CALCUTTA UPDATE

[Guest guest]

dear devotees,

 

dandavat agtsp!

 

Lord Krishna Has finally decided to handover Calcutta temple to ISKCON

devotees!

 

actually i thought of writing a report on what happened in calcutta in last

few days and how it happened, etc. but couldn't manage to find proper time

as things kept changing. I think instead of waiting for getting enough time

to write down all details step by step, I should just let you know in short

what is happending here. some of you may be knowing it either from a right

source or from somewhere else but this is from me while I am sitting here in

Calcutta 3C albert temple, writing this text and hearing downstairs a loud

ecstatic kirtan by so many deovtees! there is hardly any space to stand in

the main temple room. This has been happening for last few days but recently

we have got more devotees from Sridham Mayapur so it's even bigger kirtan!

not only devotees but also some policemen are relishing the kirtan and

prasadam!

 

a banner stating the temple is under the control of a managing committee

appointed by ISKCON Bureau is seen from distance and pleasing all!

 

so, unless you are informed, it would be interesting for you to know that

iskcon has taken over full control of its calcutta temple, i.e. 3C albert

road premises. ISKCON got court order to take charge of the temple premises

and manage it without getting disturbed by adridharan das, who was suspended

long back but was holding onto the temple property forcefully. this time

police also had studied the case thoroughly and understood well the real

situation, so they also cooperated with us. we had a wonderful celebrations

of sri Krishna janmastami, Nandotsava and Srila Prabhupada vyasa-puja!

 

on the 9th of this month some of the managing commitee members entered the

temple with a lawyer and a few police officials. this was to ensure a

peaceful takeover of management. of course, adridharan das had his own old

arguments but this time it was different and he had to accept what was told

by the hon'ble high court of calcutta, especially in front of the police

officers who were aware of the legal situation. so adridharan das couldn't

say much and we peacefully tookover the charge although he didn't want to

leave his office and we didn't bother about it much.

 

the next day adridharan das realised that there was no much use of his

sitting in "his" office, so we helped him go out escorted by police. he has

now left the temple. almost all his appeals are being turned down by the

high court one after another although it seems he will keep trying so far he

runs out of financial resources. the guest house is also fully under iskcon

control.

 

we have permission for entering the other guru saday road property also but

till this hour we have not entered there as IRM people have locked the gates

from inside and as usual we don't want to use physical force. obviously they

are misusing our good intentions. ISKCON devotees kept chanting there

outside the main gate for days and nights. we also requested local police to

help us get in but somehow they avoided to do so. seeing this, for some time

we also rightfully locked the gates from outside unless someone wanted to go

out. in fact we were requesting them to go out but they kept them inside and

"locked" themselves trying to create some false allegation of confinement,

etc. actually we were informed that they were using the backside gates for

their movement but apparently they made a show of having been locked. their

drama ended when finally they managed to get the local police to help them.

after the police forced ISKCON devotee to withdraw from there we followed it

as we didn't want to increase tension. Let's see what happens in the next

few days to come.

 

apart from that, all other IRM supporters (hardly 4-5 anyway) who were

staying in the temple have also left. some have surrendered and we have let

them stay with us although we are watching their activities.

 

it's intense time as you can understand and action is more important than

sending out news but we will try to keep you updated. meanwhile if you hear

something from IRM and/or its agents pl let us know so we can clarify it as

and when needed. Please pray for devotees.

 

if you need any clarification on what is said in this text don't hesitate to

ask me although I am not bound to satisfy everyone, especially those who may

not be satisfied by what is happening :-).

 

Hare Krishna.

 

ys, bb