhupada’s divine appearance day his hut was demolished.

Action points:

• Prepare an online petition requiring electronic signature – ISKCON has a lot of experience in creating this type of petitions, somebody in ISKCON communications can help out with this request.

• Delegation of 100 plus devotees required to visit President of India, Prime Minister of India, Transportation Minister, etc. in New Delhi.   Same delegation should also visit Chief Minister of Orissa, Transportation minister and any other minister or highest authority who is related to this project.

• We will have to designate a Representative who will deal with the authorities on behalf of ISKCON BBSR regarding this bhajan kutir matter. This representative (or group of few representatives) should be selected with extreme care, we need devotees with experience in communication.

• Media should be informed and devotees should be interviewed about how much this place means to them. Various press release must be sent to national and international media. A constant update of the situation on a dedicated website of ISKCON BBSR and ISKCON’s dandavats.com, this is where most of the devotees from all over the world gets their ISKCON news.

• All the western and Indian disciples of Srila Gurudeva should also be informed and seek their support.  We should set aside our difference and come to resolve this matter as our focus is not each other rather on Srila Gurudeva and Srila Prabhupada.

• Contact all the high positioned well-wishers of ISKCON who have some influence over political parties or leaders or government officers.

Please e-mail the update.

Lowly servant in the services of Srila Gurudeva

Sadhika devi dasi.