Bhaktivedanta Manor Did Not Mishandle Protestors

[Guest guest]

The following is the letter which I personally delivered to the followers of

Narayan Maharaja when I met Asta Sakhi after the incident:

 

Dear followers of Narayan Maharaja,

 

Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

 

While I disapprove of your recent, peaceful protest outside the gates of

Bhaktivedanta Manor on Sunday, 27 August 2000, upon examining the

circumstances and seeing you were outside of Bhaktivedanta Manor property,

we decided your protest was nothing more than a petty annoyance. It was my

decision to ignore it unless you stopped vehicular traffic, disrupting the

flow of traffic, in which case we would inform the police, who assured us

they would take action.

 

I was therefore shocked to learn that some over-zealous people, without our

knowledge or encouragement, none of whom were connected with Bhaktivedanta

Manor's administration, decided to take action by physically removing your

placards.

 

Bhaktivedanta Manor is open for all people, of all walks of life.

Unfortunately, as this protest of yours and previous incidents prove (see

enclosed letter), the followers of Narayan Maharaja are so bent upon

proselytising your particular beliefs that it becomes untenable to have you

visit or perform service on Manor premises or functions conducted by the

Manor.

 

If this seems like discrimination, you are correct. We have discriminated

against you in much the same way as a Catholic school would discriminate

against an evangelical Christian bent upon converting the students on school

premises. Such behaviour is unacceptable in any religion, what to speak of

Gaudia Vaisnavism.

 

In fact, behaviour such as yours is unacceptable among all true Gaudia

followers, and would not be permitted in any Gaudia Math or ISKCON temple.

 

We therefore stand by our ban of followers of Narayana Maharaja. You have no

one to blame except yourselves for your own misbehaviour.

 

Yours in the service of Srila Prabhupada,

 

 

 

Vipramukhya Swami

 

© CHAKRA 2-September-2000