The Bhagavad Gita Controversy

Anand B.A., B.L

The Bhagavad Gita trial in Russia or the Bhagavad Gita court case in Russia was the trial of the Russian edition of Bhagavad Gita As It Is initiated in June 2011 by the state prosecutors office in Tomsk, Russia on charges of religious extremism. The trial is reportedly instigated by the local branch of the Russian Orthodox Church along with the FSB in order to restrict the activity of International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) followers. The trial has followed a 2011 ban of the construction of an ISKCON community village in the Tomsk region, and the long-standing Moscow city governments opposition to an ISKCON temple project in central Moscow, which the authorities later shifted to a Moscow suburb, continuing a trend of state-instigated legal persecutions of religious minorities in Russia.

At the first hearing the judge found the expert assessment inadequate, commissioned another one from Kemerovo State University and postponed the verdict until December 28, 2011.

In mid-December 2011 the trial caused a storm of highly critical publications in the Indian, Russian, and international media and a consequent groundswell of multi-partisan political support in the Indian Parliament, forcing Russian officials to offer apologies and assurances that they will take all the necessary remedial measures to prevent the possible ban. The trial also sparked public protests and legal actions in India agains the proposed ban and drew harsh criticism of the intellectual community in Russia.

On December 28, 2011, the court case was dismissed by Federal Judge Galina Butenko.

Background

Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi receiving a Russian copy of the Bhagavad Gita As It Is from Soviet Hare Krishna followers. Delhi (India), 1989. President of India Pratibha Patil receiving Bhagavad Gita As It Isfrom an ISKCON representative. New Delhi, December 2011

Bhagavad Gita As It Is is a Russian version of ISKCON founder A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupadas translation and commentaries on the Bhagavad Gita, a revered scripture for nearly one billion Hindus. The book, a central scripture for Hare Krishna followers, was first published by the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust in 1968 and has been translated into 80 languages, with over 100 million copies distributed globally till date. It was presented to many world leaders, including the British Prime Minister David Cameron, who said that he keeps a copy of the book in his office. According to scholars, the book has never been accused of fomenting extremism before. Two similar cases against this particular edition of the Bhagavad Gita As It Is were twice dismissed in Moscow courts in 2004 and 2005.

In November 2011, President of India Pratibha Patil in a message to ISKCON Russia for its 40th anniversary commended the organization for an important role in popularising the noble and eternal message of the Srimad Bhagavad Gita and promoting spiritual harmony in many foreign lands.

Indian Ambassador to Russia Ajay Malhotra said that Prabhupadas translation of the Gita is one of the best that you can find, because he gives you the words, the meanings and the options to understand it as it was written. The Bhagavad Gita trial was preceded by a government ban of the construction of an ISKCON community village in the Tomsk region earlier in 2011, and the Moscow city governments unyielding opposition to the counstruction of an ISKCON temple project in central Moscow since 2004. The Russian Orthodox Church played an active and vocal role in urging the Moscow government to ban the project, calling Krishna an evil demon, the personified power of hell opposing God. The authorities later shifted the temple construction to a Moscow suburb. The Bhagavad Gita trial also continues a series of state-instigated legal persecutions of religious minorities in Russia.

Court case

The court case is thought to have been instigated by the FSB and the Russian Orthodox Church as an attempt to restrict the Hare Krishna movement, a religious minority in Russia seen by the Church as a destructive cult that wants to set its roots in the Tomsk region. It was filed in June 2011 by the public prosecutor of Tomsk Victor Fyodotov on the request of the local Church leaders. He based his plea on an expert assessment by three professors of Tomsk State University, Sergei Avanesov, Valery Svistunov and Valery Naumov. Their expert assessment concluded that the Bhagavad Gita As It Is is an extremist literature because it contained claims of exclusiveness of Krishna religion, and used some unpleasant words against those who were not devotees of Krishna. The assessment also stated that the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita As It Is are anti-Christian by nature because Krishna is evil and not compatible with Christian views and foster social discord, religious hatred, and gender, race, nationality, and language discrimination. Based on the professors testimony, the prosecutor requested the court to include the book in the Federal List of Extremist Materials, and to ban its printing, possession, and distribution. The Federal List contains over 1,000 works, Hitlers Mein Kampf among them, considered as fomenting religious and racial hatred.

First, second, and third hearings (August 2011)

Federal Judge Galina Butenko studies a copy of the Bhagavad Gita As It Is during the first court hearing. August 12, 2011.

In the first, second, and third court hearings held on 12, 18, and 2930 August 2011 respectively, Federal Judge Galina Butenko dismissed the expert assessment as inadequate and subjective after the prosecutors experts acknowledged that they had not studied the Bhagavad Gita As It Is, and said that their opinion in the assessment should be taken as private rather than official. They also stated that the Bhagavad Gita As It Is did not contain any extremist statements. Two experts invited by the court, N. V. Serebrennikov (Tomsk) and N. N. Karpitsky (Tomsk), also rejected the written expert opinion, maintaining, that while Prabhupadas commentaries used some abusive words for those who are not Krishnas devotees, the use of these words did not attempt to create a racial or religious divide, to which the Judge recalled that similarly emotionally charged statements are found in the Bible, like: Dont throw pearls before a swine. The court noted that, despite some claims of exclusiveness in Prabhupadas commentaries, such statements are characteristic of most religious texts and therefore posed no evidence to support the accusations made against the book. The Judge consequently postponed the next hearing until December 2011, ordering a new assessment of the book by a panel of three professors of Kemerovo State University, none of whom are experts on Hinduism.

Following a plea by ISKCON advocate Mikhail Fralov to seek a statement of the Russian Human Rights Committee on the Bhagavad Gita As It Is and on the right of religious minorities, the Judge agreed to hear their opinion and postponed the final verdict until December 28, 2011.

In India

Media

Since December 17, 2011, when Indo-Asian News Service (IANS) issued a report by a staff writer Nallan Bipindra about the proposed Bhagavad Gita ban in Russia, the event became breaking news in the Indian printed and electronic media, with over 600 publications, including editorials, in all major newspapers and TV news channels as of December 27, 2011.

Parliament

In December 19, 2011, Bhartruhari Mahtab, leader of the Biju Janata Dal party, raised up the issue of theBhagavad Gita trial in the Indian Parliament (Lok Sabha), demanding to know what the Indian government was undertaking to protect the religious rights of Hindus in Russia. He also called on the government to impress [this] upon the Russian authorities through diplomatic channels. The House Speaker Meira Kumar then turned down requests for speeches on the topic and had to adjourn the session amid protests against the ban of the Gita sparked by Mahtabs statement, as angry members of the Parliament across the party lines strongly condemned the ban, shouting: We will not tolerate an insult to Lord Krishna! The issue was simultaneously raised in Rajya Sabha (the Upper House). This display of political unity surprised the media and prompted a Rajya Sabha member to call the December 19 parliamentary session a golden day in our history when all differences were deleted to express solidarity for Gita, the book of India.

On December 20, Sushma Swaraj, leader of the largest opposition party BJP demanded that the Indian government declare the Bhagavad Gita a national book. Her move seconded by a BJP member of Rajya Sabha, Tarun Vijay, who asked rhetorically Can sun be banned, Himalayas be banned? Members across party lines voiced their support. Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha K. Rahman Khan, member of the Indian National Congress, said the entire house agrees with this and joins in condemning this.

On December 21, a Bharatiya Janata Party delegation led by the partys foreign affairs chief Vijay Jolly met with the Deputy Chief of the Russian Mission in Delhi Denis Alipov to express the partys pain and anguish at the Bhagavad Gita trial and demand that suitable measures be taken by the Russian government to immediately dismiss the court case as baseless. Jolly also expressed surprise that the Russian government allowed the trial to continue for over half a year despite the fact that IndiaRussia relations is of paramount importance to both countries. The delegation also sent throu the Russian embassy a copy of the Bhagavad Gita to President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev along with a letter, in which the BJP delegation stressed to the Russian President that the Gita is a book of sublime thoughts that preaches self discipline promotes spiritualism and teaches to the mankind the need to fulfill responsibility towards worldly duties.

Government

According to officials of the Prime Minister of Indias office, [t]his matter is receiving the highest attention and the Indian embassy officials in Moscow have been instructed to follow up the case with the Russian authorities, in order to either have the case withdrawn by the state or resolved. Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Rajeev Shukla said that the Indian authorities are apprising the Russian government on the issue. However, members of the Parliament accused the Indian government of inaction. They said that on November 1, ISKCON informed the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of the impending court case, urging the government to use some high-level ministerial visits to Moscow, prior to the Prime Ministers own visit December 15 17, to protect the scripture from legal action. Despite the advance notice, which was also sent to the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi and the External Affairs Minister S. M. Krishna, the issue was not discussed with the Russian government during the following six official visits of Indian ministers and top officials to Moscow.

Ministry of External Affairs

Following the Parliaments demand for a report from the External Affairs Ministry on the issue, Foreign Minister S. M. Krishna made the following statement in the House on December 20, 2011:

I rise to make a statement on a Court hearing in a Russian city on the Bhagwad Gita that was raised in this august House yesterday by Honble Members Shri Bhartruhari Mahtab, Shri Mulayam Singh Yadav ji, Shri Sharad Yadav ji, Shri Lalu Prasad ji, Shri Hukumdev Narayan Yadav ji, Shri V. Aruna Kumar and Dr. Prasanna Kumar Patasani. A number of other Honble members also conveyed their deep sense of anguish over this issue. At the outset, allow me to mention that I fully share the sentiments expressed by the Honble Members of the House on this issue.

Honble Members referred to media reports about a hearing conducted by a Court in the Russian city of Tomsk on whether a Russian language commentary on the Bhagwad Gita qualifies as extremist literature. I would like to inform this august House of the facts of this case.

The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) has been functioning in Russia for decades. ISKCON has faced periodic problems with respect to its properties and functioning in Moscow and elsewhere. On occasion, our Embassy has intervened on behalf of ISKCON with the local city authorities as well as with the Russian Government.

ISKCON conveyed to our Embassy that its branch in Tomsk, Eastern Siberia, had received a notice in June 2011, of a complaint filed by the Public Prosecutors Office in the local court. This complaint, apparently driven by some local individuals, was to the effect that the third Russian edition of the publication Bhagwad Gita As It is a translation of a commentary by Swami Prabhupada, founder of ISKCON had certain portions that were objectionable and extremist in nature.

Following the initial proceedings in August 2011, the District Court appointed its own three member expert group from the University of Kemerovo (in Siberia), which was to submit a report within three months. The final hearing in the Tomsk District Court was due on December 19, 2011, but has been rescheduled for December 28, 2011, as the Court has agreed to seek the opinion of the Russian Ombudsman on Human Rights in Tomsk District, and of Indologists from Moscow and St. Petersburg, who have greater knowledge and expertise on India.

Officials of the Embassy of India in Moscow and our Ambassador have been in regular touch with the local representatives of ISKCON, since this matter came to light in June 2011.

ISKCON representatives were advised to take legal recourse to counter this misdirected complaint. We have also taken up this matter at the senior levels of the Russian Government. The Ministry of External Affairs has been in regular touch with our Embassy in Moscow on this issue. The matter was also taken up with the Russian Ambassador based in India, H.E. Mr. Alexander Kadakin who is himself a well-known Indologist. In fact the Ambassador has been publicly critical of this episode. He has stated that Bhagavad-Gita is a great source of wisdom for the people of India and the world. He also said that Russia is a secular and democratic country where all religions enjoy equal respect.

The complaint in a local Russian court appears to be the work of some ignorant and misdirected or motivated individuals. While this complaint is patently absurd, we have treated this matter seriously and the Embassy of India is closely monitoring this legal case.

Honble Members would agree that the Bhagwad Gita is not simply a religious text; it is one of the defining treatises of Indian thought and describes the very soul of our great civilization. The Gita is far above any cheap propaganda or attacks by the ignorant or the misdirected. In Russia itself, we have many great Indologists, scholars and experts who understand the essence of the Gita and have written on it with reverence and passion. We do not want to dignify with too much attention some misdirected individuals who have filed an absurd complaint. We are confident that our Russian friends, who understand our civilizational values and cultural sensitivities, will resolve this matter appropriately.

Indian Ambassador to Russia Ajay Malhotra confirmed that the Indian Embassy in Moscow takes up the issue with the Russian government at senior official level in order to achieve its positive intervention resolution. He said that a Tomsk group linked to the Russian Orthodox Church levied the charges against the Bhagavad Gita As It Is and demanded its ban in order to prevent the local ISKCON branch from setting up a community near a village in Tomsk region. According to Malhotra, the Russian authorities have been approached at high levels to appropriately resolve this matter. He added that [t]he Bhagavad Gita is perhaps the most important and respected scripture in the world. First translated into Russian in 1788, it is not merely a religious text, but one of the defining treatises of Indian thought. The Bhagavad Gita has circulated freely across the world for centuries and there is not a single instance of it having encouraged extremism. So, the case before the Honourable Court in Tomsk is indeed absurd, bordering on the bizarre, the Indian envoy added.

On December 27, 2011, the day before the final hearing on the Gita case, S. M. Krishna met with the Russian Ambassador to India Alexandr Kadakin at the Hyderabad House and conveyed Indias concern over the sensitive issue with the proposed ban, urging the Russian government to provide all possible help to resolve the issue. Kadakin assured Krishna that, while it is a judicial matter, Russia will undertake all measures within its power to resolve the issue. Four days earlier, Indias Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai discussed the issue with Kadakin as well.

On December 28, 2011, after the Russian court rejected state prosecutors plea seeking ban on theBhagavad Gita As It Is, S. M. Krishna thanked the Russian government for support.

High Court

On December 21, the High Court of Mumbai questioned the Indian government as to the measures it is undertaking to intervene in the possible ban of the Bhagavad Gita and directed the government to consider representing the position of India on the issue before the court in Tomsk. The High Court decision came in response to a Public Interest Litigation filed by two local activists charging the Indian government with inaction in regard to informing the Russian court of the actual purport of the Bhagavad Gita, and that the Indian Embassys monitoring the matter closely was not sufficient. The court observed Indian Foreign Minister S. M. Krishnas Parliament statement does not imply if Indian governmens direct involvement with the December 28 Bhagavad Gita trial hearing and asked the government to submit its reply on the steps taken by January 9, 2012.

Religious groups

On December 21, a highly respected Islamic seminary Darul Uloom Deoband issued a statement signed by its vice-chancellor Abul Qasim Nomani in defense of the Bhagavad Gita, in which he condemned Russian diktat against the Hindu holy scripture. Nomani also called accusations of the Gita of extremism totally baseless and highly objectionable, maintaining that the proposed ban is tantamount to violation of the freedom of conscience enshrined in the Indian Constitution, and called on boldly countering the Russian highhandedness. Maulana Khalid Rashid, head of Firangi Mahal, another Islamic center of higher education in Lucknow, also condemned what he called Russian arrogance and called on Muslims to support Hindu followers while appealing to the Indian government to take a firm stance so that such blasphemous interference is not attempted in future.

On December 22, 2011, Isai Mahasangh organization representing Christians in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh addressed the President of India Pratibha Patil and the Pope Benedict XVI, asking for their intervention in the Bhagavad Gita trial. An Isai Mahasangh delegation conveyed their memorandum to the President through Madhya Pradesh governor Ram Naresh Yadav, and to the Pope through the Holy See embassy in New Delhi. Jerry Paul, General Secretary of Isai Mahasangh, stated that it was clear from the court case against the Gita that the Russians are not aware of the importance of the Gita, the teachings and values it upholds and above all its place in the life of millions of Indians.

A prominent Hindu teacher Sri Sri Ravi Shankar in his Twitter called the proposed ban of the Bhagavad Gitain Russia an unpardonable loss for the people of Russia and, countering accusations of the book of extremism and intolerance opined that it was the move to ban the scripture that showed intolerance and bred terrorism rather than the Gitas teachings.

Hindu activists

On December 20, 2011, an international Hindu organization Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) threatened with protests outside Russian missions in India if Russia effects the ban. VHP General Secretary Pravin Togadia said in a statement that the Bhagavad Gita is deified by all Hindus and that its principles have universal appeal and touch humanity so very deeply, citing Albert Einsteins facination with the book asn an example. Togadia also warned Russian authorities that Indians will be forced to boycott Russian goods, plants, and offices in India in response to the Gita ban in Russia. VHP and Bajrang Dal activists also staged protest in Chandigarh, calling on the Indian government to protect the rights of Hindus in Russia and denouncing the proposed ban. On December 23, dozens of activists of Rashtrawadi Sena, a hardline Hindu group, burned a Russian flag and shouted anti-Russian slogans during a protest march in New Delhi over the proposed ban. Rashtrawadi Sena president Jai Bhagwan Goyal called the Gita the most pious book of the nation and said will not tolerate any insult to it. The protesters also sent a memorandum to Indian President Pratibha Patil, and to the Russian embassy, demanding to avert the ban. They also urged Indian President to declare Bhagavad Gita a National scripture in order to prevent such insults in the future. A similar protest along with the burning of a Russian flag was held on December 26 by activists of the right-wing Hindu organisation Shiv Sena in Amritsar. In a similar move, a [Jammu]] unit of Sri Ram Sena appealed to Indian and Russian authorities to forestall the impeding Gita ban for the betterment of Indo-Russia relations.

Russian community in Goa

On December 21, 2011, the Russian community in Goa has issued a statement condemning the proposed ban on the Bhagavad Gita in Russia. Speaking on behalf of the 150-strong community, Russian consulate in Goa Vikram Varma stated: The Russian community in Goa as a whole condemns the possibility of a ban on any of Indias ancient scriptures. It is felt by the Russian community in Goa as well as by a large section of Russians visiting Goa that the depth of knowledge and wisdom offered by the Bhagavad Gita cannot be understood by a casual reader. It is well accepted that all the ancient Hindu scriptures are of tremendous importance not only to India but to the rest of the world.

Society

ISKCON devotees rallying in front of the Russian Consulate in Kolkata (India) demanding to stop the Bhagavad Gita As It Is trial.

The trial sparked community protests in India. In Kolkata, dozens of ISKCON followers chanted and dances in front of the Russian Consulate holding up copies of the Bhagavad Gita As It Is in various langages and demanding to stop persecution of their most important scripture.[3] A group of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) held a protest march in front of the Russian consulate in Mumbai. On December 16, 2011, an online petition to stop the Bhagavad Gita trial was launched, and by December 22 more than 45,000 people from all over the world, mostly from India.

The topic has gone viral on social networks, with the hashtag #Gita becoming a leading trend on Indian Twitter. Noted poet and lyricist Javed Akhtar, for instance, twitted: Banning Gita ? Have they lost their minds. This great book of wisdom belongs not only to Hindus but to the whole humanity. Member of Parilament Naveen Jindal wrote in his blog, I welcome the statement by the Russian ambassador to India condemning the Bhagavad Gita controversy. Janata Dal party leader Subramanian Swamy wrote on Twitter: Happy to inform that Russian Ambassador will tell my daughter on TV that he is a student of Gita and Russia will rectify matters soon. Ok? and Bollywood celebrity Farah Khan suggested in a retweet: The Russians have banned the Gita. In retaliation lets ban something equally sacrosanct to them: vodka.

In Russia

The Russian society appears to be embarrassed by the court case over the Gita, with the media mostly condemning the ongoing trial, carrying reports titled like Trial of Indian book brings shame to Tomsk. A prominent Russian Internet paper Gazeta.ru published a satirical article on how a work that was created 5,000 years ago has suddenly become an extremist document.

Indian diaspora and ISKCON

The Hare Krishna followers, who count over 100,000 members and over 100 centers in Russia, expressed fear that the trial on their main scripture, if upheld by the court, will be followed by a ban of their entire movement and religion nationwide. The 15,000-strong Hindu community in Russia shared the apprehension. On November 1, ISKCON leader in India Gopal Krishna Goswami appealed to the Indian government asking to intervene and resolve the impending trial by bringing it up with the Russian authorities during Indian official visits to Moscow. Hindu followers in Russia from India, Bangladesh, Mauritius, Nepal and other countries held an emergency meeting, at which they set up the Hindu Council of Russia meant to protect their interests in Russia, and elected Sadhu Priya Das, and India-born member of ISKCON, as its chairman. Das said that they were seeking opinion of the Russian Ombudsman and experts from Moscow and St. Petersburg, the main centers of Indology in Russia, and that they trusted the Russian judiciary, hoping that finally the truth will prevail.

Scholars

A religious expert Roman Silantyev opined that Prabhupadas interpretation has nothing to do with traditional Hinduism and that his commentaries statements that can be considered extremist. However, the rest of the intellectual community of Russia was indignant over the court case.

On November 28, at a round table organized by a leading Russian newspaper Moskovskij Komsomolets scientists and members of the Russian Academy of Sciences along with a few religious leaders stated in a resolution, there is no basis for conducting such a trial and the very fact of initiating a trial by the public prosecutor is an insult to the religious feelings of followers of Vaishnavism in India and Russia and it will give a body blow to Indo-Russian relations.

Head of the Institute of High Humanitarian Studies at the Russian State University for the Humanities and a prominent Indologist, Sergey Serebryanny, said Russian courts give the term extremism a very broad interpretation, which allows them to label extremist anything going against the authorities, whether secular or religious. He also opined that, while Prabhupada supplemented his version of the Bhagavad Gita with his own ideas and beliefs, his followers have the same right for the freedom of conscience as believers of other religious confessions that observe the laws of the Russian Federation.

An eminent Russian Indologist Elena Vanina of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences wrote an article severely criticizing the court case over the Bhagavad Gita, which is revered by millions in India, Nepal, Sri Lanka and wherever Hindus live. She reminded that in Europe, the Gita was admired by many great philosophers and thinkers, such as Herder, Schopenhauer and Tolstoy and thought it ironic that while the Hindu scrupture was first translated into Russian in 1788, nobody put the book and its translators on trial in the Orthodox Russian Empire in 1788, but its being being judged in secular democratic Russia. Vanina also argued that charges of extremism against Prabhupadas copious commentaries on the Bhagavad Gita are fallacious and based on a primitive screening of the religious text for negative words (such as fool, enemy, demon, kill) . According to Vanina, using this approach, any ancient text, from the Greek myths to the Bible, and the Koran, can be found extremistm, especially when specialists in philosophical suicidology are entrusted with passing judgement on ancient Indian texts. Vanina concluded by opining that, despite peoples right to their attitudes towards a Russian lad wearing Indian clothes and singing Hare Krishna, ISKCON followers have the right to practice their religion, and that the Russian Orthodox Church, instead of calling a ban on competitors or attempting to legally equate their holy book to Mein Kampf, should introspect as to the reasons that deter yoing Russians from joining the Church. Otherwise, Vanina predicted, people will again start being burned alive.

Historian and full professor of the Diplomatic Academy at the Ministry of Foreign Affais of Russia Andrey Volodin opined that the move to ban the Gita was contrary to the basic principle of tolerance inherent in Russian civilisation. He said that this scandalous trial held in Tomsk, one of Russias intellectual capitals, raises doubts as to whether the local leaders are sane and the intellectual community in one of the countrys main academic and university centers is actually mature. To a question, which forces in Russia are interested in a ban on the Bhagavad Gita Volodin replied that all the intelligence services in the world, including the CIA and M16, could never have come up with a more effective move to compromise Russia in India and in the world.

Government

In an interview by CNN-IBN, Russias ambassador to India Alexander Kadakin called Bhagavad Gita the source of wisdom and inspiration not only for the people of India but for Russia as well and the world. and commended the Indian Parliament and government for their resolute stance on the Bhagavad Gita trial in Russia, opining that both countries nations, being secular, democratic, and multi-cofessional, should not allow such things to happen. He assured that the Russian government is using all means to end the Bhagavad Gita scandal and added that he thought it categorically inadmissible to take any sacred scriptures for examination to ignorant people to the courts rather than to academic forums Kadakin ruled out the possibility of the Russian government directly influencing the court decision, but added that the government still can do something and called the instigators of the trial madmen, whose madness should be stopped. He also answered a question of a possible apology to the people of India by the Russian government, opining that since it was not the Russian government who started the case, it has nothing to apologize for, [but] can only testify and reiterate the love and affection and highest esteem our nation has for Bhagvat Gita.

On December 27, 2011, after a meeting with the Foreign Minister of India S. M. Krishna, at which Krishna reiterated Indias grave concerns over the issue, Kadakin told reporters that the Russian government will do everything within its powers to prevent the ban. He said that, while it was a judicial process, the Russian government can ask the people of Russia to express our love and admiration for the Gita, that [assurance] you can get from anyone in Russia. He also added that he had read the Gita and thought it was a great scripture of the world, and maintained that no holy scripture, whether it is Bible, Quran or Gita, can be brought to a court.

According to the Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Rajeev Shukla, a top Russian minister also expressed regrets about the situation.

At the same time, on December 22, 2011, Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich rejected as misplaced Indias concerns with the Gita trial, stressing that the court case against commentaries in the scriptures recent Russian translation, that Russian prosecutors found extremist and insulting to non-believers. Lukashevich emphasized that the trial is not about Bhagavad Gita, a religious philosophical poem, whichwas first published in Russian in 1788 and then went through many editions in different years and in various translations. The Tomsk court case is about classifying as extremist material the Russian-language edition of the Bhagavad Gita. As It Is, written in 1968 by A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, founder of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, which is claimed to fall under Article 13 of the Federal Law On Counteracting Extremist Activity.

Earlier, Russian Chief Director for Human Rights Vladimir Lukin stated that the attempt to ban Bhagavad Gita As It Is amounted to infringement on the constitutional right to the freedom of consciousness and that it was unacceptable to ban the Bhagavad Gita As It Is written by ISKCON founder Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, in Russia, as he said it was a globally respected book. As the Ombudsman for Russia, Vladimir Lukun took the Bhagavad Gita court case under his special control and will testify in the court on December 28 asking to dismiss the charges.

Nelly Krechetova, Human Rights Ombudsman of Tomsk region, has termed the trial absurd. Speaking on the Echo of Moscow radio station, she said, This book is considered sacred by more than a billion people the world over, and in Russia itself the book has been in circulation for 20 years. She continued that there was no manifest incident of extremism caused by the dissemination of the book. A ban on the book, she said, would amount to violation of constitutional rights of citizens to freedom of conscience and faith.

International

Associated Press reported that the attempt to ban Bhagavad Gita As It Is angered Hindu followers around the world.

The court case evoked protests by US-based Hindu activists, who called the trial an attack on religious freedom and belittling of the entire Hindu community. The Hindu American Foundation (HAF) based in Washington, DC expressed shock and outrage over the attempted ban. Subhag Shukla, HAF managing director, called the move by Russian prosecutors indefensible and a draconian attempt to restrict the religious freedom of Hindus in Russia. Shukla added that, [b]y promoting a narrow and intolerant agenda that demonizes a sacred scripture revered by more than one billion Hindus worldwide, Russian officials are acting contrary to the principles of a free democratic society. HAF members conveyed their concerns in an official statement to the Russian embassy in Washington, DC, requesting a follow-up meeting to monitor the situation, and urged the Russian judiciary and government to uphold the basic rights of their Hindu citizens. They also warned that Any court ruling or law that would prohibit the Bhagavad Gita or any other Hindu religious literature would be considered a direct attack on the civil liberties of Russias Hindu community and an affront to Hindus throughout the world.

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