Hindu leader resigns (From Watford Observer)
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Hindu leader resigns
4:57pm Tuesday 15th July 2008 in
The president of a Hare Krishna temple in Letchmore Heath has resigned after being found responsible for beating students in India.
Gauri Das, president of Bhaktivedanta Manor in Hilfield Lane, inflicted "inappropriate and excessive corporal punishment" according to the child protection branch of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON).
Seventeen former students and three adults gave statements alleging abuse.
The abuse occured during his time teaching at the Vrndavana Gurukula school between 1991 and 2001.
ISKCON has prohibited Gauri Das from serving in a position of leadership in temples for the next three years, also prohibiting him from giving classes.
A spokesperson for the temple said: "We regret that Gauri Das will not be able to continue as an officer of our temple, but we also recognise the important need of the child protection office to acknowledge problems in the care of children in the past, and to address those issues.
"We are pleased that Gauri Das has indicated that he would like to meet with the former students in the hope of further reconciliation."
Comments(24)
The Plinth of Darkneth
says...
8:39pm Tue 15 Jul 08
If this cult cannot treat their own kind with the minimum of humane respect, how can we be so sure of the so called respectful treatment of their sacred cow?
As I suspected, this is an insight to the behaviour of a suspect religious outfit.
Let this serve as a lesson to all those that doubted those who questioned their goings on.
Igloo
says...
10:07pm Tue 15 Jul 08
Roy Stockdill
says...
10:24pm Tue 15 Jul 08
There are far too many of them in Watford and they will be found out, eventually.
The Plinth of Darkneth
says...
9:09am Wed 16 Jul 08
And as for him meeting with the former students in the hope of further reconciliation, well that surely is ridiculous.
This man should never be allowed to be left in the company of vulnerable young people ever again.
fcukgod
says...
10:23am Wed 16 Jul 08
The Plinth of Darkneth
says...
1:47pm Wed 16 Jul 08
"On 13 July 2008, Gauri Das stepped down from his position as Temple President of Bhaktivedanta Manor after a decision by the International Society for Krishna Consciousness Central Office of Child Protection.
The decision found Gauri Das responsible for "inappropriate and excessive corporal punishment" whilst a teacher at an ISKCON affiliated school in India during the 1990s.
The decision means that Gauri Das will not be able to take any position of management in ISKCON for three years, although, he can continue to serve at the Temple.
While the decision finds Gauri Das responsible for excessive corporal punishment, it also goes on to give him credit for "many positive accomplishments" while he was at the school.
The Bhaktivedanta Manor Temple also recognises and appreciates the dedicated service given by Gauri Das during his six-year tenure as Bhaktivedanta Manor Temple President from 2002 to 2008.
We regret that Gauri Das will not be able to continue as an officer of our temple, but we also recognize the important need of the CPO to acknowledge problems in the care of children in the past, and to address those issues.
We really have to ask ourselves just what exactly does "inappropriate and excessive corporal punishment" entail.
Considering that statements to the press are normally spun down for damage limitation - it beggars belief what was inflicted on those poor youngsters.
The fact that the statement indicates that he can continue to serve at the Temple, is astonishing considering that he has been found responsible for such abuse.
Hindi culture is surely based on a philosophy of peace, harmony and goodwill to fellow man, so how can those outside this cult believe that is the case?
One can only wonder what other secrets lie behind this religious sect.
Traveller Tom McD
says...
1:36am Thu 17 Jul 08
..we need to look at ourselves first before slating other religions.In a country where MP's pay to get spanked, gays get married, Polish people arriving in thier millions..people getting knifed or shot daily..this is no worse...P.S are we going to blame black people for all stabbings and shootings now ?
barbelybob
says...
7:49am Thu 17 Jul 08
Traveller Tom McD wrote:These hare krishnas are not that peaceful pal.Some 20years ago a predecessor to Gauri Das was found guilty of decapitating his colleague and im sure he was from the same temple.Not exactly peace loving are they.Also pal,there is a BIG difference between someone paying to be spanked and someone abusing a child who is supposed to be learning peace,love and tolerence..
Hare Krishnas are meant to be really peaceful folk who love birds, bees, trees etc. Ok, they do annoying protests and force you to buy books but at the end of the day why should we judge them on the actions of one person ? they have been described as a crackpot religious sect on that basis...disgraceful.
..we need to look at ourselves first before slating other religions.In a country where MP's pay to get spanked, gays get married, Polish people arriving in thier millions..people getting knifed or shot daily..this is no worse...P.S are we going to blame black people for all stabbings and shootings now ?
The Plinth of Darkneth
says...
12:38pm Thu 17 Jul 08
"P.S are we going to blame black people for all stabbings and shootings now ?"
Why on earth would anyone blame black people for that?
Roy Stockdill
says...
3:03pm Thu 17 Jul 08
The Plinth of Darkneth
says...
3:55pm Thu 17 Jul 08
But nevertheless, I am still awaiting a reply from Traveller Tom about his remarks earlier.
fcukgod
says...
4:07pm Thu 17 Jul 08
Traveller Tom McD
says...
12:05am Fri 18 Jul 08
Im not defending Hare Krishnas necessarily, our country welcomes people of all types, its what puts the Great in Britain...Dont deny peoples rights to worship thier way not your way.
The offences were committed abroad over a 10 year period in India, shouldnt they have established all this earlier and punished him there or is this sort of thing normal ?
The Plinth of Darkneth
says...
12:45pm Fri 18 Jul 08
Firstly, I would like to point out that I have no religious inkling whatsoever.
Secondly, nobody is denying anyones right to worship here, however, I feel it is important to highlight that Bhaktivedanta Manor were in the news some months back regarding the treatment of a "sacred" cow namely Gangotri.
This poor animal had lost the use of it's front legs and was being supported by a wooden pillar of sort.
The RSPCA quite rightly destroyed the animal humanely as it was clearly in distress.
Prior to that, the followers at the temple had painted the cow and adorned it with garlands, which I and many others found to be an extremely undignified manner in which the suffering animal was kept.
Since then, we now have a report of the president of this temple being found responsible for "inappropriate and excessive corporal punishment" against young and vulnerable students.
On the face of it - these two accounts amount to animal and child abuse.
How can we be assured of the practises that take place within thie organisation?
Is it unhealthy for people like me to question these behaviors, or perhaps you would feel that it is better to leave this sort of thing alone in the hope that it will just go away?
Jack Sparrow
says...
6:58pm Fri 18 Jul 08
I've been involved with Hare Krishnas in UK for 20 years now...I've seen good and bad things done by good and bad individuals.Sometime
s good things done by bad people and bad thing done by good...All sorts!
To the point now,this investigation into child abuse was conducted by child protection agency within Hare Krishna movement.We have one(CPA)because like in every organisation there is a danger that some individuals will abuse their position out of personal shortcomings,ignoran
ce or being simply evil.Even if the teachings are clearly indicating one should follow high moral standards,no law or teaching can prevent an individual to use his/her free will as how much or many of them he/she will genuinely follow.Its not all black and white in life....
As for the cow- on this forum there are so many opinions about the same subject,similarly,Ga
ngotri,the cow in question was looked after by few Vets.They were of opinion that she shoud live and some(RSPCA), that she shoud be put down.Many people with pets choose to let their ill pets die naturally,out of love, not some sadistic desire to see them suffer.
This is for all-It would be really nice if those who are overly critical and offensive towards whole Hare Krishna movement could visit Bhaktivedanta Manor and see things for themselves.After all,word "CULT " refers to "specific system of religious worship" as well as "devoted attachment to an idea" which could put those throwing insults without prior knowledge under the same umbrella they hate so much!
Hope this helps
Roy Stockdill
says...
10:18pm Fri 18 Jul 08
My own opinion stands, i.e. that these people are crackpots and loonies and rather sad refugees left over from a hippy era of the 1960s and 70s and with nowhere else to go in a world that has long left them behind.
The Plinth of Darkneth
says...
11:26pm Fri 18 Jul 08
Within one year, we the people of Watford have learnt of two very disturbing cases within the Krishna movement at Bhaktivedanta Manor.
What do you expect people to think?
Whilst I appreciate that unfortunacies can occur withi any organisation, the nature of what has happened I personally think are somewhat shocking.
To be honest with you, prior to all this, I was sympathetic towards the Krishnan movement - I just took them to be an over enthusiastic bunch of attention seekers - pretty harmless really, but in the light of what has been reported, my opinion has changed considerably.
Dare I say that I am certain that the neighbouring inhabitants of Waco, Texas probably thought that the Branch Davidians were pretty decent folk too.
ghughinish
says...
9:41am Sat 19 Jul 08
seems some commenst are negative,,and i understand reason of that,, but i wish to make few points here
1)we cannot put whole movement in one pot becouse of once mistake,,its looks childish
2) if u look histody of any spiritual movement even cristianity u can see that all of them have mistakes in many ways. so then we can reject all of them right??/
3) also we have to understand that at that time that type of punishment was accepted and Gouri was following that,,just becouse of his envyes people he got complaint about punishment,
and last thing is that that person has to be greatful for Gouri for punishment,,,becouse as u see now one cannot even say,or punish and what kind of kids we have in society, drugers,prostitutes,
killers and all kind of things,,why ?? becouse not proper training...
thanks for reading.
gio
The Plinth of Darkneth
says...
10:25am Sat 19 Jul 08
ghughinish wrote:Thanks for your input ghughinish - It took me a couple of attempts to digest it all but we got there in the end.
just would like to say few things all above people who made commets about this topic,
seems some commenst are negative,,and i understand reason of that,, but i wish to make few points here
1)we cannot put whole movement in one pot becouse of once mistake,,its looks childish
2) if u look histody of any spiritual movement even cristianity u can see that all of them have mistakes in many ways. so then we can reject all of them right??/
3) also we have to understand that at that time that type of punishment was accepted and Gouri was following that,,just becouse of his envyes people he got complaint about punishment,
and last thing is that that person has to be greatful for Gouri for punishment,,,becouse as u see now one cannot even say,or punish and what kind of kids we have in society, drugers,prostitutes,
killers and all kind of things,,why ?? becouse not proper training...
thanks for reading.
gio
I have to say that some of your statements alarm me somewhat, and cause me great concern.
I shall respond to your points as per above:
Firstly - I am not putting the movement in one pot because of *one* mistake - I have highlighted at least two very serious offences that have made the press - god (whoever he is) only knows how many more have gone undetected to this date.
Secondly - I tend to agree with you here, yes, I would go as far to say that all religious and spiritual movements are flawed - some more than others in fact - can we reject them all you ask?
Quite simply the answer is YES.
ALL of these religious movements are manmade and as we all know, man is imperfect, therefore one can assume that every one of his religions will be too.
Thirdly, and more importantly, I am very disturbed by your commentary here - you seem to advocate Gauri Das's behaviour and that is very worrying to be honest.
Are you aware of the devastating damage that can be caused to a child when confronted by physical violence? The resulting psychological effects can be devastating and last an entire lifetime.
To imply that a child should be grateful for the physical abuse that this monster of a man administered to them is an abomination in itself.
Do you realise how offensive that would be to anyone who has had the sad misfortune of being a victim to violent child abuse?
Discipline is one thing, but to enforce that discipline through terror, fear and violence is quite frankly sickening, and certainly has no place in our society.
This is the 21st Century, I would like to think that humanity has moved on since the dark ages.
ghughinish
says...
11:50pm Sat 19 Jul 08
thanks for responding on my comments.
well i cannot agree that religion is man made,,,
this means may be that u not belive that there is god,,,is it correct??
second is that i am not sure why u can reject religion becouse of peoples mistake in relegion,,
as u know people who try to be spiritual they are reall worriers,,it is fight against materialistic nature of ours which is most difficult,,,also same time they also humens and they make mistake,,,and it is normal,,becouse not easy to swimm agains river
yes i know by force to distiplin kids its not good at all,,but at that time and that place that was accepted,,,
well i am also disturbed how things are now,,its so loose,,that is why again society getting more wild,,,
of course distiplin has to be something in middle,,not too much give them freedom and not to damage kidds nature,,,
best thing is that we have to try ourselfs to progress in every way and show example of perfect personality,
The Plinth of Darkneth
says...
1:35pm Mon 21 Jul 08
One can only assume that these stories and accounts entered into someones head one day, and they thought it was the word of god.
It certainly wasn't - it was their own words and their own voice - no one elses.
Hence the fact that religion - all of it - is indeed a man made institution.
I do however agree with your philosophy on discipline - it does have to be evenly balanced and to lead by example I feel is the best method.
fcukgod
says...
3:42pm Mon 21 Jul 08
ideas of human perfectibility, inherited from religion, plagued the 20th C and were the founding causes of many atrocities as societies tried to create 'perfect systems'. Likewise, the idea of infinite progress is at the heart of many of our institutions, again an inheritance from religion, and has been instrumental in much of the world's suffering. What we really need is a deep and sincere understanding of our limitations, our social responsibilities and a sustainable approach to our living environment. What we don't need is some misguided, if sincere, belief about perfectibility and progress. We need to abandon our outdated anthropocentric ideas. We need to realise that ideas created thousands of years ago are not very relevant to an environment that is forever changing.
fcukgod
says...
3:54pm Mon 21 Jul 08
We have always had drug addicts, killers, prostitutes etc (personally, I think its despicable that prostitutes are lumped together with drug addicts and killers, but be that is it may). Society was far scarier in previous centuries than it is today. But there are people in our society today who have an agenda to make people fear the future and the present; to make them consider today as the bottom of the barrell, where the further back in the past you go the better things were. Well that's just rubbish quite frankly. The myth of the golden age has always been popular, but it is just that: a myth.
You are right about all religions making mistakes. And they have made atrocities. And they have behaved despicably. Quite frankly, believers are very bad at selling their beliefs. Tell me, how many people do you know who act like they have eternity ahead of them? I know of none. The fact is many people believe in the intoxication of words but few believe in their meaning enough to turn their beliefs into altruistic and selfless deeds. The truth of the matter may be that we just are not made that way, we prefer to read fantasy rather than exist in the real world.
Traveller Tom McD
says...
1:15am Tue 29 Jul 08
Im interested in what people like George Harrison, Kula Shaker, Russell Brand ( hmmm, not a good example ! ) see in this religious group.
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